Ecclesiastes 6:1–8:1

6I have noticed that in this world a serious injustice is done. ²God will give someone wealth, honour, and property, yes, everything he wants, but then will not let him enjoy it. Some stranger will enjoy it instead. It is useless, and it’s all wrong. ³A person may have a hundred children and live a long time, but no matter how long he lives, if he does not get his share of happiness and does not receive a decent burial, then I say that a baby born dead is better off. ⁴It does that baby no good to be born; it disappears into darkness, where it is forgotten. ⁵It never sees the light of day or knows what life is like, but at least it has found rest- ⁶more so than the man who never enjoys life, though he may live two thousand years. After all, both of them are going to the same place.

⁷People do all their work just to get something to eat, but they never have enough. ⁸How are the wise better off than fools? What good does it do the poor to know how to face life? ⁹It is useless; it is like chasing the wind. It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else.

¹⁰Everything that happens was already determined long ago, and we all know that you^f cannot argue with someone who is stronger than you are. ¹¹The longer you argue, the more useless it is, and you are no better off. ¹²How can anyone know what is best for us in this short, useless life of ours—a life that passes like a shadow? How can we know what will happen in the world after we die?

Thoughts about Life

7^*A good reputation is better than expensive perfume; and the day you die is better than the day you are born.

²It is better to go to a home where there is mourning than to one where there is a party, because the living should always remind themselves that death is waiting for us all.

³Sorrow is better than laughter; it may sadden your face, but it sharpens your understanding.

⁴Someone who is always thinking about happiness is a fool. A wise person thinks about death.

⁵It is better to have wise people reprimand you than to have stupid people sing your praises.

⁶When a fool laughs, it is like thorns crackling in a fire. It doesn’t mean a thing. ⁷You may be wise, but if you cheat someone, you are acting like a fool. If you take a bribe, you ruin your character.

⁸The end of anything is better than its beginning.

Patience is better than pride.

^9*Keep your temper under control; it is foolish to harbour a grudge.

¹⁰Never ask, “Oh, why were things so much better in the old days?” It’s not an intelligent question.

¹¹Everyone who lives ought to be wise; it is as good as receiving an inheritance ¹²and will give you as much security as money can. Wisdom keeps you safe—this is the advantage of knowledge.

¹³Think about what God has done. How can anyone straighten out what God has made crooked? ¹⁴When things are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next.^g

¹⁵My life has been useless, but in it I have seen everything. Some good people may die while others live on, even though they are evil. ¹⁶So don’t be too good or too wise—why kill yourself? ¹⁷But don’t be too wicked or too foolish, either—why die before you have to? ¹⁸Avoid both extremes. If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway.

¹⁹Wisdom does more for a person than ten rulers can do for a city.

²⁰There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake.

²¹Don’t pay attention to everything people say—you may hear your servant insulting you, ²²and you know yourself that you have insulted other people many times.

²³I used my wisdom to test all of this. I was determined to be wise, but it was beyond me. ²⁴How can anyone discover what life means? It is too deep for us, too hard to understand. ²⁵But I devoted myself to knowledge and study; I was determined to find wisdom and the answers to my questions, and to learn how wicked and foolish stupidity is.

²⁶I found something more bitter than death—the woman who is like a trap. The love she offers you will catch you like a net; and her arms round you will hold you like a chain. A man who pleases God can get away, but she will catch the sinner. ²⁷Yes, said the Philosopher, I found this out little by little while I was looking for answers. ²⁸I have looked for other answers but have found none. I found one man in a thousand that I could respect, but not one woman. ²⁹This is all that I have learnt: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.

8Only the wise know what things really mean. Wisdom makes them smile and makes their frowns disappear.