קֹהֶלֶת 7

1 טוב שם משמן טוב ויום המות מיום הולדו׃

[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 טוב ללכת אל בית אבל מלכת אל בית משתה באשר הוא סוף כל האדם והחי יתן אל לבו׃

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 טוב כעס משחק כי ברע פנים ייטב לב׃

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 לב חכמים בבית אבל ולב כסילים בבית שמחה׃

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 טוב לשמע גערת חכם מאיש שמע שיר כסילים׃

It is better to pay attention to [someone who is wise] you than to listen to the songs of a foolish person.

6 כי כקול הסירים תחת הסיר כן שחק הכסיל וגם זה הבל׃

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 כי העשק יהולל חכם ויאבד את לב מתנה׃

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 טוב אחרית דבר מראשיתו טוב ארך רוח מגבה רוח׃

Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.

9 אל תבהל ברוחך לכעוס כי כעס בחיק כסילים ינוח׃

Do not quickly (lose your temper/react to things angrily), because it is foolish people [SYN] who become very angry.

10 אל תאמר מה היה שהימים הראשנים היו טובים מאלה כי לא מחכמה שאלת על זה׃

Do not say, “Things were a lot better [RHQ] previously,” because it is people who are not wise who say that.

11 טובה חכמה עם נחלה ויתר לראי השמש׃

Being wise is better than inheriting [valuable things]; being wise provides lasting benefits for every person on the earth [MTY].

12 כי בצל החכמה בצל הכסף ויתרון דעת החכמה תחיה בעליה׃

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 ראה את מעשה האלהים כי מי יוכל לתקן את אשר עותו׃

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 ביום טובה היה בטוב וביום רעה ראה גם את זה לעמת זה עשה האלהים על דברת שלא ימצא האדם אחריו מאומה׃

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 את הכל ראיתי בימי הבלי יש צדיק אבד בצדקו ויש רשע מאריך ברעתו׃

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 אל תהי צדיק הרבה ואל תתחכם יותר למה תשומם׃

[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 אל תרשע הרבה ואל תהי סכל למה תמות בלא עתך׃

If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young.

18 טוב אשר תאחז בזה וגם מזה אל תנח את ידך כי ירא אלהים יצא את כלם׃

Continue to avoid doing what is evil and doing what is foolish; avoid doing both of those things by continually revering God.

19 החכמה תעז לחכם מעשרה שליטים אשר היו בעיר׃

If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential than the ten most powerful/influential men in your city.

20 כי אדם אין צדיק בארץ אשר יעשה טוב ולא יחטא׃

There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.

21 גם לכל הדברים אשר ידברו אל תתן לבך אשר לא תשמע את עבדך מקללך׃

Do not pay attention [IDM] to everything that people say, because if you do that, you might hear your servant cursing you.

22 כי גם פעמים רבות ידע לבך אשר גם את קללת אחרים׃

You know that you have also cursed other people.

23 כל זה נסיתי בחכמה אמרתי אחכמה והיא רחוקה ממני׃

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 רחוק מה שהיה ועמק עמק מי ימצאנו׃

Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.

25 סבותי אני ולבי לדעת ולתור ובקש חכמה וחשבון ולדעת רשע כסל והסכלות הוללות׃

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 ומוצא אני מר ממות את האשה אשר היא מצודים וחרמים לבה אסורים ידיה טוב לפני האלהים ימלט ממנה וחוטא ילכד בה׃

[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 ראה זה מצאתי אמרה קהלת אחת לאחת למצא חשבון׃

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 אשר עוד בקשה נפשי ולא מצאתי אדם אחד מאלף מצאתי ואשה בכל אלה לא מצאתי׃

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 לבד ראה זה מצאתי אשר עשה האלהים את האדם ישר והמה בקשו חשבנות רבים׃

[But] I did learn one thing: When God created people, they were righteous, but they have found many ways to do many evil things.