Ecclesiastes 7
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Wise Sayings
7 A good name is better than fine perfume,(A)
and the day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.(B)
2 It 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.(C)
3 Grief is better than laughter,
for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.(D)
4 The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.
5 It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools,(E)
6 for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot,(F)
so is the laughter of the fool.
This too is futile.
7 Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool,(G)
and a bribe destroys the mind.(H)
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning;
a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.(I)
9 Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry,
for anger abides in the heart of fools.(J)
10 Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?”(K)
since it is not wise of you to ask this.
11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance
and an advantage to those who see the sun,
12 because wisdom is protection as money is protection,
and the advantage of knowledge
is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.(L)
13 Consider the work of God,(M)
for who can straighten out
what He has made crooked?(N)
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful,(O) but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other,(P) so that man cannot discover anything that will come after him.
Avoiding Extremes
15 In my futile life[a] I have seen everything:(Q) there is a righteous man who perishes in spite of his righteousness,(R) and there is a wicked man who lives long in spite of his evil.(S) 16 Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise.(T) Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?(U) 18 It 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.
19 Wisdom makes the wise man stronger
than ten rulers of a city.(V)
20 There is certainly no righteous man on the earth
who does good and never sins.(W)
21 Don’t pay attention[b] to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you,(X) 22 for you know that many times you yourself have cursed others.
What the Teacher Found
23 I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, “I will be wise,” but it was beyond me. 24 What exists is beyond reach and very deep.(Y) Who can discover it? 25 I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and seek wisdom(Z) and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness. 26 And I find more bitter than death(AA) the woman who is a trap,(AB) 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, 28 which 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.(AC) 29 Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright,(AD) but they pursued many schemes.”
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 7:15 Lit days
- Ecclesiastes 7:21 Lit Don’t give your heart
Ecclesiastes 7
Common English Bible
Wisdom is better than wealth
7 A good name is better than fine oil,
and the day of death better than the birthday.
2 It is better to go to a house in mourning
than to a house party,
because that is everyone’s destiny;
and the living should take it to heart.
3 Aggravation is better than merriment
because a sad face may lead to a glad heart.
4 The wise heart is in the house that mourns,
but the foolish heart is in the house that rejoices.
5 It is better to obey the reprimand of the wise
than to listen to the song of fools,
6 because the fool’s merriment
is like nettles crackling under a kettle.
That too is pointless.
7 Oppression turns the wise into fools;
a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 The end of something is better than its beginning.
Patience is better than arrogance.
9 Don’t be too quick to get angry
because anger lives in the fool’s heart.
10 Don’t ask, “How is it that the former days were better than these?”
because it isn’t wise to ask this.
11 Wisdom is as good as[a] an inheritance—
an advantage for those who see the sun.
12 Wisdom’s protection is like the protection of money;
the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.
Good times and bad
13 Consider God’s work! Who can straighten what God has made crooked? 14 When times are good, enjoy the good; when times are bad, consider: God has made the former as well as the latter so that people can’t discover anything that will come to be after them.
15 I have seen everything in my pointless lifetime: the righteous person may die in spite of their righteousness; then again, the wicked may live long in spite of their wickedness. 16 Don’t be too righteous or too wise, or you may be dumbfounded.[b] 17 Don’t be too wicked and don’t be a fool, or you may die before your time. 18 It’s good that you take hold of one of these without letting go of the other because the one who fears God will go forth with both.
19 Wisdom makes a wise person stronger than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Remember: there’s no one on earth so righteous as to do good only and never make a mistake.[c] 21 Don’t worry about all the things people say, so you don’t hear your servant cursing you. 22 After all, you know that you’ve often cursed others yourself!
Life is complicated
23 I tested all of this by wisdom. I thought, I will be wise, but it eluded me.
24 All that happens is elusive and utterly unfathomable. Who can grasp it? 25 I turned my mind to know, to investigate, and to seek wisdom, along with an account of things, to know that wickedness is foolishness and folly is madness.
26 I found one woman more bitter than death: she who is a trap, her heart a snare, her hands shackles. Anyone who pleases God escapes her, but a sinner is trapped by her. 27 See, this is what I found, says the Teacher, examining one matter after another to account for things. 28 But there’s something that I constantly searched for but couldn’t find: I found one man among a thousand, but I couldn’t find a woman among any of these.[d]
29 See, this alone I found: God made human beings straightforward, but they search for many complications.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 7:11 Or Wisdom is good with
- Ecclesiastes 7:16 Or destroyed
- Ecclesiastes 7:20 Or and never sin
- Ecclesiastes 7:28 Heb uncertain
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Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible