Ecclesiastes 7; Ecclesiastes 8; Ecclesiastes 9; Ecclesiastes 10; Ecclesiastes 11; Ecclesiastes 12

1 A good name is better than fine oil, and the day of death better than the birthday.

2 It is better to go to a house in mourning than to a house party, because that is everyone's destiny; and the living should take it to heart.

3 Aggravation is better than merriment because a sad face may lead to a glad heart.

4 The wise heart is in the house that mourns, but the foolish heart is in the house that rejoices.

5 It is better to obey the reprimand of the wise than to listen to the song of fools,

6 because the fool's merriment is like nettles crackling under a kettle. That too is pointless.

7 Oppression turns the wise into fools; a bribe corrupts the heart.

8 The end of something is better than its beginning. Patience is better than arrogance.

9 Don't be too quick to get angry because anger lives in the fool's heart.

10 Don't ask, "How is it that the former days were better than these?" because it isn't wise to ask this.

11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance— an advantage for those who see the sun.

12 Wisdom's protection is like the protection of money; the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.

13 Consider God's work! Who can straighten what God has made crooked?

14 When times are good, enjoy the good; when times are bad, consider: God has made the former as well as the latter so that people can't discover anything that will come to be after them.

15 I have seen everything in my pointless lifetime: the righteous person may die in spite of their righteousness; then again, the wicked may live long in spite of their wickedness.

16 Don't be too righteous or too wise, or you may be dumbfounded.

17 Don't be too wicked and don't be a fool, or you may die before your time.

18 It's good that you take hold of one of these without letting go of the other because the one who fears God will go forth with both.

19 Wisdom makes a wise person stronger than ten rulers who are in a city.

20 Remember: there's no one on earth so righteous as to do good only and never make a mistake.

21 Don't worry about all the things people say, so you don't hear your servant cursing you.

22 After all, you know that you've often cursed others yourself!

23 I tested all of this by wisdom. I thought, I will be wise, but it eluded me.

24 All that happens is elusive and utterly unfathomable. Who can grasp it?

25 I turned my mind to know, to investigate, and to seek wisdom, along with an account of things, to know that wickedness is foolishness and folly is madness.

26 I found one woman more bitter than death: she who is a trap, her heart a snare, her hands shackles. Anyone who pleases God escapes her, but a sinner is trapped by her.

27 See, this is what I found, says the Teacher, examining one matter after another to account for things.

28 But there's something that I constantly searched for but couldn't find: I found one man among a thousand, but I couldn't find a woman among any of these.

29 See, this alone I found: God made human beings straightforward, but they search for many complications.

1 Who is wise? And who knows the meaning of anything? A person's wisdom brightens the expression; it changes the hardness of someone's face.

2 Keep the king's command as you would keep a solemn pledge.

3 Don't be dismayed; leave his presence. Don't linger in a harmful situation because he can do whatever he wants!

4 Because the king's word has authority, no one can say to him, "What are you doing?"

5 Whoever keeps a command will meet no harm, and the wise heart knows the right time and the right way

6 because there's a right time and right way for every matter. But human misfortunes are overwhelming

7 because no one knows what will happen, and no one can say when something might happen.

8 No one has control over the life-breath, to retain it, and there's no control over the day of death. There's no release from war, and wickedness won't deliver those who practice it.

9 I observed all of this as I paid attention to all that happens under the sun. Sometimes people exercise power over each other to their detriment.

10 Then I saw the wicked brought to their graves, with people processing from a holy place, while those who had lived honestly were neglected in the city. This too is pointless.

11 The condemnation for wicked acts isn't carried out quickly; that's why people dare to do evil.

12 Wrongdoers may commit a hundred crimes but still live long lives. But I also know that it will go well for those who fear God, for those who are reverent before God.

13 But it will not go well for the wicked; they won't live long at all because they aren't reverent before God.

14 Here's another thing that happens on earth that is pointless: the righteous get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked get what the righteous deserve. I say that this too is pointless.

15 So I commend enjoyment because there's nothing better for people to do under the sun but to eat, drink, and be glad. This is what will accompany them in their hard work, during the lifetime that God gives under the sun.

16 Then I set my mind to know wisdom and to observe the business that happens on earth, even going without sleep day and night

17 I observed all the work of God—that no one can grasp what happens under the sun. Those who strive to know can't grasp it. Even the wise who are set on knowing are unable to grasp it.

1 So I considered all of this carefully, examining all of it: The righteous and the wise and their deeds are in God's hand, along with both love and hate. People don't know anything that's ahead of them.

2 Everything is the same for everyone. The same fate awaits the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the pure and the impure, those who sacrifice and those who don't sacrifice. The good person is like the wrongdoer; the same holds for those who make solemn pledges and those who are afraid to swear.

3 This is the sad thing about all that happens under the sun: the same fate awaits everyone. Moreover, the human heart is full of evil; people's minds are full of madness while they are alive, and afterward they die.

4 Whoever is among the living can be certain about this. A living dog is definitely better off than a dead lion,

5 because the living know that they will die. But the dead know nothing at all. There is no more reward for them; even the memory of them is lost.

6 Their love and their hate, as well as their zeal, are already long gone. They will never again have a stake in all that happens under the sun.

7 Go, eat your food joyfully and drink your wine happily because God has already accepted what you do.

8 Let your garments always be white; don't run short of oil for your head.

9 Enjoy life with your dearly loved spouse all the days of your pointless life that God gives you under the sun—all the days of your pointless life!—because that's your part to play in this life and in your hard work under the sun.

10 Whatever you are capable of doing, do with all your might because there's no work, thought, knowledge, or wisdom in the grave, which is where you are headed.

11 I also observed under the sun that the race doesn't always go to the swift, nor the battle to the mighty, nor food to the wise, nor wealth to the intelligent, nor favor to the knowledgeable, because accidents can happen to anyone.

12 People most definitely don't know when their time will come. Like fish tragically caught in a net or like birds trapped in a snare, so are human beings caught in a time of tragedy that suddenly falls to them.

13 I also observed the following example of wisdom under the sun—it impressed me greatly:

14 There was a small town with only a few residents. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and waged a terrible war against it.

15 Now there lived in that town a poor but wise man who saved everyone by his wisdom. But no one remembered that poor man.

16 So I thought, Wisdom is better than might, but the wisdom of commoners is despised and their words aren't heeded.

17 The calm words of the wise are better heeded than the racket caused by a ruler among fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one incompetent person destroys much good.

1 As dead flies spoil the perfumer's oil, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

2 The mind of the wise tends toward the right, but the mind of the fool toward the left.

3 Fools lack all sense even when they walk down the street; they show everyone that they are fools.

4 If a ruler's temper rises against you, don't leave your post, because calmness alleviates great offenses.

5 There's an evil that I have seen under the sun: the kind of mistake that comes from people in power.

6 Fools are appointed to high posts, while the rich sit in lowly positions.

7 I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes walk on foot like slaves.

8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it, and whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.

10 If an ax is dull and one doesn't sharpen it first, then one must exert more force. It's profitable to be skillful and wise.

11 If a snake bites before it's charmed, then there's no profit for the snake charmer.

12 Words from a wise person's mouth are beneficial, but fools are devoured by their own lips.

13 Fools start out talking foolishness and end up speaking awful nonsense.

14 Fools talk too much! No one knows what will happen; no one can say what will happen in the future.

15 The hard work of fools tires them out because they don't even know the way to town!

16 Too bad for you, land, whose king is a boy and whose princes feast in the morning.

17 Happy is the land whose king is dignified and whose princes feast at the right time for energy, not for drunkenness.

18 Through laziness, the roof sags; through idle hands, the house leaks.

19 Feasts are made for laughter, wine cheers the living, and money answers everything.

20 Don't curse a king even in private; don't curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird could carry your voice; some winged creature could report what you said!

1 Send your bread out on the water because, in the course of time, you may find it again.

2 Give a portion to seven people, even to eight: you don't know what disaster may come upon the land.

3 If clouds fill up, they will empty out rain on the earth. If a tree falls, whether to the south or to the north, wherever it falls, there it will lie.

4 Those who watch the wind blow will never sow, and those who observe the clouds will never reap.

5 Just as you don't understand what the life-breath does in the fetus inside a pregnant woman's womb, so you can't understand the work of God, who makes everything happen.

6 Scatter your seed in the morning, and in the evening don't be idle because you don't know which will succeed, this one or that, or whether both will be equally good.

7 Sweet is the light, and it's pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

8 Even those who live many years should take pleasure in them all. But they should be mindful that there will also be many dark days. Everything that happens is pointless.

9 Rejoice, young person, while you are young! Your heart should make you happy in your prime. Follow your heart's inclinations and whatever your eyes see, but know this: God will call you to account for all of these things.

10 Remove anxiety from your heart, banish pain from your body, because youth and the dawn of life are pointless too.

1 Remember your creator in your prime, before the days of trouble arrive, and those years, about which you'll say, "I take no pleasure in these"—

2 before the sun and the light grow dark, the moon and the stars too, before the clouds return after the rain;

3 on the day when the housekeepers tremble and the strong men stoop; when the women who grind stop working because they're so few, and those who look through the windows grow dim;

4 when the doors to the street are shut, when the sound of the mill fades, the sound of the bird rises, and all the singers come down low;

5 when people are afraid of things above and of terrors along the way; when the almond tree blanches, the locust droops, and the caper-berry comes to nothing; when the human goes to the eternal abode, with mourners all around in the street;

6 before the silver cord snaps and the gold bowl shatters; the jar is broken at the spring and the wheel is crushed at the pit;

7 before dust returns to the earth as it was before and the life-breath returns to God who gave it.

8 Perfectly pointless, says the Teacher, everything is pointless.

9 Additionally: Because the Teacher was wise, he constantly taught the people knowledge. He listened and investigated. He composed many proverbs.

10 The Teacher searched for pleasing words, and he wrote truthful words honestly.

11 The words of the wise are like iron-tipped prods; the collected sayings of the masters are like nails fixed firmly by a shepherd.

12 Be careful, my child, of anything beyond them! There's no end to the excessive production of scrolls. Studying too much wearies the body.

13 So this is the end of the matter; all has been heard. Worship God and keep God's commandments because this is what everyone must do.

14 God will definitely bring every deed to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or bad.