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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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.

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?