Ecclesiastes 7:1–12

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.