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The New Revised Standard Version
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A Disillusioned View of Life

7 A good name is better than precious ointment,

and the day of death, than the day of birth.

2 It 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.

3 Sorrow is better than laughter,

for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad.

4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning;

but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise

than to hear the song of fools.

6 For like the crackling of thorns under a pot,

so is the laughter of fools;

this also is vanity.

7 Surely oppression makes the wise foolish,

and a bribe corrupts the heart.

8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning;

the patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit.

9 Do not be quick to anger,

for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.

10 Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?”

For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance,

an advantage to those who see the sun.

12 For 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.

13 Consider the work of God;

who can make straight what he has made crooked?

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that will come after them.

NRSV

About The New Revised Standard Version

The original Revised Standard Version served as a standard for nearly forty years. The New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha maintains the traditions of the older version with fresh new vocabulary and modern English construction.

Copyright

Up to five hundred (500) verses of The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible text may be quoted or reprinted without the express written permission of the publisher, provided that the verses quoted neither amount to a complete book of the Bible nor account for 50% or more of the written text of the total work in which they are quoted.

When the NRSV text is quoted, notice of copyright must appear on the title or copyright page of the work as follows:

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

When quotations from the NRSV text are used in a non-saleable media, such as church bulletins, orders of service, posters, transparencies or similar media, the initials (NRSV) may be used at the end of each quotation.

Quotations or reprints in excess of five hundred (500) verses (as well as other permissions requests) must be approved in writing by the NRSV Permissions Office, The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115-0050.

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