Ecclesiastes 6:10-7:14

New King James Version

¹⁰Whatever one is, he has been named ^(A)already,
For it is known that he is man;
^(B)And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.
¹¹Since there are many things that increase vanity,
How is man the better?

¹²For who knows what is good for man in life, ^[a]all the days of his ^[b]vain life which he passes like ^(C)a shadow? ^(D)Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?

The Value of Practical Wisdom

7 A ^(E)good name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one’s ^(F)birth;
²Better 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 will take it to ^(G)heart.
³^[c]Sorrow is better than laughter,
^(H)For by a sad countenance the heart is made ^[d]better.
⁴The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

⁵^(I)It is better to ^[e]hear the rebuke of the wise
Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
⁶^(J)For like the ^[f]crackling of thorns under a pot,
So is the laughter of the fool.
This also is vanity.
⁷Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason,
^(K)And a bribe ^[g]debases the heart.

⁸The end of a thing is better than its beginning;
^(L)The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
⁹^(M)Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
¹⁰Do not say,
“Why were the former days better than these?”
For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

¹¹Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
And profitable ^(N)to those who see the sun.
¹²For wisdom is ^[h]a ^(O)defense as money is a defense,
But the ^[i]excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives ^(P)life to those who have it.

¹³Consider the work of God;
For ^(Q)who can make straight what He has made crooked?
¹⁴^(R)In the day of prosperity be joyful,
But in the day of adversity consider:
Surely God has appointed the one ^[j]as well as the other,
So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.