Ecclesiastes 7

1 A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.

A good name is better than costly perfume, and the day of death is better than the day of birth.

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 of mourning than to a house of feasting, for mourning comes to all people at the end of life, so living people must take this to heart.

3 Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.

Grief is better than laughter, for after sadness of face comes gladness of heart.

4 The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of feasting.

5 It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools.

It is better to listen to the rebuke of the wise than to listen to the song of fools.

6 For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.

For like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so also is the laughter of fools. This, too, is vapor.

7 Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart.

Extortion certainly makes a wise man foolish, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

8 Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the patient man than the presumptuous.

Better is the end of a matter than the beginning; and the people patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit.

9 Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.

Do not be quick to anger in your spirit, for anger resides in the hearts of fools.

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, “Why were the days of old better than these?” For it is not because of wisdom that you ask this question.

11 Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage to them that see the sun.

Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good. It benefits those who see the sun.

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.

For wisdom provides protection as money can provide protection, but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to whoever has it.

13 Consider the works of God, that no man can correct whom he hath despised.

Consider the deeds of God: Who can straighten out anything he has made 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 times are good, live happily in that good, but when times are bad, consider this: God has allowed both to exist side by side. For this reason, no one will find out anything that is coming after him.

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.

I have seen many things in my meaningless days. There are righteous people who perish in spite of their righteousness, and there are wicked people who live a long life in spite of their evil.

16 Be not over just: and be not more wise than is necessary, lest thou become stupid.

Do not be self-righteous, wise in your own eyes. Why should you destroy yourself?

17 Be not overmuch wicked: and be not foolish, lest thou die before thy time.

Do not be too wicked or foolish. Why should you die before your time?

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.

It is good that you should take hold of this wisdom, and that you should not let go of righteousness. For the person who fears God will meet all his obligations.

19 Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the city.

Wisdom is powerful in the wise man, more than ten rulers in a city.

20 For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not.

There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and 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 listen to every word that is spoken, because you might hear your servant curse you.

22 For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast often spoken evil of others.

Similarly, you know yourself that in your own heart you have often cursed others.

23 I have tried all things in wisdom. I have said: I will be wise: and it departed farther from me,

All this have I proven by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was more than I could be.

24 Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?

Wisdom is far off and very deep. Who can find it?

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:

I turned my heart to learn and examine and seek wisdom and the explanations of reality, and to understand that evil is stupid and that folly is madness.

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.

I found that more bitter than death is any woman whose heart is full of snares and nets, and whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God will escape from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.

27 Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after another, that I might find out the account,

“Consider what I have discovered,” says the Teacher. “I have been adding one discovery to another in order to find an explanation of reality.

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.

This is what I am still looking for, but I have not found it. I did find one righteous man among a thousand, but a woman among all those I did not find.

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?

I have discovered only this: That God created humanity upright, but they have gone away looking for many difficulties.”