Ecclesiastes 7
1 [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.
A good name is better than precious oil, and the day of death, than the day of birth.
2 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.
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. For that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart.
3 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].
Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made glad.
4 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.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is better to pay attention to [someone who is wise] you than to listen to the songs of a foolish person.
It is better to hear the rebuke of a wise man, than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 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.
For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.
7 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.
Surely oppression makes the wise man foolish, and a bribe destroys the understanding.
8 Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.
Better is the end of a thing than the beginning of it. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 Do not quickly (lose your temper/react to things angrily), because it is foolish people [SYN] who become very angry.
Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Do not say, “Things were a lot better [RHQ] previously,” because it is people who are not wise who say that.
Say thou not, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? For thou do not inquire wisely concerning this.
11 Being wise is better than inheriting [valuable things]; being wise provides lasting benefits for every person on the earth [MTY].
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, yea, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.
12 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.
For wisdom is a defense, even as money is a defense. But the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 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.
Consider the work of God. For who can make that straight, which he has made crooked?
14 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.
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider. Yea, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him.
15 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.
All this I have seen in my days of vanity. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evil-doing.
16 [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.
Be not over-righteous, nor show thyself too wise. Why should thou destroy thyself?
17 If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young.
Do not much wrong, nor be thou a fool. Why should thou die before thy time?
18 Continue to avoid doing what is evil and doing what is foolish; avoid doing both of those things by continually revering God.
It is good that thou should take hold of this, yea, also from that withdraw not thy hand. For he who fears God shall come forth from them all.
19 If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential than the ten most powerful/influential men in your city.
Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers that are in a city.
20 There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.
Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth that does good, and sins not.
21 Do not pay attention [IDM] to everything that people say, because if you do that, you might hear your servant cursing you.
Also do not take heed to all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee.
22 You know that you have also cursed other people.
For many times also thine own heart knows that thou thyself likewise have cursed others.
23 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.
All this I have proved in wisdom. I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.
24 Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.
That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out?
25 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.
I turned about, and my heart was set to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the reason of things, and to know that wickedness is folly, and that foolishness is madness.
26 [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.
And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are chains. He who pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.
27 This is what I have learned: I tried to learn more and more about things to try to find out the reason for everything,
Behold, I have found this, says the Preacher, laying one thing to another, to find out the account,
28 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.
which my soul still seeks, but I have not found: among a thousand I have found one man, but among all those I have not found a woman.
29 [But] I did learn one thing: When God created people, they were righteous, but they have found many ways to do many evil things.
Behold, this only I have found: That God made man upright, but they have sought out many contrivances.
