Ecclesiastes 7
7
Some Benefits of Serious Thinking
1It is better to have respect than good perfume.
The day of death is better than the day of birth.
2It is better to go to a funeral
than to a party.
We all must die,
and everyone living should think about this.
3Sorrow is better than laughter,
and sadness has a good influence on you.
4A wise person thinks about death,
but a fool thinks only about having a good time.
5It is better to be criticized by a wise person
than to be praised by a fool.
6The laughter of fools
is like the crackling of thorns in a cooking fire.
Both are useless.
7Even wise people are fools
if they let money change their thinking.
8It is better to finish something
than to start it.
It is better to be patient
than to be proud.
9Don’t become angry quickly,
because getting angry is foolish.
10Don’t ask, “Why was life better in the ‘good old days’?”
It is not wise to ask such questions.
11Wisdom is better when it comes with money.
They both help those who are alive.
12Wisdom is like money:
they both help.
But wisdom is better,
because it can save whoever has it.
13Look at what God has done:
No one can straighten what he has bent.
14When life is good, enjoy it.
But when life is hard, remember:
God gives good times and hard times,
and no one knows what tomorrow will bring.
It Is Impossible to Be Truly Good
15In my useless life I have seen both of these:
I have seen good people die in spite of their goodness
and evil people live a long time in spite of their evil.
16Don’t be too right,
and don’t be too wise.
Why destroy yourself?
17Don’t be too wicked,
and don’t be foolish.
Why die before your time?
18It is good to grab the one and not let go of the other;
those who honor God will hold them both.
19Wisdom makes a person stronger
than ten leaders in a city.
20Surely there is not a good person on earth
who always does good and never sins.
21Don’t listen to everything people say,
or you might hear your servant insulting you.
22You know that many times
you have insulted others.
23I used wisdom to test all these things.
I wanted to be wise,
but it was too hard for me.
24I cannot understand why things are as they are.
It is too hard for anyone to understand.
25I studied and tried very hard to find wisdom,
to find some meaning for everything.
I learned that it is foolish to be evil,
and it is crazy to act like a fool.
26I found that some women are worse than death
and are as dangerous as traps.
Their love is like a net,
and their arms hold men like chains.
A man who pleases God will be saved from them,
but a sinner will be caught by them.
27The Teacher says, “This is what I learned:
I added all these things together
to find some meaning for everything.
28While I was searching,
I did not find one man among the thousands I found.
Nor did I find a woman among all these.
29One thing I have learned:
God made people good,
but they have found all kinds of ways to be bad.”
Currently Selected:
Ecclesiastes 7: NCV
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Ecclesiastes 7
7
A Disillusioned View of Life
1A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death, than the day of birth.
2It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting;
for this is the end of everyone,
and the living will lay it to heart.
3Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad.
4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning;
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
6For like the crackling of thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of fools;
this also is vanity.
7Surely oppression makes the wise foolish,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8Better is the end of a thing than its beginning;
the patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit.
9Do not be quick to anger,
for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.
10Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
11Wisdom is as good as an inheritance,
an advantage to those who see the sun.
12For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to the one who possesses it.
13Consider the work of God;
who can make straight what he has made crooked?
14In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that will come after them.
The Riddles of Life
15In my vain life I have seen everything; there are righteous people who perish in their righteousness, and there are wicked people who prolong their life in their evildoing. 16Do not be too righteous, and do not act too wise; why should you destroy yourself? 17Do not be too wicked, and do not be a fool; why should you die before your time? 18It is good that you should take hold of the one, without letting go of the other; for the one who fears God shall succeed with both.
19Wisdom gives strength to the wise more than ten rulers that are in a city.
20Surely there is no one on earth so righteous as to do good without ever sinning.
21Do not give heed to everything that people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you; 22your heart knows that many times you have yourself cursed others.
23All this I have tested by wisdom; I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24That which is, is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25I turned my mind to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the sum of things, and to know that wickedness is folly and that foolishness is madness. 26I found more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are fetters; one who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27See, this is what I found, says the Teacher,#7.27 Qoheleth, traditionally rendered Preacher adding one thing to another to find the sum, 28which my mind has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29See, this alone I found, that God made human beings straightforward, but they have devised many schemes.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.