< Ecclesiastes 7 >

1 Better [is] a name than good perfume, And the day of death than the day of birth.
[Having] a good reputation [MTY] is better than fine perfume, and the day that we die is better than the day that we are born.
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 a house where people are mourning [about someone who has died] than to go to a house where people are feasting, because everyone will die some day, and people who are alive should think seriously [IDM] about that.
3 Better [is] sorrow than laughter, For by the sadness of the face the heart becomes better.
It is better to be sad than to be [always] laughing, because being sad can cause us to think more about how we should conduct our lives [IDM].
4 The heart of the wise [is] in a house of mourning, And the heart of fools in a house of mirth.
Wise [people] who go to where others are mourning think about [the fact that some day they also will] die, but foolish people [PRS] [do not think about that]; they are always [MTY] laughing.
5 Better to hear a rebuke of a wise man, Than [for] a man to hear a song of fools,
It is better to pay attention to [someone who is wise] you than to listen to the songs of a foolish person.
6 For as the noise of thorns under the pot, So [is] the laughter of a fool, even this [is] vanity.
By [listening to] foolish people laughing we will not [learn any more than by listening to] the crackling of thorns [being burned] under a pot. Listening to fools is senseless.
7 Surely oppression makes the wise mad, And a gift destroys the heart.
When wise people say to others, “You must pay me a lot of money for me to protect you,” that causes those wise people to become foolish, and [accepting] bribes causes people to become unable to do what is fair/just.
8 Better [is] the latter end of a thing than its beginning, Better [is] the patient of spirit, than the haughty of spirit.
Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.
9 Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry, For anger in the bosom of fools rests.
Do not quickly (lose your temper/react to things angrily), because it is foolish people [SYN] who become very angry.
10 Do not say, “What was it, That the former days were better than these?” For you have not asked wisely of this.
Do not say, “Things were a lot better [RHQ] previously,” because it is people who are not wise who say that.
11 Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance, And an advantage [it is] to those beholding the sun.
Being wise is better than inheriting [valuable things]; being wise provides lasting benefits for every person on the earth [MTY].
12 For wisdom [is] a defense, money [is] a defense, And the advantage of the knowledge of wisdom [is], She revives her possessors.
We are [sometimes] protected by being wise like we are [sometimes] protected by having a lot of money, but being wise is better [than having a lot of money], [because] being wise prevents us from [doing foolish things that would] cause us to die.
13 See the work of God, For who is able to make straight that which He made crooked?
Think [carefully about] what God has done. Certainly no one can [RHQ] cause to become straight the things that God has caused to be crooked.
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.
When things are going well for you, be happy, and when things are not going well for you, remember that God is the one who causes good things to happen and who also causes disasters.
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.
During all the time that I have been alive I have seen a lot of [HYP] things that seem senseless. I have seen righteous people die [while they are still young], and I have seen wicked people remain alive for a very long time in [spite of] their continuing to be wicked.
16 Do not be over-righteous, nor show yourself too wise, why are you desolate?
[So] do not think that you are very righteous and do not think that you are very wise, [because if you think those things], you will destroy yourself.
17 Do not do much wrong, neither be a fool, why do you die within your time?
If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young.
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.
Continue to avoid doing what is evil and doing what is foolish; avoid doing both of those things by continually revering God.
19 The wisdom gives strength to a wise man, more than wealth the rulers who have been in a city.
If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential than the ten most powerful/influential men in your city.
20 Because there is not a righteous man on earth that does good and does not sin.
There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.
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 pay attention [IDM] to everything that people say, because if you do that, you might hear your servant cursing you.
22 For many times also has your heart known that you yourself have also reviled others.
You know that you have also cursed other people.
23 All this I have tried by wisdom; I have said, “I am wise,” and it [is] far from me.
I said [to myself] that I would use my wisdom to study all the things [that I have written about], but I was not able to do it successfully.
24 Far off [is] that which has been, and deep, deep, who finds it?
Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.
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.
But I decided to investigate things and by my wisdom try to understand the reason for everything. I also wanted to understand why people act wickedly and why they act very foolishly.
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.
[One thing I learned was that] (allowing a woman to seduce you/having sex with a woman to whom you are not married) is worse than dying. A woman who tries to seduce men is [as dangerous as] a trap [MET]. [If you allow her to put] her arms [around you, it will be as though she will be fastening you with] chains. Women like that will capture sinful men, but men who please God will escape from such women.
27 See, this I have found, said the Preacher, one to one, to find out the reason
This is what I have learned: I tried to learn more and more about things to try to find out the reason for everything,
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.
and I continued to try to learn more, but I could not find [all that I was searching for]. [But] one thing that I found out was that among 1,000 [people] I found one righteous man, but I did not find even one righteous woman.
29 See, this alone I have found, that God made man upright, and they have sought out many inventions.
[But] I did learn one thing: When God created people, they were righteous, but they have found many ways to do many evil things.

< Ecclesiastes 7 >