Ecclesiastes 7

People Generally Do Not Know What is Best for Them

1A good name is better than precious ointment,

2Better to go to the house of mourning

for death is the end of every person,

3Sorrow is better than laughter,

4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

5Better to listen to the rebuke of the wise

6Like the sound of thorns under a pot,

This also is vanity!

Wisdom—Although Vulnerable—is Beneficial

7Surely oppression makes a fool of the wise,

8The end of a matter is better than its beginning;

9Do not be quick in your spirit to anger,

10Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?”

11Wisdom is good with an inheritance;

12For wisdom offers protection like money offers protection.[#Literally “For in the shade of wisdom is the shade of money”]

Humans Must Accept God’s Will and Make the Best of It

13Consider the work of God.

14In the day of prosperity, rejoice!

For God made one in place of another

The Law of Retribution Does Not Always Work—but It Does Sometimes

15I have seen all these things in my vain life:

16Do not be excessively righteous,[#Or “abundantly”]

17Do not act excessively wicked,

18It is good to take hold of the one and also must not let go of the other;

Wisdom is Valuable, but No One is Completely Righteous

19Wisdom gives more strength to the wise

20Surely there is no one righteous on the earth

21Do not pay attention to everything people say,

22For your heart knows

Absolute Wisdom is Unattainable

23All this I have tested with wisdom. I said, “I will be wise!” but it was beyond my grasp.[#Literally “it was far from me”]

24Whatever is—it is far beyond comprehension. Who can discover it?[#Literally “That which is—it is far and deep deep”]

25I set my mind to try to seek wisdom and the plan, and to know that wickedness is foolishness and that folly is delusion.

26I myself found that more bitter than death is the woman who is a trap, whose heart is a snare, and whose hands are bonds. The one who pleases God escapes from her, but the sinner is caught by her.

27“Look! I found this,” said the Teacher, “while trying to find how the plan fits together.[#Hebrew “Qohelet”]

28What my heart sought, I did not find. Although I found one righteous man among one thousand, I did not find one upright woman among all these.

29Look! This alone I found: God made mankind upright, but they have devised many schemes.”

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