Ecclesiastes 7:5-8:11

English Standard Version

⁵It is ^(A)better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
    than to hear the song of fools.
⁶^(B)For as the crackling of ^(C)thorns under a pot,
    so is the laughter of the fools;
    this also is vanity.^[a]
⁷Surely ^(D)oppression drives the wise into madness,
    and ^(E)a bribe corrupts the heart.
⁸Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
    and ^(F)the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
⁹^(G)Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
    ^(H)for anger lodges in the heart^[b] of fools.
¹⁰Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
¹¹Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
    an advantage to those who ^(I)see the sun.
¹²For the protection of wisdom is like ^(J)the protection of money,
    and the advantage of knowledge is that ^(K)wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
¹³Consider ^(L)the work of God:
    ^(M)who can make straight what he has made crooked?

¹⁴^(N)In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, ^(O)so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

¹⁵In my ^(P)vain^[c] life I have seen everything. There is ^(Q)a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who ^(R)prolongs his life in his evildoing. ¹⁶Be not overly righteous, and do not ^(S)make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? ¹⁷Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. ^(T)Why should you die before your time? ¹⁸It is good that you should take hold of ^(U)this, and from ^(V)that ^(W)withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

¹⁹^(X)Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

²⁰Surely ^(Y)there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

²¹Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear ^(Z)your servant cursing you. ²²Your heart knows that ^(AA)many times you yourself have cursed others.

²³All this I have tested by wisdom. ^(AB)I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. ²⁴That which has been is far off, and ^(AC)deep, very deep; ^(AD)who can find it out?

²⁵^(AE)I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. ²⁶And I find something more ^(AF)bitter than death: ^(AG)the woman whose heart is ^(AH)snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but ^(AI)the sinner is taken by her. ²⁷Behold, this is what I found, says ^(AJ)the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— ²⁸which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. ^(AK)One man among a thousand I found, but ^(AL)a woman among all these I have not found. ²⁹See, this alone I found, that ^(AM)God made man upright, but ^(AN)they have sought out many schemes.

Keep the King's Command

8 Who is like the wise?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
^(AO)A man's wisdom makes his face shine,
and ^(AP)the hardness of his face is changed.

²I say:^[d] Keep the king's command, because of ^(AQ)God's oath to him.^[e] ³Be not hasty to ^(AR)go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. ⁴For the word of the king is supreme, and ^(AS)who may say to him, “What are you doing?” ⁵Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.^[f] ⁶For there is a time and a way ^(AT)for everything, although man's trouble^[g] lies heavy on him. ⁷For he ^(AU)does not know what is to be, for ^(AV)who can tell him how it will be? ⁸No man has power to ^(AW)retain the spirit, ^(AX)or power over the day of death. There is no ^(AY)discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. ⁹^(AZ)All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.

Those Who Fear God Will Do Well

¹⁰Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of ^(BA)the holy place and were ^(BB)praised^[h] in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.^[i] ¹¹Because ^(BC)the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, ^(BD)the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)
Ecclesiastes 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom
Ecclesiastes 7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)
Ecclesiastes 8:2 Hebrew lacks say
Ecclesiastes 8:2 Or because of your oath to God
Ecclesiastes 8:5 Or and judgment
Ecclesiastes 8:6 Or evil
Ecclesiastes 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten
Ecclesiastes 8:10 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also twice in verse 14 (see note on 1:2)