Ecclesiastes 7:26-28
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Critique of Advice on Women. 26 (A)More bitter than death I find the woman[a] who is a hunter’s trap, whose heart is a snare, whose hands are prison bonds. The one who pleases God will be delivered from her, but the one who displeases will be entrapped by her. 27 See, this have I found, says Qoheleth, adding one to one to find the sum. 28 What my soul still seeks and has yet to find is this: “One man out of a thousand have I found, but a woman among them all I have not found.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 7:26 More bitter than death…the woman: warnings against the scheming, adulterous woman are common in ancient wisdom (e.g., Prv 2:16–19, etc.).
Ecclesiastes 7:26-28
New International Version
26 I find more bitter than death
the woman who is a snare,(A)
whose heart is a trap
and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
but the sinner she will ensnare.(B)
27 “Look,” says the Teacher,[a](C) “this is what I have discovered:
“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
28 while I was still searching
but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
but not one upright woman(D) among them all.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 7:27 Or the leader of the assembly
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