25 So I turned my mind to understand,

to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things

and to understand the stupidity of wickedness

and the madness of folly.

26 I find more bitter than death

the woman who is a snare,

whose heart is a trap

and whose hands are chains.

The man who pleases God will escape her,

but the sinner she will ensnare.

27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered:

“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—

28 while I was still searching

but not finding—

I found one upright man among a thousand,

but not one upright woman among them all.

29 This only have I found:

God created mankind upright,

but they have gone in search of many schemes.”

25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

25 I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness.

26 I discovered that a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare.

27 “This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle. 28 Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman! 29 But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”

25 I applied my heart to know,

To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things,

To know the wickedness of folly,

Even of foolishness and madness.

26 And I find more bitter than death

The woman whose heart is snares and nets,

Whose hands are fetters.

He who pleases God shall escape from her,

But the sinner shall be trapped by her.

27 “Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher,

“Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,

28 Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find:

One man among a thousand I have found,

But a woman among all these I have not found.

29 Truly, this only I have found:

That God made man upright,

But they have sought out many schemes.”

25 I studied and tried very hard to find wisdom,

to find some meaning for everything.

I learned that it is foolish to be evil,

and it is crazy to act like a fool.

26 I found that some women are worse than death

and are as dangerous as traps.

Their love is like a net,

and their arms hold men like chains.

A man who pleases God will be saved from them,

but a sinner will be caught by them.

27 The Teacher says, “This is what I learned:

I added all these things together

to find some meaning for everything.

28 While I was searching,

I did not find one man among the thousands I found.

Nor did I find a woman among all these.

29 One thing I have learned:

God made people good,

but they have found all kinds of ways to be bad.”

25 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 And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. 27 Behold, this have I found, saith the Preacher, laying one thing to another, to find out the account; 28 which my soul still seeketh, but I have not found: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found. 29 Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

25 I turned, I and my heart, to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom and reason, and to know wickedness to be folly, and foolishness to be madness; 26 and I found more bitter than death the woman whose heart is nets and snares, and whose hands are bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be caught by her. 27 See this which I have found, saith the Preacher, searching one by one to find out the reason; 28 which my soul yet seeketh, and I have not found: one man among a thousand have I found, but a woman among all those have I not found. 29 Only see this which I have found: that God made man upright, but they have sought out many devices.

25 I turned my attention to study, to explore, and to seek out wisdom and the reason for things. I learned that wickedness is stupid and foolishness is madness. 

26 I find that a woman whose thoughts are ⸤like⸥ traps and snares is more bitter than death itself. Even her hands are ⸤like⸥ chains. Whoever pleases God will escape her, but she will catch whoever continues to sin. 

27 The spokesman said, “This is what I’ve found: I added one thing to another in order to find a reason for things. 28 I am still seeking a reason for things, but have not found any. I found one man out of a thousand who had it, but out of all these I didn’t find one woman. 29 I have found only this: God made people decent, but they looked for many ways ⸤to avoid being decent⸥.” 

25 I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and seek wisdom and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness. 26 And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, her heart a net, and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her. 27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation, 28 which my soul continually searches for but does not find: among a thousand people I have found one true man, but among all these I have not found a true woman. 29 Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright, but they pursued many schemes.”

25 I turned my mind to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the sum of things, and to know that wickedness is folly and that foolishness is madness. 26 I found more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are fetters; one who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 See, this is what I found, says the Teacher, adding one thing to another to find the sum, 28 which my mind has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made human beings straightforward, but they have devised many schemes.

25 I set my mind to try to seek wisdom and the plan, and to know that wickedness is foolishness and that folly is delusion. 26 I myself found that more bitter than death is the woman who is a trap, whose heart is a snare, and whose hands are bonds. The one who pleases God escapes from her, but the sinner is caught by her. 27 “Look! I found this,” said the Teacher, “while trying to find how the plan fits together. 28 What my heart sought, I did not find. Although I found one righteous man among one thousand, I did not find one upright woman among all these. 29 Look! This alone I found: God made mankind upright, but they have devised many schemes.”

25 So I tried to understand wisdom more completely.

I wanted to study it and figure it out.

I tried to find out everything I could about it.

I tried to understand why it’s foolish to be evil.

I wanted to see why choosing foolishness is so unwise.

26 A woman who hunts a man down

is more painful than death.

Her heart is like a trap.

Her hands are like chains.

A man who pleases God will try to get away from her.

But she will trap a sinner.

27 “Look,” says the Teacher. “Here’s what I’ve discovered.

“I added one thing to another to find out

everything I could about wisdom.

28 I searched and searched

but found very little.

I did find one honest man among a thousand.

But I didn’t find one honest woman among a thousand.

29 Here’s the only other thing I found.

God made men honest.

But they’ve made many evil plans.”

25 I directed my mind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness.

26 And I discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

27 “Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “adding one thing to another to find an explanation,

28 which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these.

29 “Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”