True Righteousness and Wisdom are Virtually Nonexistent

7:25 I tried79 to understand, examine, and comprehend80

the role of81 wisdom in the scheme of things,82

and to understand the stupidity of wickedness83 and the insanity of folly.84

7:26 I discovered this:85

More bitter than death is the kind of86 woman87 who is like a hunter’s snare;88

her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains.

The man who pleases God escapes her,

but the sinner is captured by her.

7:27 The Teacher says:

I discovered this while trying to discover the scheme of things, item by item.

7:28 What I have continually sought, I have not found;

I have found only89 one upright90 man among a thousand,

but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.

7:29 This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright,

but they have sought many evil schemes.