Ecclesiastes - Chapter 7 | New International Version

  • 1. A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
  • 2. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.
  • 3. Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.
  • 4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
  • 5. It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.
  • 6. Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.
  • 7. Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
  • 8. The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
  • 9. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
  • 10. Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.
  • 11. Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.
  • 12. Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.
  • 13. Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?
  • 14. When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.
  • 15. In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
  • 16. Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise-- why destroy yourself?
  • 17. Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool-- why die before your time?
  • 18. It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.
  • 19. Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.
  • 20. There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
  • 21. Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you--
  • 22. for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
  • 23. All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined to be wise"-- but this was beyond me.
  • 24. Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound-- who can discover it?
  • 25. So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.
  • 26. I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
  • 27. Look, says the Teacher, "this is what I have discovered: "Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things--
  • 28. while I was still searching but not finding-- I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.
  • 29. This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes."
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