15 In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:

the righteous perishing in their righteousness,

and the wicked living long in their wickedness.

16 Do not be overrighteous,

neither be overwise—

why destroy yourself?

17 Do not be overwicked,

and do not be a fool—

why die before your time?

18 It is good to grasp the one

and not let go of the other.

Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.

19 Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful

than ten rulers in a city.

20 Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,

no one who does what is right and never sins.

21 Do not pay attention to every word people say,

or you may hear your servant cursing you—

22 for you know in your heart

that many times you yourself have cursed others.

15 In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

15 All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness. 16 Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? 17 Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? 18 It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all. 19 Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city. 20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. 21 Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee: 22 For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.

15 I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people. 16 So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself? 17 On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time? 18 Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes.

19 One wise person is stronger than ten leading citizens of a town!

20 Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.

21 Don’t eavesdrop on others—you may hear your servant curse you. 22 For you know how often you yourself have cursed others.

15 I have seen everything in my days of vanity:

There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness,

And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.

16 Do not be overly righteous,

Nor be overly wise:

Why should you destroy yourself?

17 Do not be overly wicked,

Nor be foolish:

Why should you die before your time?

18 It is good that you grasp this,

And also not remove your hand from the other;

For he who fears God will escape them all.

19 Wisdom strengthens the wise

More than ten rulers of the city.

20 For there is not a just man on earth who does good

And does not sin.

21 Also do not take to heart everything people say,

Lest you hear your servant cursing you.

22 For many times, also, your own heart has known

That even you have cursed others.

15 In my useless life I have seen both of these:

I have seen good people die in spite of their goodness

and evil people live a long time in spite of their evil.

16 Don’t be too right,

and don’t be too wise.

Why destroy yourself?

17 Don’t be too wicked,

and don’t be foolish.

Why die before your time?

18 It is good to grab the one and not let go of the other;

those who honor God will hold them both.

19 Wisdom makes a person stronger

than ten leaders in a city.

20 Surely there is not a good person on earth

who always does good and never sins.

21 Don’t listen to everything people say,

or you might hear your servant insulting you.

22 You know that many times

you have insulted others.

15 All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his evil-doing. 16 Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? 17 Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? 18 It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from that withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth from them all.

19 Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers that are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. 21 Also take not heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee; 22 for oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.

15 All this have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a righteous man that perisheth by his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his days by his wickedness. 16 Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? 17 Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? 18 It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from that withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God cometh forth from them all. 19 Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men that are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not. 21 Also give not heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee. 22 For also thine own heart knoweth that oftentimes thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.

15 I 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. 

16 Don’t be too virtuous, and don’t be too wise. Why make yourself miserable? 17 Don’t be too wicked, and don’t be a fool. Why should you die before your time is up? 18 It’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. 

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

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

15 In my futile life I have seen everything: there is a righteous man who perishes in spite of his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in spite of his evil. 16 Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them.

19 Wisdom makes the wise man stronger

than ten rulers of a city.

20 There is certainly no righteous man on the earth

who does good and never sins.

21 Don’t pay attention to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you, 22 for you know that many times you yourself have cursed others.

15 In my vain life I have seen everything; there are righteous people who perish in their righteousness, and there are wicked people who prolong their life in their evildoing. 16 Do not be too righteous, and do not act too wise; why should you destroy yourself? 17 Do not be too wicked, and do not be a fool; why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of the one, without letting go of the other; for the one who fears God shall succeed with both.

19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise more than ten rulers that are in a city.

20 Surely there is no one on earth so righteous as to do good without ever sinning.

21 Do not give heed to everything that people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you; 22 your heart knows that many times you have yourself cursed others.

15 I 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.

16 Do not be excessively righteous,

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

17 Do not act excessively wicked,

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

18 It 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.

19 Wisdom gives more strength to the wise

than ten rulers who are in the city.

20 Surely there is no one righteous on the earth

who continually does good and never sins.

21 Do not pay attention to everything people say,

lest you hear your own servant curse you.

22 For your heart knows

that you also have cursed others many times.

15 In my meaningless life here’s what I’ve seen.

I’ve seen a godly man dying

even though he is godly.

And I’ve seen a sinful man living a long time

even though he is sinful.

16 Don’t claim to be better than you are.

And don’t claim to be wiser than you are.

Why destroy yourself?

17 Don’t be too sinful.

And don’t be foolish.

Why die before your time comes?

18 It’s good to hold on to both of those things.

Don’t let go of either one.

A man who has respect for God will avoid

going too far in either direction.

19 Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful

than ten rulers in a city.

20 There isn’t anyone on earth

who does only what is right and never sins.

21 Don’t pay attention to everything people say.

If you do, you might hear your servant calling down a curse on you.

22 Many times you yourself have called down curses on others.

Deep down inside, you know that’s true.