Ecclesiastes 7
7
Proverbs about Life
1A good name is better than expensive perfume, and the day you die is better than the day you’re born. 2It is better to go to a funeral than to a banquet because that is where everyone will end up. Everyone who is alive should take this to heart! 3Sorrow is better than laughter because, in spite of a sad face, the heart can be joyful. 4The minds of wise people think about funerals, but the minds of fools think about banquets.
5It is better to listen to wise people who reprimand you than to fools who sing your praises. 6The laughter of a fool is like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot. Even this is pointless.
7Oppression can turn a wise person into a fool, and a bribe can corrupt the mind.
8The end of something is better than its beginning. It is better to be patient than arrogant.
9Don’t be quick to get angry, because anger is typical of fools. 10Don’t ask, “Why were things better in the old days than they are now?” It isn’t wisdom that leads you to ask this!
Wisdom Gives Life
11Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. It is an advantage to everyone who sees the sun. 12Wisdom protects us just as money protects us, but the advantage of wisdom is that it gives life to those who have it.
13Consider what God has done! Who can straighten what God has bent?
A Truth for Every Situation
14When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one time as well as the other so that mortals cannot predict their future.
Mortals Don’t Get What They Deserve
15I have seen it all in my pointless life:
Righteous people die in spite of being righteous.
Wicked people go on living in spite of being wicked.
16Don’t be too virtuous, and don’t be too wise. Why make yourself miserable? 17Don’t be too wicked, and don’t be a fool. Why should you die before your time is up? 18It’s good to hold on to the one and not let go of the other, because the one who fears God will be able to avoid both extremes.
The Advantages of Wisdom
19Wisdom will help a wise person more than ten rulers can help a city. 20Certainly, there is no one so righteous on earth that he always does what is good and never sins.
21Don’t take everything that people say to heart, or you may hear your own servant cursing you. 22Your conscience knows that you have cursed others many times.
23I used wisdom to test all of this. I said, “I want to be wise, but it is out of my reach.” 24Whatever wisdom may be, it is out of reach. It is deep, very deep. Who can find out what it is? 25I turned my attention to study, to explore, and to seek out wisdom and the reason for things. I learned that wickedness is stupid and foolishness is madness.
26I find that a woman whose thoughts are ⌞like⌟ traps and snares is more bitter than death itself. Even her hands are ⌞like⌟ chains. Whoever pleases God will escape her, but she will catch whoever continues to sin.
27The spokesman said, “This is what I’ve found: I added one thing to another in order to find a reason for things. 28I am still seeking a reason for things, but have not found any. I found one man out of a thousand who had it, but out of all these I didn’t find one woman. 29I have found only this: God made people decent, but they looked for many ways ⌞to avoid being decent⌟.”
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Ecclesiastes 7
7
1 A good name is better than fine perfume; and the day of death better than the day of one’s birth. 2It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of all men, and the living should take this to heart. 3Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the face the heart is made good. 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 for a man to hear the song of fools. 6For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity. 7Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding. 8Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.
The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. 9Don’t be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. 10Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not ask wisely about this.
11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun. 12For wisdom is a defence, even as money is a defence; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight which he has made crooked? 14In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him.
15 All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing. 16Don’t be overly righteous, neither make yourself overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17Don’t be too wicked, neither be foolish. Why should you die before your time? 18It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also don’t withdraw your hand from that; for he who fears God will come out of them all. 19Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and doesn’t sin. 21Also don’t take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you; 22for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others. 23All this I have proved in wisdom. I said, “I will be wise;” but it was far from me. 24That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out? 25I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.
26 I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be ensnared by her.
27“Behold, I have found this,” says the Preacher, “to one another, to find an explanation 28which my soul still seeks, but I have not found. I have found one man amongst a thousand, but I have not found a woman amongst all those. 29Behold, I have only found this: that God made mankind upright; but they search for many inventions.”
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