Ecclesiastes 7:1–12

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.