Ecclesiastes 7:6-16

6 The laughter of a fool is like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot. Even this is pointless.

7 Oppression can turn a wise person into a fool, and a bribe can corrupt the mind.

8 The end of something is better than its beginning. It is better to be patient than arrogant.

9 Don't be quick to get angry, because anger is typical of fools.

10 Don't ask, "Why were things better in the old days than they are now?" It isn't wisdom that leads you to ask this!

11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. It is an advantage to everyone who sees the sun.

12 Wisdom protects us just as money protects us, but the advantage of wisdom is that it gives life to those who have it.

13 Consider what God has done! Who can straighten what God has bent?

14 When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one time as well as the other so that mortals cannot predict their future.

15 I have seen it all in my pointless life: Righteous people die in spite of being righteous. Wicked people go on living in spite of being wicked.

16 Don't be too virtuous, and don't be too wise. Why make yourself miserable?

Ecclesiastes 7:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 7

The wise man having exposed the many vanities to which men are subject in this life, and showed that there is no real happiness in all outward enjoyments under the sun; proceeds to observe what are remedies against them, of which he had interspersed some few hints before, as the fear and worship of God, and the free and, moderate use of the creatures; and here suggests more, and such as will protect from them, or support under them, or teach and instruct how to behave while attended with them, and to direct to what are proper and necessary in the pursuit of true and real happiness; such as care of a good name and reputation, Ec 7:1; frequent meditation on mortality, Ec 7:2-4; listening to the rebukes of the wise, which are preferable to the songs and mirth of fools, Ec 7:5,6; avoiding oppression and bribery, which are very pernicious, Ec 7:7; patience under provocations, and present bad times, as thought to be, Ec 7:8-10; a pursuit of that wisdom and knowledge which has life annexed to it, Ec 7:11,12; submission to the will of God, and contentment in every state, Ec 7:13,14; shunning extremes in righteousness and sin, the best antidote against which is the fear of God, Ec 7:15-18; such wisdom as not to be offended with everything that is done, or word that is spoken, considering the imperfection of the best of men, the weakness of others, and our own, Ec 7:19-22; and then the wise man acknowledges the imperfection of his own wisdom and knowledge, notwithstanding the pains he had taken, Ec 7:23-25; and laments his sin and folly in being drawn aside by women, Ec 7:26-28; and opens the cause of the depravity of human nature, removes it from God, who made man upright, and ascribes it to man, the inventor of evil things, Ec 7:29.