Ecclesiastes 7:1-29 (New American Standard)

Wisdom and Folly Contrasted

1 A ¹good name is better than a good ointment, And the ²day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth. 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because ^athat is the ³end of every man, And the living ^b4takes it to ^cheart. 3 ⁵Sorrow is better than laughter, For ⁶when a face is sad a heart may be happy. 4 The ^dmind of the wise is in the house of mourning, While the ^emind of fools is in the house of pleasure. 5 It is better to ⁷listen to the rebuke of a wise man Than for one to listen to the song of fools. 6 For as the ^fcrackling of ⁸thorn bushes under a pot, So is the ⁹laughter of the fool ; And this too is futility. 7 For ¹⁰oppression makes a wise man mad, And a ¹¹bribe ^gcorrupts the heart. 8 The ¹²end of a matter is better than its beginning ; ¹³Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit. 9 Do not be ^h14eager in your heart to be angry, For anger resides 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 ¹⁵advantage to those who see the sun. 12 For ¹⁶wisdom is ⁱprotection just as money is ^jprotection, But the advantage of knowledge is that ¹⁷wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors. 13 Consider the ¹⁸work of God, For who is ¹⁹able to straighten what He has bent ? 14 ²⁰In the day of prosperity be happy, But ²¹in the day of adversity consider - God has made the one as well as the other So that man will ²²not discover anything that will be after him. 15 I have seen everything during my ^k23lifetime of futility ; there is ²⁴a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is ²⁵a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness. 16 Do not be excessively ²⁶righteous and do not ²⁷be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? 17 Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you ²⁸die before your time ? 18 It is good that you grasp one thing and also not ^llet go of the other ; for the one who ²⁹fears God comes forth with ^mboth of them. 19 ³⁰Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Indeed, ³¹there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. 21 Also, do not ⁿtake seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant ³²cursing you. 22 For ^oyou also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others. 23 I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, "I will be wise," ³³but it was far from me. 24 What has been is remote and ³⁴exceedingly ^pmysterious. ³⁵Who can discover it? 25 I ^q36directed my ^rmind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness. 26 And I discovered more ³⁷bitter than death the woman whose heart is ³⁸snares and nets, whose hands are chains. ³⁹One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but ⁴⁰the sinner will be captured by her. 27 "Behold, I have discovered this," says the Preacher, "adding one thing to another to find an explanation, 28 which ^sI am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a ⁴¹woman among all these. 29 "Behold, I have found only this, that ⁴²God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices."