Ecclesiastes 7–8

Wisdom

A good name is better than fine perfume,^a

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

It is better to go to a house of mourning

than to go to a house of feasting,

for death^c is the destiny^d of everyone;

the living should take this to heart.

Frustration is better than laughter,^e

because a sad face is good for the heart.

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

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

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

than to listen to the song of fools.

Like the crackling of thorns^h under the pot,

so is the laughterⁱ of fools.

This too is meaningless.

Extortion turns the wise into fools,

and a bribe^j corrupts the heart.

The end of a matter is better than its beginning,

and patience^k is better than pride.

Do not be quickly provoked^l in your spirit,

for anger resides in the lap of fools.^m

Do not say, “Why were the old daysⁿ better than these?”

For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing^o

and benefits those who see the sun.^p

Wisdom is a shelter

as money is a shelter,

but the advantage of knowledge is this:

Wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.

Consider what God has done:^q

Who can straighten

what he has made crooked?^r

When times are good, be happy;

but when times are bad, consider:

God has made the one

as well as the other.^s

Therefore, you cannot discover

anything about your future.

In this meaningless life^t of mine I have seen both of these:

the righteous perishing in their righteousness,

and the wicked living long in their wickedness.^u

Do not be overrighteous,

neither be overwise—

why destroy yourself?

Do not be overwicked,

and do not be a fool—

why die before your time?^v

It is good to grasp the one

and not let go of the other.

Whoever fears God^w will avoid all ^⌈extremes^⌈.

Wisdom^x makes one wise person more powerful^y

than ten rulers in a city.

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,^z

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

Do not pay attention to every word people say,

or you^b may hear your servant cursing you—

for you know in your heart

that many times you yourself have cursed others.

All this I tested by wisdom and I said,

“I am determined to be wise”^c—

but this was beyond me.

Whatever exists is far off and most profound—

who can discover it?^d

So I turned my mind to understand,

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

and to understand the stupidity of wickedness

and the madness of folly.^f

I find more bitter than death

the woman who is a snare,^g

whose heart is a trap

and whose hands are chains.

The man who pleases God will escape her,

but the sinner she will ensnare.^h

“Look,” says the Teacher,ⁱ “this is what I have discovered:

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

while I was still searching

but not finding—

I found one ^⌈upright^⌈ man among a thousand,

but not one ^⌈upright^⌈ woman^j among them all.

This only have I found:

God created humankind upright,

but they have gone in search of many schemes.”

Who is like the wise?

Who knows the explanation of things?

Wisdom brightens the face

and changes its hard appearance.

Obey the King

Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence.^a Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?^b”

Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,

and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.

For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,^c

though a person may be weighed down by misery.

Since no one knows the future,

who can say what is to come?

As no one has power over the wind to contain it,

so no one has power over the time of their death.

As no one is discharged in time of war,

so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt. Then too, I saw the wicked buried^d—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.

When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better^e with those who fear God,^f who are reverent before him.^g Yet because the wicked do not fear God,^h it will not go well with them, and their daysⁱ will not lengthen like a shadow.

There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve.^j This too, I say, is meaningless.^k So I commend the enjoyment of life^l, because there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat and drink^m and be glad.ⁿ Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.

When I applied my mind to know wisdom^o and to observe the labor that is done on earth^p—people getting no sleep day or night— then I saw all that God has done.^q No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. People toil to search it out, but no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.^r