Ecclesiastes 7

1A good name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

2It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every person, and the living should take it to heart.

3Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad face makes the heart better.

4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of joy.

5It is better to hear the rebuke of a wise man than to hear the song of fools.

6For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool; this too is vapor.

7For oppression makes a wise man foolish, and a bribe destroys the heart.

8The end of a matter is better than its beginning; a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.

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 is an advantage for those who see the sun.

12For wisdom provides shade just as money provides shade, but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom keeps its possessors alive.

13Consider the work of God, for who can straighten what he has made crooked?

14In a day of prosperity, be joyful; and in a day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will come after him.

15I have seen it all during my fleeting days: there is a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man prolonging his life in his evil.

16Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you ruin yourself?

17Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

18It is good to grasp this and not let go of that either, for the one who fears God will come through them all.

19Wisdom gives a wise man more strength than ten rulers in the city.

20For there is no righteous man on the 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 your heart knows that many times you too have cursed others.

23All this I tested with wisdom. I said, “I will become wise”, but it was far from me.

24What has been is far off and very deep—who can find it out?

25I turned, and my heart with me, to know, search out, and seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness of madness.

26And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is traps and nets, and whose hands are chains. The one who pleases God will escape from her, but the sinner will be caught by her.

27See, this is what I found, says Qoheleth, adding one thing to another to find the sum.

28which I was still seeking but did not find: I found one man among a thousand, but among all these I did not find a woman.

29See, this alone I have found: God made humankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.