Ecclesiastes 7
7
Wise Sayings
1A good name is better than fine perfume, # Pr 22:1; Ezk 36:21
and the day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth. # Ec 4:2
2It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
since that is the end of all mankind,
and the living should take it to heart. # Ps 90:12
3Grief is better than laughter,
for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad. # Pr 14:13
4The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.
5It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools, # Pr 13:1
6for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, # Ps 58:9; 118:12
so is the laughter of the fool.
This too is futile.
7Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, # Ec 4:1
and a bribe destroys the mind. # Dt 16:19; Pr 17:8
8The end of a matter is better than its beginning;
a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit. # Pr 14:29
9Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry,
for anger abides in the heart of fools. # Pr 14:17; Jms 1:19
10Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these? ” # Jdg 6:13
since it is not wise of you to ask this.
11Wisdom is as good as an inheritance
and an advantage to those who see the sun,
12because wisdom is protection as money is protection,
and the advantage of knowledge
is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. # Pr 3:18
13Consider the work of God, # Ec 3:11
for who can straighten out
what He has made crooked? # Ec 1:15
14In the day of prosperity be joyful, # Ec 3:22 but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, # Lm 3:38 so that man cannot discover anything that will come after him.
Avoiding Extremes
15In my futile life # Lit days I have seen everything: # Ec 6:12; 9:9 there is a righteous man who perishes in spite of his righteousness, # Ec 8:14 and there is a wicked man who lives long in spite of his evil. # Ec 8:12-13 16Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise. # Ec 2:15; Rm 12:3 Why should you destroy yourself? 17Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time? # Jb 22:16; Ps 55:23; Pr 10:27 18It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them.
19Wisdom makes the wise man stronger
than ten rulers of a city. # Ec 9:13-18
20There is certainly no righteous man on the earth
who does good and never sins. # 1Kg 8:46; Rm 3:23
21Don’t pay attention # Lit Don’t give your heart to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you, # Pr 30:10 22for you know that many times you yourself have cursed others.
What the Teacher Found
23I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, “I will be wise,” but it was beyond me. 24What exists is beyond reach and very deep. # Rm 11:33 Who can discover it? 25I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and seek wisdom # Ec 1:15,17 and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness. 26And I find more bitter than death # Pr 5:4 the woman who is a trap, # Pr 6:25 her heart a net, and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her. 27“Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation, 28which my soul continually searches for but does not find: among a thousand people I have found one true man, but among all these I have not found a true woman. # 1Kg 11:3 29Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright, # Gn 1:27 but they pursued many schemes.”
Currently Selected:
Ecclesiastes 7: HCSB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Ecclesiastes 7
7
1 Why is it necessary for a man to seek things that are greater than himself, when he does not know what is advantageous for himself in his life, during the number of the days of his sojourn, and while time passes by like a shadow? Or who will be able to tell him what will be in the future after him under the sun?
2 A good name is better than precious ointments, and a day of death is better than a day of birth.
3 It is better to go to a house of mourning, than to a house of feasting. For in the former, we are admonished about the end of all things, so that the living consider what may be in the future.
4 Anger is better than laughter. For through the sadness of the countenance, the soul of one who offends may be corrected.
5 The heart of the wise is a place of mourning, and the heart of the foolish is a place of rejoicing.
6 It is better to be corrected by a wise man, than to be deceived by the false praise of the foolish.
7 For, like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of the foolish. But this, too, is emptiness.
8 A false accusation troubles the wise man and saps the strength of his heart.
9 The end of a speech is better than the beginning. Patience is better than arrogance.
10 Do not be quickly moved to anger. For anger resides in the sinews of the foolish.
11 You should not say: "What do you think is the reason that the former times were better than they are now?" For this type of question is foolish.
12 Wisdom with riches is more useful and more advantageous, for those who see the sun.
13 For as wisdom protects, so also does money protect. But learning and wisdom have this much more: that they grant life to one who possesses them.
14 Consider the works of God, that no one is able to correct whomever he has despised.
15 In good times, enjoy good things, but beware of an evil time. For just as God has establish the one, so also the other, in order that man may not find any just complaint against him.
16 I also saw this, in the days of my vanity: a just man perishing in his justice, and an impious man living a long time in his malice.
17 Do not try to be overly just, and do not try to be more wise than is necessary, lest you become stupid.
18 Do not act with great impiety, and do not choose to be foolish, lest you die before your time.
19 It is good for you to support a just man. Furthermore, you should not withdraw your hand from him, for whoever fears God, neglects nothing.
20 Wisdom has strengthened the wise more than ten princes of a city.
21 But there is no just man on earth, who does good and does not sin.
22 So then, do not attach your heart to every word that is spoken, lest perhaps you may hear your servant speaking ill of you.
23 For your conscience knows that you, too, have repeatedly spoken evil of others.
24 I have tested everything in wisdom. I have said: "I will be wise." And wisdom withdrew farther from me,
25 so much more than it was before. Wisdom is very profound, so who shall reveal her?
26 I have examined all things in my soul, so that I may know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason, and so that I may recognize the impiety of the foolish, and the error of the imprudent.
27 And I have discovered a woman more bitter than death: she who is like the snare of a hunter, and whose heart is like a net, and whose hands are like chains. Whoever pleases God shall flee from her. But whoever is a sinner shall be seized by her.
28 Behold, Ecclesiastes said, I have discovered these things, one after another, in order that I might discover the explanation
29 which my soul still seeks and has not found. One man among a thousand, I have found; a woman among them all, I have not found.
30 This alone have I discovered: that God made man righteous, and yet he has adulterated himself with innumerable questions. Who is so great as the wise? And who has understood the meaning of the word?
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in