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 fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his 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 enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to 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 a sad countenance is good for the heart.
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 pleasure.
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 heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to 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 like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.
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 extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.
The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.
9 Do not quickly (lose your temper/react to things angrily), because it is foolish people [SYN] who become very angry.
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
10 Do not say, “Things were a lot better [RHQ] previously,” because it is people who are not wise who say that.
Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this.
11 Being wise is better than inheriting [valuable things]; being wise provides lasting benefits for every person on the earth [MTY].
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits 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, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
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: Who can straighten what He has bent?
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, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come 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.
In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
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.
Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?
17 If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young.
Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your 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 to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.
19 If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential than the ten most powerful/influential men in your city.
Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.
20 There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.
Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
21 Do not pay attention [IDM] to everything that people say, because if you do that, you might hear your servant cursing you.
Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.
22 You know that you have also cursed other people.
For you know in your heart that many times you yourself 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 tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.
24 Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.
What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?
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 directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of 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 who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.
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,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.
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.
While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such 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.
Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
