Ecclesiastes 7 / 12
- 1A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
- 2It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.
- 3Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.
- 4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
- 5It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.
- 6Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.
- 7Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
- 8The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
- 9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
- 10Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.
- 11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.
- 12Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.
- 13Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?
- 14When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.
- 15In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
- 16Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise- why destroy yourself?
- 17Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool- why die before your time?
- 18It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes .
- 19Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.
- 20There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
- 21Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you-
- 22for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
- 23All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined to be wise"- but this was beyond me.
- 24Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound- who can discover it?
- 25So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.
- 26I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
- 27"Look," says the Teacher, "this is what I have discovered: "Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things-
- 28while I was still searching but not finding- I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.
- 29This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes."