Ecclesiastes 7
Legacy Standard Bible
Wisdom and Folly Contrasted
7 Better is a (A)good name than good oil,
And better is the (B)day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.
2 Better to go to a house of mourning
Than to go to a house of feasting
Because [a]that is the (C)end of all mankind,
And the living (D)puts this in his heart.
3 (E)Better is vexation than laughter,
For (F)when a face is sad a heart may be merry.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
While the heart of fools is in the house of gladness.
5 Better to (G)listen to the rebuke of a wise man
Than for one to listen to the song of fools.
6 For as the crackling sound of (H)thorn bushes under a pot,
So is the (I)laughter of the fool;
And this too is vanity.
7 For (J)oppression gives a wise man over to madness,
And a (K)bribe [b]destroys the heart.
8 Better is the (L)end of a matter than its beginning;
(M)Better is patience of spirit than haughtiness of spirit.
9 Do not be [c](N)eager in your spirit to be vexed,
For vexation rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.
11 Wisdom along with an inheritance is good
And an (O)advantage to those who see the sun.
12 For (P)wisdom is a (Q)shadow of protection as money is a shadow of protection,
And the advantage of knowledge is that (R)wisdom preserves the lives of its masters.
13 See the (S)work of God,
For who is (T)able to straighten what He has bent?
14 (U)In the day when there is good be of good cheer,
But (V)in the day when there is evil see—
God has made the one as well as the other
So that man will (W)not find out anything that will be after him.
15 I have seen everything during my (X)days of vanity; there is (Y)a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is (Z)a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Do not be excessively (AA)righteous, and do not (AB)be overly wise. Why should you make yourself desolate? 17 Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a simpleminded fool. Why should you (AC)die before your time? 18 It is good that you seize one thing and also not [d]let go of the other; for the one who (AD)fears God comes forth with [e]both of them.
19 (AE)Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten men with power who are in a city. 20 Indeed, (AF)there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. 21 Also, do not give your heart to all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your slave (AG)cursing you. 22 For your heart also knows that you likewise have many times cursed others.
23 I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” (AH)but it was far from me. 24 What has been is far away and (AI)exceedingly deep. (AJ)Who can find it? 25 I (AK)turned my heart to know, to explore, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the wickedness of foolishness and the simpleminded folly of madness. 26 And I found more (AL)bitter than death the woman whose heart is (AM)snares and nets, whose hands are chains. (AN)One who is good before God will escape from her, but (AO)the sinner will be captured by her.
27 “See, I have found this,” says the Preacher, “adding one thing to another to find an explanation, 28 which my soul still seeks but has not found. I have found one man out of a thousand, but I have not found a (AP)woman among all these. 29 See, I have found only this, that (AQ)God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 7:2 Death
- Ecclesiastes 7:7 Lit perishes
- Ecclesiastes 7:9 Lit hasty in your spirit
- Ecclesiastes 7:18 Lit rest your hand
- Ecclesiastes 7:18 Lit all
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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