Ecclesiastes 7
1 Better [is] a name than good perfume, And the day of death than the day of birth.
A good name is better than oil of great price, and the day of death than the day of birth.
2 Better to go to a house of mourning, Than to go to a house of banqueting, For that is the end of all men, And the living lays [it] to his heart.
It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.
3 Better [is] sorrow than laughter, For by the sadness of the face the heart becomes better.
Sorrow is better than joy; when the face is sad the mind gets better.
4 The heart of the wise [is] in a house of mourning, And the heart of fools in a house of mirth.
The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.
5 Better to hear a rebuke of a wise man, Than [for] a man to hear a song of fools,
It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.
6 For as the noise of thorns under the pot, So [is] the laughter of a fool, even this [is] vanity.
Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.
7 Surely oppression makes the wise mad, And a gift destroys the heart.
The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.
8 Better [is] the latter end of a thing than its beginning, Better [is] the patient of spirit, than the haughty of spirit.
The end of a thing is better than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride.
9 Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry, For anger in the bosom of fools rests.
Be not quick to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.
10 Do not say, “What was it, That the former days were better than these?” For you have not asked wisely of this.
Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.
11 Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance, And an advantage [it is] to those beholding the sun.
Wisdom together with a heritage is good, and a profit to those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom [is] a defense, money [is] a defense, And the advantage of the knowledge of wisdom [is], She revives her possessors.
Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.
13 See the work of God, For who is able to make straight that which He made crooked?
Give thought to the work of God. Who will make straight what he has made bent?
14 In a day of prosperity be in gladness, And in a day of calamity consider: God has also made this alongside of that, To the intent that man does not find anything after him.
In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.
15 The whole I have considered in the days of my vanity. There is a righteous one perishing in his righteousness, and there is a wrongdoer prolonging [himself] in his wrong.
These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.
16 Do not be over-righteous, nor show yourself too wise, why are you desolate?
Be not given overmuch to righteousness and be not over-wise. Why let destruction come on you?
17 Do not do much wrong, neither be a fool, why do you die within your time?
Be not evil overmuch, and be not foolish. Why come to your end before your time?
18 [It is] good that you lay hold on this, and also, do not withdraw your hand from that, for whoever is fearing God goes out with them all.
It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.
19 The wisdom gives strength to a wise man, more than wealth the rulers who have been in a city.
Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.
20 Because there is not a righteous man on earth that does good and does not sin.
There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does good and is free from sin all his days.
21 Also to all the words that they speak do not give your heart, that you do not hear your servant reviling you.
Do not give ear to all the words which men say, for fear of hearing the curses of your servant.
22 For many times also has your heart known that you yourself have also reviled others.
Your heart has knowledge how frequently others have been cursed by you.
23 All this I have tried by wisdom; I have said, “I am wise,” and it [is] far from me.
All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.
24 Far off [is] that which has been, and deep, deep, who finds it?
Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?
25 I have turned around, also my heart, to know and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and reason, and to know the wrong of folly, and the madness of foolishness.
I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.
26 And I am finding more bitter than death, the woman whose heart [is] nets and snares, her hands [are] bands; the good before God escapes from her, but the sinner is captured by her.
And I saw a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.
27 See, this I have found, said the Preacher, one to one, to find out the reason
Look! this I have seen, said the Preacher, taking one thing after another to get the true account,
28 (that still my soul had sought, and I had not found), One man, a teacher, I have found, and a woman among all these I have not found.
For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.
29 See, this alone I have found, that God made man upright, and they have sought out many inventions.
This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they have been searching out all sorts of inventions.
