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Wisdom and Folly Contrasted

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.
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.
(E)Better is vexation than laughter,
For (F)when a face is sad a heart may be merry.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
While the heart of fools is in the house of gladness.
Better to (G)listen to the rebuke of a wise man
Than for one to listen to the song of fools.
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.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 7:2 Death

A good name is better than precious oil; and the day of death, than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made [a]glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 7:3 Or, better