Ecclesiastes 7

New American Standard Bible

Wisdom and Foolishness Contrasted

7 A ^(A)good name is better than good ^[a]oil,
And the ^(B)day of one’s death is better 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 ^[b]that is the ^(C)end of every person,
And the living ^[c]^(D)takes it to ^[d]heart.
³^(E)Sorrow is better than laughter,
For ^(F)when a face is sad a heart may be happy.
⁴The ^[e]mind of the wise is in the house of mourning,
While the ^[f]mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.
⁵It is better to ^(G)listen to the rebuke of a wise person
Than for one to listen to the song of fools.
⁶For as the ^[g]crackling of ^(H)thorn bushes under a pot,
So is the ^(I)laughter of the fool;
And this too is futility.
⁷For ^(J)oppression makes a wise person look foolish,
And a ^(K)bribe ^[h]corrupts the heart.
⁸The ^(L)end of a matter is better than its beginning;
^(M)Patience of spirit is better than arrogance of spirit.
⁹Do not be ^[i]^(N)eager in your spirit to be angry,
For anger resides in the ^[j]heart of fools.
¹⁰Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.
¹¹Wisdom along with an inheritance is good,
And an ^(O)advantage to those who see the sun.
¹²For ^(P)wisdom is ^[k]protection just as money is ^[l]protection,
But the advantage of knowledge is that ^(Q)wisdom keeps its possessors alive.
¹³Consider the ^(R)work of God,
For who is ^(S)able to straighten what He has bent?
¹⁴^(T)On the day of prosperity be happy,
But ^(U)on the day of adversity consider:
God has made the one as well as the other
So that a person will ^(V)not discover anything that will come after him.

¹⁵I have seen everything during my ^[m]^(W)lifetime of futility; there is ^(X)a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness, and there is ^(Y)a wicked person who prolongs his life in his wickedness. ¹⁶Do not be excessively ^(Z)righteous, and do not ^(AA)be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? ¹⁷Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be foolish. Why should you ^(AB)die ^[n]before your time? ¹⁸It is good that you grasp one thing while not ^[o]letting go of the other; for one who ^(AC)fears God comes out with ^[p]both of them.

¹⁹^(AD)Wisdom strengthens a wise person more than ten rulers who are in a city. ²⁰Indeed, ^(AE)there is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin. ²¹Also, do not ^[q]take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant ^(AF)cursing you, ²²for ^[r]you know that even you have cursed others many times as well.

²³I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” ^(AG)but wisdom was far from me. ²⁴What has been is remote and ^(AH)very ^[s]mysterious. ^(AI)Who can discover it? ²⁵I ^[t]^(AJ)directed my ^[u]mind to know and to investigate, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of foolishness and the foolishness of insanity. ²⁶And I discovered as more ^(AK)bitter than death the woman whose heart is ^(AL)snares and nets, whose hands are chains. ^(AM)One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but ^(AN)the sinner will be captured by her.

²⁷“Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “by adding one thing to another to find an explanation, ²⁸which ^[v]I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a ^(AO)woman among all these. ²⁹Behold, I have found only this, that ^(AP)God made people upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”