Ecclesiastes 7
7
Wisdom
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 everyone;
the living should take this to heart.
3Frustration 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 the rebuke of a wise person
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 person 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:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.
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 this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
anything about their future.
15In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
and the wicked living long in their 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.
Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.#7:18 Or will follow them both
19Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful
than ten rulers in a city.
20Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,
no one 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 exists 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,#7:27 Or the leader of the assembly “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 created mankind upright,
but they have gone in search of many schemes.”
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Ecclesiastes 7: NIV
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
Ecclesiastes 7
7
Wisdom is better than wealth
1A good name is better than fine oil,
and the day of death better than the birthday.
2It is better to go to a house in mourning
than to a house party,
because that is everyone’s destiny;
and the living should take it to heart.
3Aggravation is better than merriment
because a sad face may lead to a glad heart.
4The wise heart is in the house that mourns,
but the foolish heart is in the house that rejoices.
5It is better to obey the reprimand of the wise
than to listen to the song of fools,
6because the fool’s merriment
is like nettles crackling under a kettle.
That too is pointless.
7Oppression turns the wise into fools;
a bribe corrupts the heart.
8The end of something is better than its beginning.
Patience is better than arrogance.
9Don’t be too quick to get angry
because anger lives in the fool’s heart.
10Don’t ask, “How is it that the former days were better than these?”
because it isn’t wise to ask this.
11Wisdom is as good as#7.11 Or Wisdom is good with an inheritance—
an advantage for those who see the sun.
12Wisdom’s protection is like the protection of money;
the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.
Good times and bad
13Consider God’s work! Who can straighten what God has made crooked? 14When times are good, enjoy the good; when times are bad, consider: God has made the former as well as the latter so that people can’t discover anything that will come to be after them.
15I have seen everything in my pointless lifetime: the righteous person may die in spite of their righteousness; then again, the wicked may live long in spite of their wickedness. 16Don’t be too righteous or too wise, or you may be dumbfounded.#7.16 Or destroyed 17Don’t be too wicked and don’t be a fool, or you may die before your time. 18It’s good that you take hold of one of these without letting go of the other because the one who fears God will go forth with both.
19Wisdom makes a wise person stronger than ten rulers who are in a city. 20Remember: there’s no one on earth so righteous as to do good only and never make a mistake.#7.20 Or and never sin 21Don’t worry about all the things people say, so you don’t hear your servant cursing you. 22After all, you know that you’ve often cursed others yourself!
Life is complicated
23I tested all of this by wisdom. I thought, I will be wise, but it eluded me.
24All that happens is elusive and utterly unfathomable. Who can grasp it? 25I turned my mind to know, to investigate, and to seek wisdom, along with an account of things, to know that wickedness is foolishness and folly is madness.
26I found one woman more bitter than death: she who is a trap, her heart a snare, her hands shackles. Anyone who pleases God escapes her, but a sinner is trapped by her. 27See, this is what I found, says the Teacher, examining one matter after another to account for things. 28But there’s something that I constantly searched for but couldn’t find: I found one man among a thousand, but I couldn’t find a woman among any of these.#7.28 Heb uncertain
29See, this alone I found: God made human beings straightforward, but they search for many complications.
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