Ecclesiastes 7:3–13

3 ||eSorrow is better than laughter: ffor by the sadness of the countenance gthe heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5 hIt is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. 6 For ias the †crackling of thorns under a pot, kso is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.

7 Surely loppression mmaketh a wise man mad; and na gift destroyeth the heart. 8 Better is othe end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and pthe patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. 9 qBe not hasty in thy spirit pto be angry: for anger rresteth in the bosom of fools. 10 Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire †wisely concerning this. 11 Wisdom is ||good with an inheritance: and by it there is sprofit tto them that see the sun. 12 For wisdom is a †defence, and money is a †defence: but the uexcellency of knowledge is, that wisdom wgiveth life to xthem that have it. 13 Consider the work of God: for who can ymake that straight, which he hath yzmade crooked?