Ecclesiastes 7
1 A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
[Having] a good reputation [MTY] is better than fine perfume, and the day that we die is better than the day that we are born.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all, and the living thinketh what is to come.
It is better to go to a house where people are mourning [about someone who has died] than to go to a house where people are feasting, because everyone will die some day, and people who are alive should think seriously [IDM] about that.
3 Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.
It is better to be sad than to be [always] laughing, because being sad can cause us to think more about how we should conduct our lives [IDM].
4 The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth.
Wise [people] who go to where others are mourning think about [the fact that some day they also will] die, but foolish people [PRS] [do not think about that]; they are always [MTY] laughing.
5 It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools.
It is better to pay attention to [someone who is wise] you than to listen to the songs of a foolish person.
6 For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.
By [listening to] foolish people laughing we will not [learn any more than by listening to] the crackling of thorns [being burned] under a pot. Listening to fools is senseless.
7 Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart.
When wise people say to others, “You must pay me a lot of money for me to protect you,” that causes those wise people to become foolish, and [accepting] bribes causes people to become unable to do what is fair/just.
8 Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the patient man than the presumptuous.
Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.
9 Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.
Do not quickly (lose your temper/react to things angrily), because it is foolish people [SYN] who become very angry.
10 Say not: What thinkest thou is the cause that former times were better than they are now? for this manner of question is foolish.
Do not say, “Things were a lot better [RHQ] previously,” because it is people who are not wise who say that.
11 Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage to them that see the sun.
Being wise is better than inheriting [valuable things]; being wise provides lasting benefits for every person on the earth [MTY].
12 For as wisdom is a defence, so money is a defence: but learning and wisdom excel in this, that they give life to him that possesseth them.
We are [sometimes] protected by being wise like we are [sometimes] protected by having a lot of money, but being wise is better [than having a lot of money], [because] being wise prevents us from [doing foolish things that would] cause us to die.
13 Consider the works of God, that no man can correct whom he hath despised.
Think [carefully about] what God has done. Certainly no one can [RHQ] cause to become straight the things that God has caused to be crooked.
14 In the good day enjoy good things, and beware beforehand of the evil day: for God hath made both the one and the other, that man may not find against him any just complaint.
When things are going well for you, be happy, and when things are not going well for you, remember that God is the one who causes good things to happen and who also causes disasters.
15 These things also I saw in the days of my vanity: A just man perisheth in his justice, and a wicked man liveth a long time in his wickedness.
During all the time that I have been alive I have seen a lot of [HYP] things that seem senseless. I have seen righteous people die [while they are still young], and I have seen wicked people remain alive for a very long time in [spite of] their continuing to be wicked.
16 Be not over just: and be not more wise than is necessary, lest thou become stupid.
[So] do not think that you are very righteous and do not think that you are very wise, [because if you think those things], you will destroy yourself.
17 Be not overmuch wicked: and be not foolish, lest thou die before thy time.
If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young.
18 It is good that thou shouldst hold up the just, yea and from him withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God, neglecteth nothing.
Continue to avoid doing what is evil and doing what is foolish; avoid doing both of those things by continually revering God.
19 Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the city.
If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential than the ten most powerful/influential men in your city.
20 For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not.
There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.
21 But do not apply thy heart to all words that are spoken: lest perhaps thou hear thy servant reviling thee.
Do not pay attention [IDM] to everything that people say, because if you do that, you might hear your servant cursing you.
22 For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast often spoken evil of others.
You know that you have also cursed other people.
23 I have tried all things in wisdom. I have said: I will be wise: and it departed farther from me,
I said [to myself] that I would use my wisdom to study all the things [that I have written about], but I was not able to do it successfully.
24 Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?
Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.
25 I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the wickedness of the fool, and the error of the imprudent:
But I decided to investigate things and by my wisdom try to understand the reason for everything. I also wanted to understand why people act wickedly and why they act very foolishly.
26 And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the hunter’s snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall be caught by her.
[One thing I learned was that] (allowing a woman to seduce you/having sex with a woman to whom you are not married) is worse than dying. A woman who tries to seduce men is [as dangerous as] a trap [MET]. [If you allow her to put] her arms [around you, it will be as though she will be fastening you with] chains. Women like that will capture sinful men, but men who please God will escape from such women.
27 Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after another, that I might find out the account,
This is what I have learned: I tried to learn more and more about things to try to find out the reason for everything,
28 Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it. One man among a thousand I have found, a woman among them all I have not found.
and I continued to try to learn more, but I could not find [all that I was searching for]. [But] one thing that I found out was that among 1,000 [people] I found one righteous man, but I did not find even one righteous woman.
29 Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions. Who is as the wise man? and who hath known the resolution of the word?
[But] I did learn one thing: When God created people, they were righteous, but they have found many ways to do many evil things.
