Ecclesiastes 7

1What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he knoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun?

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

2A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

2It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.

3It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all, and the living thinketh what is to come.

3Sorrow is better than joy; when the face is sad the mind gets better.

4Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.

4The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.

5The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth.

5It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.

6It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools.

6Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.

7For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.

7The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.

8Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart.

8The end of a thing is better than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride.

9Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the patient man than the presumptuous.

9Be not quick to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.

10Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.

10Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.

11Say not: What thinkest thou is the cause that former times were better than they are now? for this manner of question is foolish.

11Wisdom together with a heritage is good, and a profit to those who see the sun.

12Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage to them that see the sun.

12Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.

13For as wisdom is a defence, so money is a defence: but learning and wisdom excel in this, that they give life to him that possesseth them.

13Give thought to the work of God. Who will make straight what he has made bent?

14Consider the works of God, that no man can correct whom he hath despised.

14In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.

15In the good day enjoy good things, and beware beforehand of the evil day: for God hath made both the one and the other, that man may not find against him any just complaint.

15These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.

16These things also I saw in the days of my vanity: A just man perisheth in his justice, and a wicked man liveth a long time in his wickedness.

16Be not given overmuch to righteousness and be not over-wise. Why let destruction come on you?

17Be not over just: and be not more wise than is necessary, lest thou become stupid.

17Be not evil overmuch, and be not foolish. Why come to your end before your time?

18Be not overmuch wicked: and be not foolish, lest thou die before thy time.

18It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.

19It is good that thou shouldst hold up the just, yea and from him withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God, neglecteth nothing.

19Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.

20Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the city.

20There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does good and is free from sin all his days.

21For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not.

21Do not give ear to all the words which men say, for fear of hearing the curses of your servant.

22But do not apply thy heart to all words that are spoken: lest perhaps thou hear thy servant reviling thee.

22Your heart has knowledge how frequently others have been cursed by you.

23For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast often spoken evil of others.

23All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.

24I have tried all things in wisdom. I have said: I will be wise: and it departed farther from me,

24Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?

25Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?

25I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.

26I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the wickedness of the fool, and the error of the imprudent:

26And I saw a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.

27And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the hunter's snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall be caught by her.

27Look! this I have seen, said the Preacher, taking one thing after another to get the true account,

28Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after another, that I might find out the account,

28For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.

29Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it. One man among a thousand I have found, a woman among them all I have not found.

29This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they have been searching out all sorts of inventions.

30Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions. Who is as the wise man? and who hath known the resolution of the word?

30(not in this translation)