Ecclesiastes 6:1–8:1

Those Who Have Wealth but Do Not Enjoy It Are Pitiful

6Here is another misfortune that I have seen under the sun, and it is prevalent among humankind. ²God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; yet God does not enable him to enjoy it—instead someone else ends up enjoying it. This is vanity—indeed, it is a grievous ill!

³Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, if his heart^a is not satisfied with his prosperity^b and he does not receive a proper burial,^c I deem the stillborn better than him. ⁴For he comes into vanity and departs into darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness. ⁵He has neither seen nor known the sun, yet he has more rest than him. ⁶Even if a man^d lives a thousand years twice, if he^e does not enjoy prosperity,^f both suffer the same fate!^g

One Must Learn to Be Content with What One Has

⁷All of a man’s toil is for his mouth—

yet his appetite is never satisfied.

⁸So do the wise really have an advantage over fools?

Can the poor really gain anything by knowing how to act in front of others?^h

⁹Better to be content with what your eyes see

than for your soul to constantly crave more.ⁱ

This also is vanity and chasing wind!

It is Futile for Humans to Complain about God’s Irresistible Will

¹⁰Whatever is—it was already determined,

what will be—it has already been decided.^j

As for man, he cannot argue

against what is more powerful than him.

¹¹Increasing words only multiplies futility,^k

how does that profit anyone?

The Future is Inscrutable to Humans

¹²For who knows what is good for a man in his life during the few days of his fleeting life, which are fleeting as a shadow? For who can tell anyone what will happen in the future^l under the sun?

People Generally Do Not Know What is Best for Them

7A good name is better than precious ointment,

and the day of death is better than the day of one’s birth.

²Better to go to the house of mourning

than to go to the house of feasting,

for death is the end of every person,

and the living should take it to his heart.

³Sorrow is better than laughter,

for by sadness of countenance the heart is made good.

⁴The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

⁵Better to listen to the rebuke of the wise

than for a man to listen to the song of fools.

⁶Like the sound of thorns under a pot,

so also the laughter of fools.

This also is vanity!

Wisdom—Although Vulnerable—is Beneficial

⁷Surely oppression makes a fool of the wise,

and a bribe corrupts the heart.

⁸The end of a matter is better than its beginning;

better to be slow to anger than hot-headed.^a

⁹Do not be quick in your spirit to anger,

for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.

¹⁰Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?”

For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

¹¹Wisdom is good with an inheritance;

it benefits the living.^b

¹²For wisdom offers protection like money offers protection.^c

But knowledge has an advantage—wisdom restores life to its possessor.

Humans Must Accept God’s Will and Make the Best of It

¹³Consider the work of God.

For who is able to make straight what he made crooked?

¹⁴In the day of prosperity, rejoice!

But in the day of adversity, consider!

For God made one in place of another

so that mortals cannot find out what will happen in the future.^d

The Law of Retribution Does Not Always Work—but It Does Sometimes

¹⁵I have seen all these things in my vain life:

Sometimes a righteous man perishes in spite of his righteousness,

and sometimes a wicked man lives a long life in spite of his evil.

¹⁶Do not be excessively^e righteous,

and do not act excessively wise, lest you destroy yourself.

¹⁷Do not act excessively wicked,

and do not be a fool, lest you die before your time.

¹⁸It is good to take hold of the one and also must not let go of the other;

for whoever fears God will hold both of them secure.

Wisdom is Valuable, but No One is Completely Righteous

¹⁹Wisdom gives more strength to the wise

than ten rulers who are in the city.

²⁰Surely there is no one righteous on the earth

who continually does good and never sins.

²¹Do not pay attention to everything people say,

lest you hear your own servant curse you.

²²For your heart knows

that you also have cursed others many times.

Absolute Wisdom is Unattainable

²³All this I have tested with wisdom. I said, “I will be wise!” but it was beyond my grasp.^{f 24}Whatever is—it is far beyond comprehension.^g Who can discover it?

²⁵I set my mind to try to seek wisdom and the plan, and to know that wickedness is foolishness and that folly is delusion. ²⁶I myself found that more bitter than death is the woman who is a trap, whose heart is a snare, and whose hands are bonds. The one who pleases God escapes from her, but the sinner is caught by her. ²⁷“Look! I found this,” said the Teacher,^h “while trying to find how the plan fits together. ²⁸What my heart sought, I did not find. Although I found one righteous man among one thousand, I did not find one upright woman among all these. ²⁹Look! This alone I found: God made mankind upright, but they have devised many schemes.”

Wisdom is Valuable

8Who is like the sage?

Who knows the interpretation of a thing?

A man’s wisdom makes his face shine,

and the hardness of his face is changed.