Ecclesiastes 7:25–8:1

²⁵I ^1adirected my ²mind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness.

²⁶And I discovered more ^abitter than death the woman whose heart is ^bsnares and nets, whose hands are chains. ^cOne who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but ^dthe sinner will be captured by her.

²⁷“Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “adding one thing to another to find an explanation,

²⁸which ¹I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a ^awoman among all these.

²⁹“Behold, I have found only this, that ^aGod made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”

Chapter 8

Obey Rulers

¹Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom ^aillumines ¹him and causes his ^bstern face to ²beam.