Ecclesiastes 7:1–22

Wisdom and Folly Contrasted

¹Better is a ^agood name than good oil,

And better is the ^bday of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.

²Better to go to a house of mourning

Than to go to a house of feasting

Because ¹that is the ^aend of all mankind,

And the living ^bputs this in his heart.

^3aBetter is vexation than laughter,

For ^bwhen a face is sad a heart may be merry.

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

While the heart of fools is in the house of gladness.

⁵Better to ^alisten to the rebuke of a wise man

Than for one to listen to the song of fools.

⁶For as the crackling sound of ^athorn bushes under a pot,

So is the ^blaughter of the fool;

And this too is vanity.

⁷For ^aoppression gives a wise man over to madness,

And a ^bbribe ¹destroys the heart.

⁸Better is the ^aend of a matter than its beginning;

^bBetter is patience of spirit than haughtiness of spirit.

⁹Do not be ^1aeager in your spirit to be vexed,

For vexation rests in the bosom of fools.

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

For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

¹¹Wisdom along with an inheritance is good

And an ^aadvantage to those who see the sun.

¹²For ^awisdom is a ^bshadow of protection as money is a shadow of protection,

And the advantage of knowledge is that ^cwisdom preserves the lives of its masters.

¹³See the ^awork of God,

For who is ^bable to straighten what He has bent?

^14aIn the day when there is good be of good cheer,

But ^bin the day when there is evil see—

God has made the one as well as the other

So that man will ^cnot find out anything that will be after him.

¹⁵I have seen everything during my ^adays of vanity; there is ^ba righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is ^ca wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.

¹⁶Do not be excessively ^arighteous, and do not ^bbe overly wise. Why should you make yourself desolate?

¹⁷Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a simpleminded fool. Why should you ^adie before your time?

¹⁸It is good that you seize one thing and also not ¹let go of the other; for the one who ^afears God comes forth with ²both of them.

^19aWisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten men with power who are in a city.

²⁰Indeed, ^athere is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

²¹Also, do not give your heart to all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your slave ^acursing you.

²²For your heart also knows that you likewise have many times cursed others.