Ecclesiastes 7:1–12

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.