Ecclesiastes 7:5-8:11

New International Version

⁷ Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
    and a bribe^(D) corrupts the heart.

⁸ The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
    and patience^(E) is better than pride.
⁹ Do not be quickly provoked^(F) in your spirit,
    for anger resides in the lap of fools.^(G)

¹⁰ Do not say, “Why were the old days^(H) better than these?”
    For it is not wise to ask such questions.

¹¹ Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing^(I)
    and benefits those who see the sun.^(J)
12 Wisdom is a shelter
    as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
    Wisdom preserves those who have it.

Who can straighten
    what he has made crooked?^(L)
14 When times are good, be happy;
    but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
    as well as the other.^(M)
Therefore, no one can discover
    anything about their future.

the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
    and the wicked living long in their wickedness.^(O)
16 Do not be overrighteous,
    neither be overwise—
    why destroy yourself?
¹⁷ Do not be overwicked,
    and do not be a fool—
    why die before your time?^(P)
18 It is good to grasp the one
    and not let go of the other.
    Whoever fears God^(Q) will avoid all extremes.^[a]

¹⁹ Wisdom^(R) makes one wise person more powerful^(S)
    than ten rulers in a city.

²⁰ Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,^(T)
    no one who does what is right and never sins.^(U)

²¹ Do not pay attention to every word people say,
    or you^(V) may hear your servant cursing you—
²² for you know in your heart
    that many times you yourself have cursed others.

“I am determined to be wise”^(W)—
    but this was beyond me.
²⁴ Whatever exists is far off and most profound—
    who can discover it?^(X)
25 So I turned my mind to understand,
    to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things^(Y)
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
    and the madness of folly.^(Z)

²⁶ I find more bitter than death
    the woman who is a snare,^(AA)
whose heart is a trap
    and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
    but the sinner she will ensnare.^(AB)

“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^(AD) among them all.
²⁹ This only have I found:
    God created mankind upright,
    but they have gone in search of many schemes.”

8 Who is like the wise?
    Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
    and changes its hard appearance.

⁵ Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
    and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
⁶ For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,^(AG)
    though a person may be weighed down by misery.

⁷ Since no one knows the future,
    who can tell someone else what is to come?
⁸ As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
    so^[c] no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
    so wickedness will not release those who practice it.