Ecclesiastes 6:1–8:1

I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: ²God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them,^j and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.^k

³A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn^l child is better off than he.^{m 4}It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. ⁵Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man—⁶even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?ⁿ

⁷Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,

yet their appetite is never satisfied.^o

⁸What advantage have the wise over fools?^p

What do the poor gain

by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?

⁹Better what the eye sees

than the roving of the appetite.

This too is meaningless,

a chasing after the wind.^q

¹⁰Whatever exists has already been named,^r

and what humanity is has been known;

no one can contend

with someone who is stronger.

¹¹The more the words,

the less the meaning,

and how does that profit anyone?

¹²For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days^s they pass through like a shadow?^t Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?

Wisdom

7A good name is better than fine perfume,^u

and the day of death better than the day of birth.^v

²It is better to go to a house of mourning

than to go to a house of feasting,

for death^w is the destiny^x of everyone;

the living should take this to heart.

³Frustration is better than laughter,^y

because a sad face is good for the heart.

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

but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.^z

⁵It is better to heed the rebuke^a of a wise person

than to listen to the song of fools.

⁶Like the crackling of thorns^b under the pot,

so is the laughter^c of fools.

This too is meaningless.

⁷Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,

and a bribe^d corrupts the heart.

⁸The end of a matter is better than its beginning,

and patience^e is better than pride.

⁹Do not be quickly provoked^f in your spirit,

for anger resides in the lap of fools.^g

¹⁰Do not say, “Why were the old days^h better than these?”

For it is not wise to ask such questions.

¹¹Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thingⁱ

and benefits those who see the sun.^j

¹²Wisdom is a shelter

as money is a shelter,

but the advantage of knowledge is this:

Wisdom preserves those who have it.

¹³Consider what God has done:^k

Who can straighten

what he has made crooked?^l

¹⁴When times are good, be happy;

but when times are bad, consider this:

God has made the one

as well as the other.^m

Therefore, no one can discover

anything about their future.

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

the righteous perishing in their righteousness,

and the wicked living long in their wickedness.^o

¹⁶Do not be overrighteous,

neither be overwise—

why destroy yourself?

¹⁷Do not be overwicked,

and do not be a fool—

why die before your time?^p

¹⁸It is good to grasp the one

and not let go of the other.

Whoever fears God^q will avoid all extremes.^a

¹⁹Wisdom^r makes one wise person more powerful^s

than ten rulers in a city.

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

no one who does what is right and never sins.^u

²¹Do not pay attention to every word people say,

or you^v may hear your servant cursing you—

²²for you know in your heart

that many times you yourself have cursed others.

²³All this I tested by wisdom and I said,

“I am determined to be wise”^w—

but this was beyond me.

²⁴Whatever exists is far off and most profound—

who can discover it?^x

²⁵So I turned my mind to understand,

to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things^y

and to understand the stupidity of wickedness

and the madness of folly.^z

²⁶I find more bitter than death

the woman who is a snare,^a

whose heart is a trap

and whose hands are chains.

The man who pleases God will escape her,

but the sinner she will ensnare.^b

²⁷“Look,” says the Teacher,^bc “this is what I have discovered:

“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—

²⁸while I was still searching

but not finding—

I found one upright man among a thousand,

but not one upright woman^d among them all.

²⁹This only have I found:

God created mankind upright,

but they have gone in search of many schemes.”

8Who is like the wise?

Who knows the explanation of things?

A person’s wisdom brightens their face

and changes its hard appearance.