Ecclesiastes 7

1A good name is better than good oil,
and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. 2Better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for this is the end of every human being,
and the living should take it to heart. 3Sorrow is better than laughter,
for through a sad face the heart is made glad. 4The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in a house of joy. 5Better to hear the rebuke of the wise
than for one to hear the song of fools. 6For like the crackling of thorns under a pot
is the laughter of a fool;
this too is vapor. 7For oppression drives the wise into madness,
and a bribe destroys the heart. 8Better is the end of a matter than its beginning;
better is patience than pride. 9Do not be quick in your spirit to become angry,
for anger rests in the lap of fools. 10Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. 11Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
and an advantage to those who see the sun. 12For wisdom is a shelter, as money is a shelter;
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
wisdom preserves the life of its possessor. 13Consider the work of God:
who can straighten
what he has made crooked? 14In a day of prosperity, be in the good;
but in a day of adversity, consider:
God has made this alongside that,
so that no one can discover anything that will come after them. 15I have seen everything in my days of vapor:
there is a righteous person perishing in their righteousness,
and there is a wicked person prolonging life in their wickedness. 16Do not be excessively righteous,
and do not make yourself overly wise.
Why should you bring ruin on yourself? 17Do not be excessively wicked,
and do not be foolish.
Why should you die before your time? 18It is good that you hold fast to this
and do not let go of that;
for the one who fears God will come through them all. 19Wisdom gives strength to the wise
more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20Surely there is no righteous person on earth
who does good and does not sin. 21Also, do not take to heart
all the things people say,
lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22For your heart knows
that you yourself also
have often cursed others. 23All this I tested by wisdom.
I said, “I will become wise,”
but it was far from me. 24What has been is far off,
and deep—very deep.
Who can find it? 25I turned, I and my heart,
to know and to search out and seek wisdom and an account,
and to know that wickedness is folly
and foolishness is madness. 26And I find more bitter than death
the woman whose heart is snares and nets,
whose hands are chains.
The one who is good before God escapes her,
but the sinner is caught by her. 27“See, this is what I found,” says Qoheleth,
“adding one thing to another
to find an account, 28which my soul still seeks but has not found:
one man among a thousand I found,
but a woman among all these I did not find. 29Only see this: I found
that God made humanity upright,
but they have sought out many schemes.”