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 <<  Ecclesiastes 7 >> 

Wisdom and folly

1A GOOD name smells sweeter than fragrant ointment, and the day of death is better than the day of birth.

2It is better to visit a house of mourning than a house of feasting; for to be mourned is the lot of everyone, and the living should take this to heart.

3Grief is better than laughter: a sad face may go with a cheerful heart.

4The thoughts of the wise are at home in the house of mourning, but a fool's thoughts in the house of mirth.

5It is better to listen to the rebukes of the wise than to the songs of fools.

6For the laughter of fools is like the crackling of thorns under a pot. That too is futility.

7Oppression drives the wise crazy, and a bribe corrupts the mind.

8Better the end of anything than its beginning; better patience than pride!

9Do not be quick to take offence, for it is fools who nurse resentment.

10Do not ask why the old days were better than the present; for that is a foolish question.

11Wisdom is better than possessions and an advantage to all who see the sun.

12Better have wisdom behind you than money; wisdom profits by giving life to those who possess her.

13Consider God's handiwork; who can straighten what he has made crooked?

14When things go well, be glad; but when they go ill, consider this: God has set the one alongside the other in such a way that no one can find out what is to happen afterwards.

15In my futile existence I have seen it all, from the righteous perishing in their righteousness to the wicked growing old in wickedness.

16Do not be over-righteous and do not be over-wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

17Do not be over-wicked and do not be a fool. Why die before your time?

18It is good to hold on to the one thing and not lose hold of the other; for someone who fears God will succeed both ways.

19Wisdom makes the possessor of wisdom stronger than ten rulers in a city.

20There is no one on earth so righteous that he always does right and never does wrong.

21Moreover, do not pay attention to everything folk say, or you may hear your servant speak ill of you;

22for you know very well how many times you yourself have spoken ill of others.

23All this I have put to the test of wisdom. I said, “I am resolved to be wise,” but wisdom was beyond my reach --

24whatever has happened lies out of reach, deep down, deeper than anyone can fathom.

25I went on to reflect how I could know, enquire, and search for wisdom and for the reason in things, only to discover that it is folly to be wicked and madness to act like a fool.

26I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is a net to catch and whose hands are fetters. He who is pleasing to God may escape her, but the sinner she will entrap.

27“See,” says the Speaker, “this is what I have found, reasoning things out one by one,

28after searching long without success: I have found one man in a thousand worthy to be called upright, but I have not found one woman among them all.

29This alone I have found: that God, when he made man, made him straightforward, but men invent endless subtleties of their own.”


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 <<  Ecclesiastes 7 >> 


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