Ecclesiastes 7
7
Proverbs about Life
1A good name is better than expensive perfume, and the day you die is better than the day you’re born. 2It is better to go to a funeral than to a banquet because that is where everyone will end up. Everyone who is alive should take this to heart! 3Sorrow is better than laughter because, in spite of a sad face, the heart can be joyful. 4The minds of wise people think about funerals, but the minds of fools think about banquets.
5It is better to listen to wise people who reprimand you than to fools who sing your praises. 6The laughter of a fool is like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot. Even this is pointless.
7Oppression can turn a wise person into a fool, and a bribe can corrupt the mind.
8The end of something is better than its beginning. It is better to be patient than arrogant.
9Don’t be quick to get angry, because anger is typical of fools. 10Don’t ask, “Why were things better in the old days than they are now?” It isn’t wisdom that leads you to ask this!
Wisdom Gives Life
11Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. It is an advantage to everyone who sees the sun. 12Wisdom protects us just as money protects us, but the advantage of wisdom is that it gives life to those who have it.
13Consider what God has done! Who can straighten what God has bent?
A Truth for Every Situation
14When 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.
Mortals Don’t Get What They Deserve
15I 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.
16Don’t be too virtuous, and don’t be too wise. Why make yourself miserable? 17Don’t be too wicked, and don’t be a fool. Why should you die before your time is up? 18It’s good to hold on to the one and not let go of the other, because the one who fears God will be able to avoid both extremes.
The Advantages of Wisdom
19Wisdom will help a wise person more than ten rulers can help a city. 20Certainly, there is no one so righteous on earth that he always does what is good and never sins.
21Don’t take everything that people say to heart, or you may hear your own servant cursing you. 22Your conscience knows that you have cursed others many times.
23I used wisdom to test all of this. I said, “I want to be wise, but it is out of my reach.” 24Whatever wisdom may be, it is out of reach. It is deep, very deep. Who can find out what it is? 25I turned my attention to study, to explore, and to seek out wisdom and the reason for things. I learned that wickedness is stupid and foolishness is madness.
26I find that a woman whose thoughts are ⌞like⌟ traps and snares is more bitter than death itself. Even her hands are ⌞like⌟ chains. Whoever pleases God will escape her, but she will catch whoever continues to sin.
27The spokesman said, “This is what I’ve found: I added one thing to another in order to find a reason for things. 28I am still seeking a reason for things, but have not found any. I found one man out of a thousand who had it, but out of all these I didn’t find one woman. 29I have found only this: God made people decent, but they looked for many ways ⌞to avoid being decent⌟.”
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Ecclesiastes 7
7
The Value of Practical Wisdom
1A #Prov. 22:1good name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one’s #Eccl. 4:2birth;
2Better 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 will take it to #(Ps. 90:12)heart.
3Sorrow is better than laughter,
#(2 Cor. 7:10)For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.
4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5#Ps. 141:5; (Prov. 13:18; 15:31, 32)It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise
Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6#Eccl. 2:2For like the crackling of thorns under a pot,
So is the laughter of the fool.
This also is vanity.
7Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason,
#Ex. 23:8; Deut. 16:19; (Prov. 17:8, 23)And a bribe debases the heart.
8The end of a thing is better than its beginning;
#Prov. 14:29; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 4:2The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9#Prov. 14:17; James 1:19Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10Do not say,
“Why were the former days better than these?”
For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.
11Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
And profitable #Eccl. 11:7to those who see the sun.
12For wisdom is a #Eccl. 9:18defense as money is a defense,
But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives #Prov. 3:18life to those who have it.
13Consider the work of God;
For #Job 12:14who can make straight what He has made crooked?
14#Deut. 28:47In the day of prosperity be joyful,
But in the day of adversity consider:
Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other,
So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.
15I have seen everything in my days of vanity:
#Eccl. 8:12–14There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness,
And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.
16#Prov. 25:16; Phil. 3:6Do not be overly righteous,
#Rom. 12:3Nor be overly wise:
Why should you destroy yourself?
17Do not be overly wicked,
Nor be foolish:
#Job 15:32; Ps. 55:23Why should you die before your time?
18It is good that you grasp this,
And also not remove your hand from the other;
For he who #Eccl. 3:14; 5:7; 8:12, 13fears God will escape them all.
19#Prov. 21:22; Eccl. 9:13–18Wisdom strengthens the wise
More than ten rulers of the city.
20#1 Kin. 8:46; 2 Chr. 6:36; Prov. 20:9; Rom. 3:23; 1 John 1:8For there is not a just man on earth who does good
And does not sin.
21Also do not take to heart everything people say,
Lest you hear your servant cursing you.
22For many times, also, your own heart has known
That even you have cursed others.
23All this I have proved by wisdom.
#Rom. 1:22I said, “I will be wise”;
But it was far from me.
24#Job 28:12; 1 Tim. 6:16As for that which is far off and #Rom. 11:33exceedingly deep,
Who can find it out?
25#Eccl. 1:17I applied my heart to know,
To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things,
To know the wickedness of folly,
Even of foolishness and madness.
26#Prov. 5:3, 4And I find more bitter than death
The woman whose heart is snares and nets,
Whose hands are fetters.
He who pleases God shall escape from her,
But the sinner shall be trapped by her.
27Here is what I have found,” says #Eccl. 1:1, 2the Preacher,
“Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,
28Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find:
#Job 33:23One man among a thousand I have found,
But a woman among all these I have not found.
29Truly, this only I have found:
#Gen. 1:27That God made man upright,
But #Gen. 3:6, 7they have sought out many schemes.”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.