Ecclesiastes 7:25–8:1

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.