Ecclesiastes 7:1–22

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.