²³ All this I have ^[a]proved by wisdom.
^(A)I said, “I will be wise”;
But it was far from me.
^24 (B)As for that which is far off and ^(C)exceedingly deep,
Who can find it out?
^25 (D)I applied my heart to know,
To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things,
To know the wickedness of folly,
Even of foolishness and madness.
^26 (E)And I find more bitter than death
The woman whose heart is snares and nets,
Whose hands are fetters.
^[b]He who pleases God shall escape from her,
But the sinner shall be trapped by her.

²⁷ “Here is what I have found,” says ^(F)the Preacher,
“Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,
²⁸ Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find:
^(G)One man among a thousand I have found,
But a woman among all these I have not found.
²⁹ Truly, this only I have found:
^(H)That God made man upright,
But ^(I)they have sought out many schemes.”