Ecclesiastes 7

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

A good name is better than oil of great price, and the day of death than the day of birth.

2 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.

It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.

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

Sorrow is better than joy; when the face is sad the mind gets better.

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

The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.

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

It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.

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

Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.

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

The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.

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

The end of a thing is better than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride.

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

Be not quick to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.

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

Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.

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

Wisdom together with a heritage is good, and a profit to those who see the sun.

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

Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.

13 Consider the deeds of God: Who can straighten out anything he has made crooked?

Give thought to the work of God. Who will make straight what he has made bent?

14 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.

In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.

15 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.

These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.

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

Be not given overmuch to righteousness and be not over-wise. Why let destruction come on you?

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

Be not evil overmuch, and be not foolish. Why come to your end before your time?

18 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.

It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.

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

Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.

20 There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does good and is free from sin all his days.

21 Do not listen to every word that is spoken, because you might hear your servant curse you.

Do not give ear to all the words which men say, for fear of hearing the curses of your servant.

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

Your heart has knowledge how frequently others have been cursed by you.

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

All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.

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

Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?

25 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.

I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.

26 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.

And I saw a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.

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

Look! this I have seen, said the Preacher, taking one thing after another to get the true account,

28 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.

For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.

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

This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they have been searching out all sorts of inventions.