THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES

 

Ecclesiastes Chapter 7

1 ¶ A good name is more pleasant than precious perfume; and the day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.

2 It is better to go to a funeral, than to go to a banquet: for that is where everyone ends up; and the living should take it to heart.

3 Sorrow is better than laughter: because a sad face may make the heart feel better.

4 The heart of the wise thinks about the funeral; but the heart of fools is only interested in having fun.

5 It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man, than to fools who sing your praise.

6 For the laughter of fools, is like the crackling of thorns under a pot: this also is vanity.

7 ¶ Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool; and a bribe corrupts the mind.

8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

9 Do not be quick tempered: for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

10 Do not ask, Why were the old days better than these? for you are not inquiring wisely concerning this.

11 ¶ Wisdom is as good as an inheritance: and an advantage to those who see the sun.

12 For wisdom is a protection, and money is a protection: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom gives life to those who have it.

13 Consider the work of God: for who can make straight, what he has made crooked?

14 Be happy when you are prosperous, but when bad times come realize: that God has made the one as well as the other, so that man will not find out what will happen after him.

15 I have seen all sorts of things during my days of futility: there is a righteous man who dies in spite of his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in spite of his wickedness.

16 Do not be over righteous; or make yourself over wise: why should you destroy yourself?

17 Do not abound in wickedness, or be a fool: why should you die before your time?

18 It is good for you to grasp the one; and not let the other slip from your hand: for he who fears God will come clear with both.

19 Wisdom will help the wise more than ten mighty men who are in the city.

20 For there is not a righteous man on earth, who does good, without sinning.

21 Also do not listen to everything that is said; lest you hear your servant curse you:

22 For you know in your heart that you have likewise cursed others.

23 ¶ I have tested all this by wisdom: I said, I am going to be wise; but it was out of my reach.

24 What exists is beyond reach, and very deep, who can find out what it is?

25 I applied my heart to seek out, discover, and know wisdom, and the explanation for things, only to find out that it is foolish to be wicked, and such foolishness is crazy:

26 I find the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are chains, more bitter than death: those who please God will escape from her; but the sinner will be captured by her.

27 Look, this is what I have discovered, says the preacher, as I add one thing to another, to find meaning:

28 What my heart sought continually, I did not find: I found one man among a thousand; but a woman among these I have not found.

29 Lo, this alone have I found, that God has made men upright; but they have sought out many inventions.