Ecclesiastes 7
7
Thoughts about Life
1 #
Prov 22.1
A good reputation is better than expensive perfume; and the day you die is better than the day you are born.
2It is better to go to a home where there is mourning than to one where there is a party, because the living should always remind themselves that death is waiting for us all.
3Sorrow is better than laughter; it may sadden your face, but it sharpens your understanding.
4Someone who is always thinking about happiness is a fool. A wise person thinks about death.
5It is better to have wise people reprimand you than to have stupid people sing your praises.
6When a fool laughs, it is like thorns crackling in a fire. It doesn't mean a thing.
7You may be wise, but if you cheat someone, you are acting like a fool. If you take a bribe, you ruin your character.
8The end of anything is better than its beginning.
Patience is better than pride.
9 #
Jas 1.19
Keep your temper under control; it is foolish to harbour a grudge.
10Never ask, “Oh, why were things so much better in the old days?” It's not an intelligent question.
11Everyone who lives ought to be wise; it is as good as receiving an inheritance 12and will give you as much security as money can. Wisdom keeps you safe — this is the advantage of knowledge.
13Think about what God has done. How can anyone straighten out what God has made crooked? 14When things are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next.#7.14 you… next; or you cannot find fault with him.
15My life has been useless, but in it I have seen everything. Some good people may die while others live on, even though they are evil. 16So don't be too good or too wise — why kill yourself? 17But don't be too wicked or too foolish, either — why die before you have to? 18Avoid both extremes. If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway.
19Wisdom does more for a person than ten rulers can do for a city.
20There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake.
21Don't pay attention to everything people say — you may hear your servant insulting you, 22and you know yourself that you have insulted other people many times.
23I used my wisdom to test all of this. I was determined to be wise, but it was beyond me. 24How can anyone discover what life means? It is too deep for us, too hard to understand. 25But I devoted myself to knowledge and study; I was determined to find wisdom and the answers to my questions, and to learn how wicked and foolish stupidity is.
26I found something more bitter than death — the woman who is like a trap. The love she offers you will catch you like a net; and her arms round you will hold you like a chain. A man who pleases God can get away, but she will catch the sinner. 27Yes, said the Philosopher, I found this out little by little while I was looking for answers. 28I have looked for other answers but have found none. I found one man in a thousand that I could respect, but not one woman. 29This is all that I have learnt: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Ecclesiastes 7
7
Some Benefits of Serious Thinking
1It is better to have respect than good perfume.
The day a person dies is better than the day he was born.
2It is better to go to a funeral
than to a party.
We all must die.
Everyone living should think about this.
3Sorrow is better than laughter.
Sadness has a good influence on you.
4A wise man thinks about death,
but a foolish person thinks only about having a good time.
5It is better to be criticized by a wise man
than to be praised by a foolish person.
6The laughter of foolish people is useless.
It is like heating a pot by burning straw.
There is a lot of fire but no heat.
7Even a wise man will become foolish
if he lets money change his thinking.
8It is better to finish something
than to start it.
It is better to be patient
than to be proud.
9Don’t become mad 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 as good to have as inheriting property.
It helps people see what to do.
12Wisdom is like money.
They both help a person.
But wisdom is better than money,
because it can save a person’s life.
13Stop and think about everything that God causes to happen.
You cannot change a thing,
even if you think it is wrong.
14When life is good, enjoy it.
But when life is hard, remember:
God gives us good times and hard times.
And no one knows what tomorrow will bring.
It Is Impossible to Be Truly Good
15In my short life I have seen both of these:
I have seen good men die being good.
And I have seen evil men living a long time.
16Don’t try to be too right all the time.
Don’t try to be too wise, either.
Why should you destroy yourself this way?
17Don’t be too wicked.
And don’t be a foolish person.
You will die young if you do so.
18Try to avoid going too far in doing anything.
Those who honor God will avoid doing too much of anything.
19Wisdom gives a person strength.
One wise man is stronger than ten leaders in a city.
20Surely there is not a good man on earth
who always does good and never sins.
21Don’t listen to everything people say.
You might hear your servant insulting you.
22You know that many times
you also 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.
I tried 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.
They are as dangerous as traps.
Their love is like a net.
Their arms hold men like chains.
A man who follows God will run away 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 see if I could find some meaning for everything.
28I am still looking for it,
but I have not found it.
But I did discover that truly good people are hard to find.
Such people are one in a million!
29One thing I have learned:
God made people good.
But people have found all kinds of ways to be bad.”
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.