¹A good name is better than expensive perfume, and the day you die is better than the day you’re born. ²It is better to go to a funeral than to a banquet because that is where everyone will end up. Everyone who is alive should take this to heart! ³Sorrow is better than laughter because, in spite of a sad face, the heart can be joyful. ⁴The minds of wise people think about funerals, but the minds of fools think about banquets.

⁵It is better to listen to wise people who reprimand you than to fools who sing your praises. ⁶The laughter of a fool is like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot. Even this is pointless.

⁷Oppression can turn a wise person into a fool, and a bribe can corrupt the mind.

⁸The end of something is better than its beginning. It is better to be patient than arrogant.

⁹Don’t be quick to get angry, because anger is typical of fools. ¹⁰Don’t ask, “Why were things better in the old days than they are now?” It isn’t wisdom that leads you to ask this!

Wisdom Gives Life

¹¹Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. It is an advantage to everyone who sees the sun. ¹²Wisdom protects us just as money protects us, but the advantage of wisdom is that it gives life to those who have it.

¹³Consider what God has done! Who can straighten what God has bent?

A Truth for Every Situation

¹⁴When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one time as well as the other so that mortals cannot predict their future.

Mortals Don’t Get What They Deserve

¹⁵I have seen it all in my pointless life:

Righteous people die in spite of being righteous.

Wicked people go on living in spite of being wicked.

¹⁶Don’t be too virtuous, and don’t be too wise. Why make yourself miserable? ¹⁷Don’t be too wicked, and don’t be a fool. Why should you die before your time is up? ¹⁸It’s good to hold on to the one and not let go of the other, because the one who fears God will be able to avoid both extremes.

The Advantages of Wisdom

¹⁹Wisdom will help a wise person more than ten rulers can help a city. ²⁰Certainly, there is no one so righteous on earth that he always does what is good and never sins.

²¹Don’t take everything that people say to heart, or you may hear your own servant cursing you. ²²Your conscience knows that you have cursed others many times.

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