Ecclesiastes 7

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.”