Ecclesiastes 7-9
Complete Jewish Bible
7 A good name is better than perfumed oil,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
2 Better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for all are destined to be mourned;
the living should lay this to heart.
3 Grief is better than laughter,
for sadness can improve a person.
4 The thoughts of the wise are in the house of mourning,
but the thoughts of fools are in the house of pleasure.
5 It is better to hear the rebukes of the wise
than to listen to the songs of fools.
6 For the laughter of fools is like the crackling of thorns
burning under a pot; this too is pointless.
7 But oppression can make a wise man stupid;
also a gift can destroy understanding.
8 The end of something is better than its beginning,
so the patient are better than the proud.
9 Don’t be quick to get angry,
for [only] fools nurse anger.
10 Don’t ask why the old days were better than now,
because that is a foolish question.
11 Wisdom is good, along with possessions,
an advantage to all who see the sun.
12 For wisdom is a shelter,
and money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is
that wisdom keeps the one who has it alive.
13 Consider the work of God:
who can make straight what he has made crooked?
14 When things are going well, enjoy yourself;
but when things are going badly, consider
that God made the one alongside the other,
so that people would learn nothing of their futures.
15 In my pointless life, I’ve seen everything —
from the righteous person perishing in his uprightness
to the wicked one who lives a long life
and keeps on doing wrong.
16 So don’t be overly righteous or overly wise;
why should you disappoint yourself?
17 But don’t be overly wicked, and don’t be foolish;
why should you die before your time?
18 Don’t grasp just one of these rules;
take hold of the other as well;
for he who is in fear of God
will live by both of them.
19 To a wise man wisdom is better protection
than ten rulers in a city.
20 For there isn’t a righteous person on earth
who does [only] good and never sins.
21 Also, don’t take seriously every word spoken,
such as when you hear your servant speaking badly of you;
22 because often, as you yourself know,
you have spoken badly of others.
23 All this I have put to the test of wisdom;
I said, “I will acquire wisdom”;
but wisdom remained far away from me.
24 That which exists is far away
and deep, so deep, that it can’t be discovered.
25 So I turned myself and my thoughts to know, search out and seek wisdom and the reasons behind things, also to know how foolish it is to be wicked and how stupid to act like a fool.
26 I found more bitter than death
the woman who is a trap,
whose heart is a snare
and whose hands are like prison chains.
The man who pleases God will escape from her,
but the sinner will be caught by her.
27 I have found this — says Kohelet —
adding one thing to another to reach a conclusion,
28 I searched a long time without finding it:
one man in a thousand I have found,
but a woman among all those I have not found.
29 This is the only thing I have found,
that God made human beings upright,
but they have devised many schemes.
8 Who can be compared with a wise person?
Who else knows what a thing means?
Wisdom lights up the face
and softens a grim appearance.
2 Keep the king’s command
because of the oath before God.
3 Don’t be quick to leave his presence,
and don’t persist in doing what is wrong,
for he does whatever he pleases.
4 After all, his word is final;
who can challenge him, “Why are you doing that?”
5 Whoever obeys his command
will never come to harm,
and the wise person will know
the right time and judgment.
6 For to everything there is
a right time and a judgment,
since people are greatly troubled
7 by uncertainty over the future;
even when the event takes place,
who will tell them about it?
8 Just as no one has the power
to keep the wind from blowing,
so no one has power
over the day of death.
If one is drafted to fight a war,
one can’t send a substitute;
likewise the wicked won’t escape death
by their wickedness.
9 All this I have seen, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun when one person tyrannizes another. 10 Thus I saw the wicked buried; they had even come from the Holy Place. But those who had acted uprightly were forgotten in the city. This too is a futile thing; 11 because the punishment decreed for an evil act is not promptly carried out; therefore people who plan to do evil are strengthened in their intentions. 12 For a sinner can do evil a hundred times and still live a long life; although I know that in the end things will go well with those who fear God, because they fear him. 13 But things will not go well with the wicked; and, like a shadow, he will not prolong his days; because he doesn’t fear God.
14 There is something frustrating that occurs on earth, namely, that there are righteous people to whom things happen as if they were doing wicked deeds; and, again, there are wicked people to whom things happen as if they were doing righteous deeds. I say that this too is pointless.
15 So I recommend enjoyment — a person can do nothing better under the sun than eat, drink and enjoy himself; this is what should accompany him as he does his work for as long as God gives him to live under the sun.
16 When I applied myself to gain wisdom and to observe how people occupy themselves on earth, that people’s eyes don’t see sleep either by day or by night, 17 then, on looking over all of God’s work, I realized that it is impossible to grasp all the activity taking place under the sun; because even if a person works hard at searching it out, he won’t grasp it; and even if a wise person thinks he knows it, he still won’t be able to grasp it.
9 I applied myself to all of this, sifted through it and concluded that the righteous and the wise, along with their deeds, are in God’s hands — a person cannot know whether these people and deeds will be rewarded with love or with hatred; all options are open. 2 Anything can happen to anyone; the same thing can happen to the righteous as to the wicked, to the good and clean and to the unclean, to someone who offers a sacrifice and to someone who doesn’t offer a sacrifice; it is the same for a good person as for a sinner, for someone who takes an oath rashly as for someone who fears to take an oath. 3 This is another evil among all those done under the sun, that the same events can occur to anyone. Truly, the human mind is full of evil; and as long as people live, folly is in their hearts; after which they go to be with the dead. 4 For as long as a person is linked with the living, there is hope — better to be a living dog than a dead lion! 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; there is no longer any reward for them, because all memory of them is lost. 6 What they loved, what they hated and what they envied all disappeared long ago, and they no longer have a share in anything done under the sun.
7 So go, eat your bread with joy,
and drink your wine with a happy heart,
for God has already accepted your deeds.
8 Let your clothing always be white,
and never fail to perfume your head.
9 Enjoy life with the wife you have loved throughout your meaningless life that he has given you under the sun, all the days of your futility; for that is your allotted portion in life and in your labor that you work at under the sun. 10 Whatever task comes your way to do, do it with all your strength; because in Sh’ol, where you will go, there is neither working nor planning, neither knowledge nor wisdom.
11 Yet another thing I observed under the sun is that races aren’t won by the swift or battles by the strong, and that food doesn’t go to the wise or wealth to the intelligent or favor to the experts; rather, time and chance rule them all. 12 For people don’t know when their time will come any more than fish taken in the fatal net or birds caught in a snare; similarly, people are snared at an unfortunate time, when suddenly it falls on them.
13 Here is something else I have seen as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed important to me: 14 there was a small town with few people in it; and a great king came to attack it; he surrounded it and built massive siege-works against it. 15 Now there was found in it a man who was poor but wise, and by his wisdom he saved the city; yet afterwards, nobody remembered that poor man. 16 So, although I say that wisdom is better than strength, nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised; nobody pays attention to what he says.
17 A wise man speaking quietly is more worth heeding
than the shouts of a ruler commanding fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but a person who makes a mistake can destroy much good.
Kohelet 7-9
Orthodox Jewish Bible
7 A shem tov is better than precious ointment; and the yom hamavet than the day of one’s birth.
2 It is better to go to the bais evel (house of mourning), than to go to the bais mishteh (house of feasting); for that is the sof (end, conclusion; see 12:13) of kol haAdam; and the living will take it to heart.
3 Ka’as (sorrow) is better than laughter; for sadness of the countenance is good for the lev.
4 The lev of chachamim is in the bais evel (house of mourning); but the lev of kesilim is in the bais simchah.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the chacham, than for an ish to hear the shir kesilim.
6 For as is the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the kesil; this also is hevel.
7 Surely oppression maketh a chacham mad; and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better is the acharit (end) of a thing than the reshit (beginning) thereof; and erech ruach (patience) is better than gavoah ruach (haughtiness).
9 Be not hasty in thy ruach to be angry; for ka’as (anger) resteth in the kheyk (bosom) of kesilim.
10 Say thou not, What is the cause that the yamim harishonim were better than these? For it is not because of chochmah that thou dost inquire concerning this.
11 Chochmah is better than a nachalah (inheritance); and by it there is an advantage to them that see the shemesh.
12 For chochmah is a protective tzel (shade), and kesef is as well; but the advantage of da’as is, that chochmah giveth chayyim (life) to them that possess it.
13 Consider the ma’aseh HaElohim; for who can make straight what Hashem hath made crooked?
14 In the yom tovah be joyful, but in the yom ra’ah consider: HaElohim also hath set the one over against the other in such a way that adam may not find out anything that will come after him.
15 All things have I seen in the yamim of my hevel; there is a tzaddik that perisheth in his tzedakah, and there is a rasha that prolongeth his life in his ra’ah.
16 Do not be over much the tzaddik nor over much the chacham; why cause thyself desolation?
17 Be not over much resha, neither be thou foolish; why shouldest thou die before thy time?
18 It is good that thou holdest fast to the one and withdrawest not thine hand from the other; for he is a yire Elohim (G-d fearer) who shall fulfill both.
19 Chochmah makes one chacham stronger than asarah shalitim (ten rulers) which are in the city.
20 For there is not a tzaddik upon earth, that doeth tov, and sinneth not [Ro 3:23].
21 Also take no heed unto kol dvarim that are spoken; lest thou hear thy eved curse thee;
22 For oftentimes also thine own lev hath da’as that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.
23 I tested all this with chochmah; I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.
24 That which is far off, and exceeding deep, whose chochmah can find it out?
25 I applied mine lev to have da’as, and to search, and to seek out chochmah, and the cheshbon (scheme, plan) of things, and to have da’as of resha (wickedness) of kesel (stupidity), even of sichlut (folly) and holelot (madness).
26 And I find more mar (bitter) than mavet the isha, whose lev is snares and traps, and her hands are as chains; whoso pleaseth HaElohim shall escape from her; but the choteh (sinner) shall be ensnared by her.
27 Look, this have I discovered, saith Kohelet, adding one point to another to find out the cheshbon (the scheme, plan of things);
28 Which yet my nefesh seeketh, but I have not found; one man among a thousand have I found, but a woman among all those have I not found.
29 Lo, this only have I found, that HaElohim hath made man yashar (upright, Gn 1:27); but they have sought out chishvonot rabbim (many schemes, Gn 3:6-7; Ps 51; Ro 5:12; 3:23).
8 Who is the chacham? And who knoweth the pesher (interpretation, explanation) of a thing? A man’s chochmah maketh his face bright, and the rudeness of his face is changed.
2 I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that because of the shevuat Elohim (the oath of G-d).
3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight; stand not in a rah (an evil matter); for he executeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
4 For the devar melech is shilton (supreme), and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
5 Whoso is shomer mitzvah shall meet no harm; and a lev of a chacham discerneth both et (time) and mishpat (judgment).
6 Because every matter has its et (time) and mishpat (judgment), though the ra’at haAdam be great upon him.
7 For he has no da’as of that which shall be; for who can tell him how it will be?
8 There is no adam that hath power over the ruach to restrain ruach; neither hath he shilton (power) over the yom hamavet; and there is no discharge in war; neither shall resha deliver its possessor.
9 All this have I seen, and applied my lev unto every ma’aseh (labor, work) that has been done under the shemesh wherein one adam ruleth over another adam to the other’s hurt.
10 And so I saw the resha’im buried, who had come and gone out of the mekom kadosh (the holy place), and they were forgotten in the city where they had done such things; this is also hevel.
11 Because pitgam (sentence) against a ma’aseh hara’ah (an evil work) is not executed speedily, therefore the lev of the bnei haAdam is fully set in them to do rah.
12 Though a choteh do rah an hundred times, and his yamim be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear HaElohim, which fear before Hashem;
13 But it shall not be well with the rasha, neither shall he lengthen his yamim like a tzel (shadow); because he feareth not before Elohim.
14 There is a hevel which is done upon ha’aretz; that there be tzaddikim, unto whom it happeneth according to the ma’aseh haresha’im; again, there be resha’im, to whom it happeneth according to the ma’aseh hatzaddikim; I say that this also is hevel.
15 Then I commended simchah, because a man hath no better thing under the shemesh, than to eat, and to drink, and to have simchah; for that shall accompany him in his amal the yamim of his life, which HaElohim giveth him under the shemesh.
16 When I applied mine lev to have da’as of chochmah, and to see the business that is done upon ha’aretz, though one’s eynayim see sleep neither yom nor lailah,
17 then I beheld kol ma’aseh HaElohim, that haAdam cannot comprehend the ma’aseh that is done under the shemesh; because though haAdam labor to seek it out, yet he shall not comprehend it; moreover, though a chacham claim to have da’as of it, yet shall he not be able to comprehend it.
9 All this I took to my lev, explaining it all, that the tzaddikim, and the chachamim, and their works, are in the yad HaElohim; adam does not have da’as of whether it will be ahavah or sinah; all lies before him.
2 All things come alike to all; there is one mikreh (fortune) to the tzaddik, and to the rasha; to the tov and to the tahor, and to the tameh; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not; as is the tov, so is the choteh; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth a shevuah (an oath).
3 This is a rah among all things that are done under the shemesh, that there is one mikreh (fortune) unto all; yea, also the lev of the bnei haAdam is full of rah, and holelot (madness) is in their lev while they live, and after that they go to the mesim.
4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is bitachon; for a kelev chai (living dog) is better than an aryeh hamet (dead lion).
5 For the living have da’as that they shall die; but the mesim do not have da’as of anything, neither have they any more a sachar, for the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their ahavah, and their sinah, and their kina, is now perished; neither have they any more a chelek l’olam in any thing that is done under the shemesh.
7 Go thy way, eat thy lechem with simchah, and drink thy yayin with a lev tov; for HaElohim now accepteth thy ma’asim.
8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no shemen (ointment).
9 Live joyfully with the isha whom thou lovest all the days of thy chayyei hevel, which he hath given thee under the shemesh, all the days of thy hevel; for that is thy chelek in this life, and in thy amal (toil) which thou laborest under the shemesh.
10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy koach; for there is no ma’aseh, nor cheshbon, nor da’as, nor chochmah in Sheol, whither thou goest.
11 I returned, and saw under the shemesh, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the gibborim, neither yet lechem to the chachamim, nor yet osher to the intelligent, nor yet chen (favor) to the experts; but et (time) and pega (chance) happeneth to them all.
12 For haAdam also hath no da’as of his et (time, hour, but see Yn 13:1; 8:20; 7:30; 2:4 regarding the Moshiach’s knowledge of his hour); as the dagim that are caught in a metzodah rah (evil net), and as the birds that are trapped in the pach (snare), so are the Bnei HaAdam snared in an et ra’ah (evil time), when it falleth suddenly upon them.
13 This chochmah have I seen also under the shemesh, and it seemed gedolah (great) unto me:
14 There was an ir ketanah (little city), and few men within it; and there came a melech gadol against it, and besieged it, and built metzorim gedolim (huge siegeworks) against it.
15 Now there was found in it a poor chacham, and he by his chochmah delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
16 Then said I, Chochmah is better than gevurah (strength); nevertheless the poor man’s chochmah is despised, and his devarim are not heard.
17 Divrei chachamim in quiet are more to be heeded than the shouting of the moshel (one ruling) among kesilim.
18 Chochmah is better than weapons of war, but one choteh destroyeth much good.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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