Ecclesiastes 6:1–8:1

ⁿThere is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: ²a man ^oto whom ^pGod gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he ^qlacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God ^rdoes not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity;¹ it is a grievous evil. ³If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that ^sthe days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s ^tgood things, and he also has no ^uburial, I say that ^va stillborn child is better off than he. ⁴For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. ⁵Moreover, it has not ^wseen the sun or known anything, yet it finds ^xrest rather than he. ⁶Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy² no good—do not all go to the one place?

^7yAll the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.^{3 8}For what advantage has the wise man ^zover the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? ⁹Better ^ais the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is ^bvanity and a striving after wind.

¹⁰Whatever has come to be has ^calready been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to ^ddispute with one stronger than he. ¹¹The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? ¹²For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his ^evain⁴ life, which he passes like ^fa shadow? For who can tell man what will be ^gafter him under the sun?

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

7^hA good name is better than precious ointment,

and ⁱthe day of death than the day of birth.

²It is better to go to the house of mourning

than to go to the house of feasting,

for this is the end of all mankind,

and the living will ^jlay it to heart.

³Sorrow is better than laughter,

^kfor by sadness of face the heart is made glad.

⁴The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

⁵It is ^lbetter for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise

than to hear the song of fools.

^6mFor as the crackling of ⁿthorns under a pot,

so is the laughter of the fools;

this also is vanity.¹

⁷Surely ^ooppression drives the wise into madness,

and ^pa bribe corrupts the heart.

⁸Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,

and ^qthe patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

^9rBe not quick in your spirit to become angry,

^sfor anger lodges in the heart² of fools.

¹⁰Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”

For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

¹¹Wisdom is good with an inheritance,

an advantage to those who ^tsee the sun.

¹²For the protection of wisdom is like ^uthe protection of money,

and the advantage of knowledge is that ^vwisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

¹³Consider ^wthe work of God:

^xwho can make straight what he has made crooked?

^14yIn the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, ^zso that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

¹⁵In my ^avain³ life I have seen everything. There is ^ba righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who ^cprolongs his life in his evildoing. ¹⁶Be not overly righteous, and do not ^dmake yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? ¹⁷Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. ^eWhy should you die before your time? ¹⁸It is good that you should take hold of ^fthis, and from ^gthat ^hwithhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

¹⁹ⁱWisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

²⁰Surely ^jthere is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

²¹Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear ^kyour servant cursing you. ²²Your heart knows that ^lmany times you yourself have cursed others.

²³All this I have tested by wisdom. ^mI said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. ²⁴That which has been is far off, and ⁿdeep, very deep; ^owho can find it out?

^25pI 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. ²⁶And I find something more ^qbitter than death: ^rthe woman whose heart is ^ssnares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but ^tthe sinner is taken by her. ²⁷Behold, this is what I found, says ^uthe Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— ²⁸which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. ^vOne man among a thousand I found, but ^wa woman among all these I have not found. ²⁹See, this alone I found, that ^xGod made man upright, but ^ythey have sought out many schemes.

Keep the King’s Command

8Who is like the wise?

And who knows the interpretation of a thing?

^zA man’s wisdom makes his face shine,

and ^athe hardness of his face is changed.