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 costly perfume, and the day of death is better 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 a house of mourning than to a house of feasting, for mourning comes to all people at the end of life, so living people must 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].
Grief is better than laughter, for after sadness of face comes gladness of 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 feasting.
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 listen to the rebuke of the wise 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 burning under a pot, so also is the laughter of fools. This, too, is vapor.
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.
Extortion certainly makes a wise man foolish, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.
Better is the end of a matter than the beginning; and the people patient in spirit are 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.
Do not be quick to anger in your spirit, for anger resides in the hearts of fools.
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 days of old better than these?” For it is not because of wisdom that you ask this question.
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. 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 provides protection as money can provide protection, but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to whoever 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 deeds of God: Who can straighten out anything 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.
When times are good, live happily in that good, but when times are bad, consider this: God has allowed both to exist side by side. For this reason, no one will find out anything that is coming 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.
I have seen many things in my meaningless days. There are righteous people who perish in spite of their righteousness, and there are wicked people who live a long life in spite of their evil.
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 self-righteous, wise in your own eyes. 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 too wicked or foolish. 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 that you should take hold of this wisdom, and that you should not let go of righteousness. For the person who fears God will meet all his obligations.
19 If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential than the ten most powerful/influential men in your city.
Wisdom is powerful in the wise man, more than ten rulers in a city.
20 There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.
There is not a 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 listen to every word that is spoken, because you might hear your servant curse you.
22 You know that you have also cursed other people.
Similarly, you know yourself that in your own heart you have often 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 have I proven by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was more than I could be.
24 Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.
Wisdom is far off and very deep. Who can find 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 turned my heart to learn and examine and seek wisdom and the explanations of reality, and to understand that evil is stupid and that folly 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.
I found that more bitter than death is any woman whose heart is full of snares and nets, and whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God will escape from her, but the sinner will 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,
“Consider what I have discovered,” says the Teacher. “I have been adding one discovery to another in order to find an explanation of reality.
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.
This is what I am still looking for, but I have not found it. I did find one righteous man among a thousand, but a woman among all those I did not find.
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.
I have discovered only this: That God created humanity upright, but they have gone away looking for many difficulties.”
