Ecclesiastes 7-9

New American Standard Bible

Wisdom and Foolishness Contrasted

¹⁵ I 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. ¹⁶ Do not be excessively ^(Z)righteous, and do not ^(AA)be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? ¹⁷ Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be foolish. Why should you ^(AB)die ^[n]before your time? ¹⁸ It 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. ²⁰ Indeed, ^(AE)there is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin. ²¹ Also, do not ^[q]take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant ^(AF)cursing you, ²² for ^[r]you know that even you have cursed others many times as well.

²³ I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” ^(AG)but wisdom was far from me. ²⁴ What has been is remote and ^(AH)very ^[s]mysterious. ^(AI)Who can discover it? ²⁵ I ^[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. ²⁶ And 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, ²⁸ which ^[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. ²⁹ Behold, I have found only this, that ^(AP)God made people upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

Obey Rulers

8 Who is like the wise person and who knows the meaning of a matter? A person’s wisdom ^(AQ)illuminates his face and makes his ^(AR)stern face ^[w]brighten up.

² I say, “Keep the ^[x]command of the king because of the ^(AS)oath ^[y]before God. ³ Do not be in a hurry ^[z](AT)to leave him. Do not join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases.” ⁴ Since the word of the king is authoritative, ^(AU)who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

⁵ One who ^(AV)keeps a royal command ^(AW)experiences no ^[aa]trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. ⁶ For ^(AX)there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a person’s trouble is heavy upon him. ⁷ If no one ^(AY)knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen? ^8 (AZ)No one has authority over the wind to restrain the wind, nor authority over the day of death; and there is no military discharge in the time of war, and ^(BA)evil will not save ^[ab]those who practice it. ⁹ All this I have seen, and have applied my ^[ac]mind to every deed that has been done under the sun at a time when one person has exercised ^(BB)authority over another person to his detriment.

¹⁰ So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they are ^(BC)soon forgotten in the city where they did such things. This too is futility. ¹¹ Because the ^(BD)sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore ^(BE)the hearts of the sons of mankind among them are ^[ad]fully given to do evil. ¹² Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may ^(BF)lengthen his life, still I know that it will go ^(BG)well for those who fear God, who fear ^[ae]Him openly. ¹³ But it will ^(BH)not go well for the evil person and he will not lengthen his days like a ^(BI)shadow, because he does not fear God.

¹⁴ There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are ^(BJ)righteous people to whom it ^[af]happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are ^(BK)evil people to whom it ^[ag]happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility. ¹⁵ So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for ^(BL)a person under the sun except to eat, drink, and be joyful, and this will stand by him in his labor throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

¹⁶ When I ^(BM)devoted my ^[ah]mind to know wisdom and to see the business which has been done on the earth (even though one should ^[ai](BN)never sleep day or night), ¹⁷ and I saw every work of God, I concluded that ^(BO)one cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though a person laboriously seeks, he will not discover; and ^(BP)even if the wise person claims to know, he cannot discover.

People Are in the Hand of God

9 For I have taken all this to my heart, even to ^[aj]examine ^[ak]it all, that righteous people, wise people, and their deeds are ^(BQ)in the hand of God. ^(BR)People do not know whether it will be ^(BS)love or hatred; anything ^[al]awaits them.

^2 (BT)It is the same for all. There is ^(BU)one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and the unclean; for the person who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good person is, so is the sinner; the one who swears an oath is just as the one who ^[am]is afraid to swear an oath. ³ This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun, that there is ^(BV)one fate for everyone. Furthermore, ^(BW)the hearts of the sons of mankind are full of evil, and ^(BX)insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterward they go to the dead. ⁴ For whoever is joined to all the living, there is hope; for better a live dog, than a dead lion. ⁵ For the living know that they will die; but the dead ^(BY)do not know anything, nor do they have a reward any longer, for their ^(BZ)memory is forgotten. ⁶ Indeed their love, their hate, and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a ^(CA)share in all that is done under the sun.

⁷ Go then, ^(CB)eat your bread in happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. ⁸ See that your ^(CC)clothes are white all the time, and that there is no lack of ^(CD)oil on your head. ^9 [an]Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your ^(CE)futile life which He has given you under the sun, ^[ao]all the days of your futility; for this is your ^(CF)reward in life and in your work which you have labored under the sun.

Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, ^(CG)do it with all your might; for there is no ^(CH)activity, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in ^(CI)Sheol where you are going.

¹¹ I again saw under the sun that the ^(CJ)race is not to the swift and the ^(CK)battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor ^(CL)wealth to the discerning, nor favor to the skillful; for time and ^(CM)chance overtake them all. ¹² For indeed, a person does not ^(CN)know his time: like fish that are caught in a treacherous net and ^(CO)birds caught in a snare, so the sons of mankind are ^(CP)ensnared at an evil time when it ^(CQ)suddenly falls on them.

¹³ This too I saw as wisdom under the sun, and ^[ap]it impressed me: ¹⁴ there ^(CR)was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and constructed large siegeworks against it. ¹⁵ But there was found in it a ^(CS)poor wise man, and he ^[aq]saved the city ^(CT)by his wisdom. Yet ^(CU)no one remembered that poor man. ¹⁶ So I said, “^(CV)Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are ^[ar]ignored. ¹⁷ The ^(CW)words of the wise heard in calm are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. ^18 (CX)Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but ^(CY)one sinner destroys much good.