Ecclesiastes 7:1–12:14
7 A agood name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one’s bbirth;
2 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 take it to cheart.
3 1Sorrow is better than laughter,
dFor by a sad countenance the heart is made 2better.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 eIt is better to 3hear the rebuke of the wise
Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 fFor like the 4crackling of thorns under a pot,
So is the laughter of the fool.
This also is vanity.
7 Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason,
gAnd a bribe 5debases the heart.
8 The end of a thing is better than its beginning;
hThe patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 iDo not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
“Why were the former days better than these?”
For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
And profitable jto those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom is 6a kdefense as money is a defense,
But the 7excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives llife to those who have it.
For mwho can make straight what He has made crooked?
14 nIn the day of prosperity be joyful,
But in the day of adversity consider:
Surely God has appointed the one 8as well as the other,
So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.
15 I have seen everything in my days of vanity:
oThere is a just man who perishes in his righteousness,
And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.
16 pDo not be overly righteous,
qNor be overly wise:
Why should you destroy yourself?
Nor be foolish:
rWhy should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you grasp this,
And also not remove your hand from the other;
For he who sfears God will 9escape them all.
19 tWisdom strengthens the wise
More than ten rulers of the city.
20 uFor there is not a just man on earth who does good
And does not sin.
21 Also do not take to heart everything people say,
Lest you hear your servant cursing you.
22 For many times, also, your own heart has known
That even you have cursed others.
23 All this I have 1proved by wisdom.
vI said, “I will be wise”;
But it was far from me.
24 wAs for that which is far off and xexceedingly deep,
Who can find it out?
25 yI 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 zAnd I find more bitter than death
The woman whose heart is snares and nets,
Whose hands are fetters.
2He who pleases God shall escape from her,
But the sinner shall be trapped by her.
27 “Here is what I have found,” says athe Preacher,
“Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,
28 Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find:
bOne man among a thousand I have found,
But a woman among all these I have not found.
29 Truly, this only I have found:
cThat God made man upright,
But dthey have sought out many schemes.”
8 Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
aA man’s wisdom makes his face shine,
And bthe 1sternness of his face is changed.
Obey Authorities for God’s Sake
2 I say, “Keep the king’s commandment cfor the sake of your oath to God. 3 dDo not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”
4 Where the word of a king is, there is power;
And ewho may say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful;
And a wise man’s heart 2discerns both time and judgment,
6 Because ffor every matter there is a time and judgment,
Though the misery of man 3increases greatly.
7 gFor he does not know what will happen;
So who can tell him when it will occur?
8 hNo one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit,
And no one has power in the day of death.
There is ino release from that war,
And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.
9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.
10 Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were jforgotten 4in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. 11 kBecause the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 12 lThough a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that mit will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.
14 There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it nhappens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the orighteous. I said that this also is vanity.
15 pSo I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that qa man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.
9 For I 1considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: athat the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. 2 bAll things come alike to all:
One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;
To the 2good, the clean, and the unclean;
To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.
As is the good, so is the sinner;
He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.
3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they will die;
But cthe dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For dthe memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.
7 Go, eeat your bread with joy,
And drink your wine with a merry heart;
For God has already accepted your works.
8 Let your garments always be white,
And let your head lack no oil.
9 3Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; ffor that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.
10 gWhatever your hand finds to do, do it with your hmight; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
11 I returned iand saw under the sun that—
The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and jchance happen to them all.
12 For kman also does not know his time:
Like fish taken in a cruel net,
Like birds caught in a snare,
So the sons of men are lsnared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them.
13 This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14 mThere was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great 4snares around it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.
“Wisdom is better than nstrength.
Nevertheless othe poor man’s wisdom is despised,
And his words are not heard.
17 Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard
Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war;
But pone sinner destroys much good.”
10 Dead 1flies 2putrefy the perfumer’s ointment,
And cause it to give off a foul odor;
So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.
2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand,
But a fool’s heart at his left.
3 Even when a fool walks along the way,
He lacks wisdom,
aAnd he shows everyone that he is a fool.
4 If the spirit of the ruler rises against you,
bDo not leave your post;
For cconciliation 3pacifies great offenses.
5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
As an error proceeding from the ruler:
6 dFolly is set in 4great dignity,
While the rich sit in a lowly place.
7 I have seen servants eon horses,
While princes walk on the ground like servants.
8 fHe who digs a pit will fall into it,
And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent.
9 He who quarries stones may be hurt by them,
And he who splits wood may be endangered by it.
And one does not sharpen the edge,
Then he must use more strength;
But wisdom 5brings success.
11 A serpent may bite gwhen it is not charmed;
The 6babbler is no different.
12 hThe words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But ithe lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
13 The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
14 jA fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him kwhat will be after him?
15 The labor of fools wearies them,
For they do not even know how to go to the city!
16 lWoe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
And your princes feast in the morning!
17 Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles,
And your mprinces feast at the proper time—
For strength and not for drunkenness!
18 Because of laziness the 7building decays,
And nthrough idleness of hands the house leaks.