Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 7"

Ecclesiastes 7

The Message Bible MSG

1 good reputation is better than a fat bank account. Your death date tells more than your birth date.

2 You learn more at a funeral than at a feast - After all, that's where we'll end up. We might discover something from it.

3 Crying is better than laughing. It blotches the face but it scours the heart.

4 Sages invest themselves in hurt and grieving. Fools waste their lives in fun and games.

5 You'll get more from the rebuke of a sage Than from the song and dance of fools.

6 The giggles of fools are like the crackling of twigs Under the cooking pot. And like smoke.

7 Brutality stupefies even the wise And destroys the strongest heart.

8 Endings are better than beginnings. Sticking to it is better than standing out.

9 Don't be quick to fly off the handle. Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.

10 Don't always be asking, "Where are the good old days?" Wise folks don't ask questions like that.

11 Wisdom is better when it's paired with money, Especially if you get both while you're still living.

12 Double protection: wisdom and wealth! Plus this bonus: Wisdom energizes its owner.

13 Take a good look at God's work. Who could simplify and reduce Creation's curves and angles To a plain straight line?

14 On a good day, enjoy yourself; On a bad day, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days So that we won't take anything for granted. Stay in Touch with Both Sides

15 I've seen it all in my brief and pointless life - here a good person cut down in the middle of doing good, there a bad person living a long life of sheer evil.

16 So don't knock yourself out being good, and don't go overboard being wise. Believe me, you won't get anything out of it.

17 But don't press your luck by being bad, either. And don't be reckless. Why die needlessly?

18 It's best to stay in touch with both sides of an issue. A person who fears God deals responsibly with all of reality, not just a piece of it.

19 Wisdom puts more strength in one wise person Than ten strong men give to a city.

20 There's not one totally good person on earth, Not one who is truly pure and sinless.

21 Don't eavesdrop on the conversation of others. What if the gossip's about you and you'd rather not hear it?

22 You've done that a few times, haven't you - said things Behind someone's back you wouldn't say to his face?

23 I tested everything in my search for wisdom. I set out to be wise, but it was beyond me,

24 far beyond me, and deep - oh so deep! Does anyone ever find it?

25 I concentrated with all my might, studying and exploring and seeking wisdom - the meaning of life. I also wanted to identify evil and stupidity, foolishness and craziness.

26 One discovery: A woman can be a bitter pill to swallow, full of seductive scheming and grasping. The lucky escape her; the undiscerning get caught.

27 At least this is my experience - what I, the Quester, have pieced together as I've tried to make sense of life.

28 But the wisdom I've looked for I haven't found. I didn't find one man or woman in a thousand worth my while.

29 Yet I did spot one ray of light in this murk: God made men and women true and upright; we're the ones who've made a mess of things.

World English Bible WEB

1 A good name is better than fine perfume; and the day of death better than the day of one's birth.

2 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 should take this to heart.

3 Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the face the heart is made good.

4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.

6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.

7 Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding.

8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

9 Don't be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

10 Don't say, "Why were the former days better than these?" For you do not ask wisely about this.

11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.

12 For wisdom is a defense, even as money is a defense; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

13 Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight, which he has made crooked?

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him.

15 All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evil-doing.

16 Don't be overly righteous, neither make yourself overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

17 Don't be too wicked, neither be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

18 It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also from that don't withdraw your hand; for he who fears God will come forth from them all.

19 Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth, who does good and doesn't sin.

21 Also don't take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you;

22 for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others.

23 All this have I proved in wisdom. I said, "I will be wise;" but it was far from me.

24 That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out?

25 I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.

26 I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be ensnared by her.

27 Behold, this have I found, says the Preacher, one to another, to find out the scheme;

28 which my soul still seeks; but I have not found: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

29 Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they search for many schemes.