Ecclesiastes 7–8

A Disillusioned View of Life

⁷A good name is better than precious ointment,

and the day of death, than the day of birth.^*

²It is better to go to the house of mourning

than to go to the house of feasting,

for this is the end of everyone,

and the living will lay it to heart.^*

³Sorrow is better than laughter,

for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad.^*

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

but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

⁵It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise

than to hear the song of fools.^*

⁶For like the crackling of thorns under a pot,

so is the laughter of fools;

this also is vanity.

⁷Surely oppression makes the wise foolish,

and a bribe corrupts the heart.^*

⁸Better is the end of a thing than its beginning;

the patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit.^*

⁹Do not be quick to anger,

for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.^*

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

For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

¹¹Wisdom is as good as an inheritance,

an advantage to those who see the sun.^*

¹²For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,

and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to the one who possesses it.

¹³Consider the work of God;

who can make straight what he has made crooked?^*

¹⁴In the day of prosperity, be joyful, and in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that comes after them.^*

The Riddles of Life

¹⁵In 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? ¹⁸It 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.

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

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

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

²³All this I have tested by wisdom; I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me.^{* 24}That which is, is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?^{* 25}I turned my mind to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the sum of things and to know that wickedness is folly and that foolishness is madness.^{* 26}I found more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, whose heart is nets, whose hands are fetters; one who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.^{* 27}See, this is what I found, says the Teacher, adding one thing to another to find the sum,^{* 28}which my mind has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. ²⁹See, this alone I found, that God made human beings straightforward, but they have devised many schemes.^*

Obey the King and Enjoy Yourself

⁸Who is like the wise man?

And who knows the interpretation of a thing?

Being wise makes one’s face shine,

but arrogance changes one’s face.^*

²Keepⁿ the king’s command, and because of your sacred oath^{* 3}do not be terrified; go from his presence; do not delay when the matter is unpleasant, for he does whatever he pleases. ⁴For the word of the king is powerful, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”^{* 5}Whoever obeys a command will meet no harm, and the wise mind will know the time and way. ⁶For every matter has its time and way, although the troubles of mortals lie heavy upon them.^{* 7}Indeed, they do not know what is to be, for who can tell them how it will be?^{* 8}No one has power over the wind^o to restrain the wind^p or power over the day of death; there is no discharge from the battle, nor does wickedness deliver those who practice it.^{* 9}All this I observed, applying my mind to all that is done under the sun, while one person exercises authority over another to the other’s hurt.^*

God’s Ways Are Inscrutable

¹⁰Then I saw the wicked approaching to sacrifice;^q they go in and out of the holy place, and they boast^r in the city that they have done such things. This also is vanity. ¹¹Because sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the human heart is fully set to do evil. ¹²Though sinners do evil a hundred times and prolong their lives, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they stand in fear before him,^{* 13}but it will not be well with the wicked, neither will they prolong their days like a shadow, because they do not stand in fear before God.^*

¹⁴There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people who are treated according to the conduct of the wicked and wicked people who are treated according to the conduct of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.^{* 15}So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat and drink and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun.^*

¹⁶When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, how one’s eyes see sleep neither day nor night, ¹⁷then I saw all the work of God, that no one can find out what is happening under the sun. However much they may toil in seeking, they will not find it out; even though those who are wise claim to know, they cannot find it out.^*