Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 7"

Ecclesiastes 7

New Living Translation NLT

1 A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume. And the day you die is better than the day you are born.

2 Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart.

3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.

4 A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.

5 Better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool.

6 A fool’s laughter is quickly gone, like thorns crackling in a fire. This also is meaningless.

7 Extortion turns wise people into fools, and bribes corrupt the heart.

8 Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride.

9 Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.

10 Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise.

11 Wisdom is even better when you have money. Both are a benefit as you go through life.

12 Wisdom and money can get you almost anything, but only wisdom can save your life.

13 Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what he has made crooked?

14 Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

15 I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people.

16 So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself?

17 On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time?

18 Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes.

19 One wise person is stronger than ten leading citizens of a town!

20 Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.

21 Don’t eavesdrop on others—you may hear your servant curse you.

22 For you know how often you yourself have cursed others.

23 I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work.

24 Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find.

25 I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness.

26 I discovered that a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare.

27 “This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle.

28 Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman!

29 But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”

The Complete Jewish Bible CJB

1 A good name is better than perfumed oil, and the day of death better than the day of birth.

2 Better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for all are destined to be mourned; the living should lay this to heart.

3 Grief is better than laughter, for sadness can improve a person.

4 The thoughts of the wise are in the house of mourning, but the thoughts of fools are in the house of pleasure.

5 It is better to hear the rebukes of the wise than to listen to the songs of fools.

6 For the laughter of fools is like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot; this too is pointless.

7 But oppression can make a wise man stupid; also a gift can destroy understanding.

8 The end of something is better than its beginning, so the patient are better than the proud.

9 Don't be quick to get angry, for [only] fools nurse anger.

10 Don't ask why the old days were better than now, because that is a foolish question.

11 Wisdom is good, along with possessions, an advantage to all who see the sun.

12 For wisdom is a shelter, and money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom keeps the one who has it alive.

13 Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?

14 When things are going well, enjoy yourself; but when things are going badly, consider that God made the one alongside the other, so that people would learn nothing of their futures.

15 In my pointless life, I've seen everything -from the righteous person perishing in his uprightness to the wicked one who lives a long life and keeps on doing wrong.

16 So don't be overly righteous or overly wise; why should you disappoint yourself?

17 But don't be overly wicked, and don't be foolish; why should you die before your time?

18 Don't grasp just one of these rules; take hold of the other as well; for he who is in fear of God will live by both of them.

19 To a wise man wisdom is better protection than ten rulers in a city.

20 For there isn't a righteous person on earth who does [only] good and never sins.

21 Also, don't take seriously every word spoken, such as when you hear your servant speaking badly of you;

22 because often, as you yourself know, you have spoken badly of others.

23 All this I have put to the test of wisdom; I said, "I will acquire wisdom"; but wisdom remained far away from me.

24 That which exists is far away and deep, so deep, that it can't be discovered.

25 So I turned myself and my thoughts to know, search out and seek wisdom and the reasons behind things, also to know how foolish it is to be wicked and how stupid to act like a fool.

26 I found more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, whose heart is a snare and whose hands are like prison chains. The man who pleases God will escape from her, but the sinner will be caught by her.

27 I have found this - says Kohelet -adding one thing to another to reach a conclusion,

28 I searched a long time without finding it: one man in a thousand I have found, but a woman among all those I have not found.

29 This is the only thing I have found, that God made human beings upright, but they have devised many schemes.