Ecclesiastes 7-9
New Century Version
Some Benefits of Serious Thinking
7 It is better to have respect than good perfume.
The day of death is better than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to a funeral
than to a party.
We all must die,
and everyone living should think about this.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
and sadness has a good influence on you.
4 A wise person thinks about death,
but a fool thinks only about having a good time.
5 It is better to be criticized by a wise person
than to be praised by a fool.
6 The laughter of fools
is like the crackling of thorns in a cooking fire.
Both are useless.
7 Even wise people are fools
if they let money change their thinking.
8 It is better to finish something
than to start it.
It is better to be patient
than to be proud.
9 Don’t become angry quickly,
because getting angry is foolish.
10 Don’t ask, “Why was life better in the ‘good old days’?”
It is not wise to ask such questions.
11 Wisdom is better when it comes with money.
They both help those who are alive.
12 Wisdom is like money:
they both help.
But wisdom is better,
because it can save whoever has it.
13 Look at what God has done:
No one can straighten what he has bent.
14 When life is good, enjoy it.
But when life is hard, remember:
God gives good times and hard times,
and no one knows what tomorrow will bring.
It Is Impossible to Be Truly Good
15 In my useless life I have seen both of these:
I have seen good people die in spite of their goodness
and evil people live a long time in spite of their evil.
16 Don’t be too right,
and don’t be too wise.
Why destroy yourself?
17 Don’t be too wicked,
and don’t be foolish.
Why die before your time?
18 It is good to grab the one and not let go of the other;
those who honor God will hold them both.
19 Wisdom makes a person stronger
than ten leaders in a city.
20 Surely there is not a good person on earth
who always does good and never sins.
21 Don’t listen to everything people say,
or you might hear your servant insulting you.
22 You know that many times
you have insulted others.
23 I used wisdom to test all these things.
I wanted to be wise,
but it was too hard for me.
24 I cannot understand why things are as they are.
It is too hard for anyone to understand.
25 I studied and tried very hard to find wisdom,
to find some meaning for everything.
I learned that it is foolish to be evil,
and it is crazy to act like a fool.
26 I found that some women are worse than death
and are as dangerous as traps.
Their love is like a net,
and their arms hold men like chains.
A man who pleases God will be saved from them,
but a sinner will be caught by them.
27 The Teacher says, “This is what I learned:
I added all these things together
to find some meaning for everything.
28 While I was searching,
I did not find one man among the thousands I found.
Nor did I find a woman among all these.
29 One thing I have learned:
God made people good,
but they have found all kinds of ways to be bad.”
Obey the King
8 No one is like the wise person
who can understand what things mean.
Wisdom brings happiness;
it makes sad faces happy.
2 Obey the king’s command, because you made a promise to God. 3 Don’t be too quick to leave the king. Don’t support something that is wrong, because the king does whatever he pleases. 4 What the king says is law; no one tells him what to do.
5 Whoever obeys the king’s command will be safe.
A wise person does the right thing at the right time.
6 There is a right time and a right way for everything,
yet people often have many troubles.
7 They do not know what the future holds,
and no one can tell them what will happen.
8 No one can control the wind
or stop his own death.
No soldier is released in times of war,
and evil does not set free those who do evil.
Justice, Rewards, and Punishment
9 I saw all of this as I considered all that is done here on earth. Sometimes people harm those they control. 10 I saw the funerals of evil people who used to go in and out of the holy place. They were honored in the same towns where they had done evil. This is useless, too.
11 When evil people are not punished right away, it makes others want to do evil, too. 12 Though a sinner might do a hundred evil things and might live a long time, I know it will be better for those who honor God. 13 I also know it will not go well for evil people, because they do not honor God. Like a shadow, they will not last. 14 Sometimes something useless happens on earth. Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. I say that this is also useless. 15 So I decided it was more important to enjoy life. The best that people can do here on earth is to eat, drink, and enjoy life, because these joys will help them do the hard work God gives them here on earth.
We Cannot Understand All God Does
16 I tried to understand all that happens on earth. I saw how busy people are, working day and night and hardly ever sleeping. 17 I also saw all that God has done. Nobody can understand what God does here on earth. No matter how hard people try to understand it, they cannot. Even if wise people say they understand, they cannot; no one can really understand it.
Is Death Fair?
9 I thought about all this and tried to understand it. I saw that God controls good people and wise people and what they do, but no one knows if they will experience love or hate.
2 Good and bad people end up the same—
those who are right and those who are wrong,
those who are good and those who are evil,
those who are clean and those who are unclean,
those who sacrifice and those who do not.
The same things happen to a good person
as happen to a sinner,
to a person who makes promises to God
and to one who does not.
3 This is something wrong that happens here on earth: What happens to one happens to all. So people’s minds are full of evil and foolish thoughts while they live. After that, they join the dead. 4 But anyone still alive has hope; even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
5 The living know they will die,
but the dead know nothing.
Dead people have no more reward,
and people forget them.
6 After people are dead,
they can no longer love or hate or envy.
They will never again share
in what happens here on earth.
Enjoy Life While You Can
7 So go eat your food and enjoy it;
drink your wine and be happy,
because that is what God wants you to do.
8 Put on nice clothes
and make yourself look good.
9 Enjoy life with the wife you love. Enjoy all the useless days of this useless life God has given you here on earth, because it is all you have. So enjoy the work you do here on earth. 10 Whatever work you do, do your best, because you are going to the grave, where there is no working, no planning, no knowledge, and no wisdom.
Time and Chance
11 I also saw something else here on earth:
The fastest runner does not always win the race,
the strongest soldier does not always win the battle,
the wisest does not always have food,
the smartest does not always become wealthy,
and the talented one does not always receive praise.
Time and chance happen to everyone.
12 No one knows what will happen next.
Like a fish caught in a net,
or a bird caught in a trap,
people are trapped by evil
when it suddenly falls on them.
Wisdom Does Not Always Win
13 I also saw something wise here on earth that impressed me. 14 There was a small town with only a few people in it. A great king fought against it and put his armies all around it. 15 Now there was a poor but wise man in the town who used his wisdom to save his town. But later on, everyone forgot about him. 16 I still think wisdom is better than strength. But those people forgot about the poor man’s wisdom and stopped listening to what he said.
17 The quiet words of a wise person are better
than the shouts of a foolish ruler.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner can destroy much good.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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