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Good Advice About How to Live

A good name is better than fine perfume.
    People can learn more from mourning when someone dies
    than from being happy when someone is born.
So it’s better to go where people are mourning
    than to go where people are having a good time.
Everyone will die someday.
    Those who are still living
    should really think about that.
Not being able to figure things out is better than laughter.
    That’s because sorrow is good for the heart.
Those who are wise are found where there is sorrow.
    But foolish people are found where there is pleasure.
Pay attention to a wise person’s warning.
    That’s better than listening to the songs of those who are foolish.
A foolish person’s laughter
    is like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot.
    That doesn’t have any meaning either.

When a wise person takes wealth by force, they become foolish.
    It is sinful to take money from people who want special favors.

The end of a matter is better than its beginning.
    So it’s better to be patient than proud.
Don’t become angry quickly.
    Anger lives in the hearts of foolish people.

10 Don’t say, “Why were things better in the good old days?”
    It isn’t wise to ask that kind of question.

11 Wisdom is a good thing.
    It’s like getting a share of the family wealth.
    It benefits those who live on this earth.
12 Wisdom provides safety,
    just as money provides safety.
But here’s the advantage of wisdom.
    It guards those who have it.

13 Think about what God has done.

Who can make straight
    what he has made crooked?
14 When times are good, be happy.
    But when times are bad, here’s something to think about.
God has made bad times.
    He has also made good times.
So no one can find out anything
    about what’s ahead for them.

15 In my meaningless life here’s what I’ve seen.

I’ve seen godly people dying
    even though they are godly.
And I’ve seen sinful people living a long time
    even though they are sinful.
16 Don’t claim to be better than you are.
    And don’t claim to be wiser than you are.
    Why destroy yourself?
17 Don’t be too sinful.
    And don’t be foolish.
    Why die before your time comes?
18 It’s good to hold on to both of those things.
    Don’t let go of either one.
Whoever has respect for God will avoid
    going too far in either direction.

19 Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful
    than ten rulers in a city.

20 It is true that there isn’t anyone on earth
    who does only what is right and never sins.

21 Don’t pay attention to everything people say.
    If you do, you might hear your servant cursing you.
22 Many times you yourself have cursed others.
    Deep down inside, you know that’s true.

23 I used wisdom to test all these things. I said,

“I’ve made up my mind to be wise.”
    But it was more than I could accomplish.
24 Whatever exists is far away and very deep.
    Who can find it?
25 So I tried to understand wisdom more completely.
    I wanted to study it and figure it out.
    I tried to find out everything I could about it.
I tried to understand why it’s foolish to be evil.
    I wanted to see why choosing foolishness is so unwise.

26 A woman who hunts a man down
    is more painful than death.
Her heart is like a trap.
    Her hands are like chains.
A man who pleases God will try to get away from her.
    But she will trap a sinner.

27 “Look,” says the Teacher. “Here’s what I’ve discovered.

“I added one thing to another to find out
    everything I could about wisdom.
28 I searched and searched
    but found very little.
I did find one honest man among a thousand.
    But I didn’t find one honest woman among a thousand.
29 Here’s the only other thing I found.
    God created human beings as honest.
    But they’ve made many evil plans.”

Who is like a wise person?
    Who knows how to explain things?
A person’s wisdom makes their face bright.
    It softens the look on their face.

Obey the King

I’m telling you to obey the king’s command. You promised to serve him. You made a promise to God. Don’t be in a hurry to quit your job in the palace. Don’t stand up for something the king doesn’t like. He’ll do anything he wants to. The king has the final word. So who can ask him, “What are you doing?”

No one who obeys his command will be harmed.
    Those who are wise will know the proper time and way to approach him.
There’s a proper time and way for people to do everything.
    That’s true even though a person might be suffering greatly.

No one knows what lies ahead.
    So who can tell someone else what’s going to happen?
No one can stop the wind from blowing.
    And no one has the power to decide when they will die.
No one is let out of the army in times of war.
    And evil won’t let go of those who practice it.

I understood all these things. I used my mind to study everything that’s done on earth. A man sometimes makes life hard for others. But he ends up hurting himself. 10 I also saw sinful people being buried. They used to come and go from the place of worship. And others praised them in the city where they worshiped. That doesn’t have any meaning either.

11 Sometimes the sentence for a crime isn’t carried out quickly. So people make plans to commit even more crimes. 12 An evil person may be guilty of a hundred crimes. Yet they may still live a long time. But I know that things will go better with those who have great respect for God. 13 Sinful people don’t respect God. So things won’t go well with them. Like a shadow, they won’t be around very long.

14 Here’s something else on this earth that doesn’t have any meaning. Sometimes godly people get what sinful people should receive. And sinful people get what godly people should receive. Here’s what I’m telling you. That doesn’t have any meaning either. 15 So I advise everyone to enjoy life. A person on this earth can’t do anything better than eat and drink and be glad. Then they will enjoy their work. They’ll be happy all the days of the life God has given them on earth.

16 I used my mind to understand what it really means to be wise. I wanted to observe the hard work people do on earth. They don’t close their eyes and go to sleep day or night. 17 I saw everything God has done. No one can understand what happens on earth. People might try very hard to figure it out. But they still can’t discover what it all means. Wise people might claim they know. But they can’t really understand it either.

Everyone Dies

I thought about all these things. I realized that those who are wise and do what is right are under God’s control. What they do is also under his control. But no one knows whether they will be loved or hated. Everyone will die someday. Death comes to godly and sinful people alike. It comes to good and bad people alike. It comes to “clean” and “unclean” people alike. Those who offer sacrifices and those who don’t offer them also die.

A good person dies,
    and so does a sinner.
Those who make promises die.
    So do those who are afraid to make them.

Here’s what is so bad about everything that happens on this earth. Death catches up with all of us. Also, the hearts of people are full of evil. They live in foolish pleasure. After that, they join those who have already died. Anyone who is still living has hope. Even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

People who are still alive know they’ll die.
    But those who have died don’t know anything.
They don’t receive any more rewards.
    And even their name is forgotten.
Their love, hate and jealousy disappear.
    They will never share again
    in anything that happens on earth.

Go and enjoy your food. Be joyful as you drink your wine. God has already approved what you do. Always wear white clothes to show you are happy. Anoint your head with olive oil. You love your wife. So enjoy life with her. Do it all the days of this meaningless life God has given you on earth. That’s what he made you for. That’s what you get for all your hard work on earth. 10 No matter what you do, work at it with all your might. Remember, you are going to the place of the dead. And there isn’t any work or planning or knowledge or wisdom there.

11 Here’s something else I’ve seen on this earth.

Races aren’t always won by those who run fast.
    Battles aren’t always won by those who are strong.
Wise people don’t always have plenty of food.
    Clever people aren’t always wealthy.
    Those who have learned a lot aren’t always successful.
God controls the timing of every event.
    He also controls how things turn out.

12 No one knows when trouble will come to them.

Fish are caught in nets.
    Birds are taken in traps.
And people are trapped by hard times
    that come when they don’t expect them.

Being Wise Is Better Than Being Foolish

13 Here’s something else I saw on this earth. I saw an example of wisdom that touched me deeply. 14 There was once a small city. Only a few people lived there. A powerful king attacked it. He brought in war machines all around it. 15 A certain man lived in that city. He was poor but wise. He used his wisdom to save the city. But no one remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “It’s better to be wise than to be powerful.” But people look down on the poor man’s wisdom. No one pays any attention to what he says.

17 People should listen to the quiet words
    of those who are wise.
That’s better than paying attention to the shouts
    of a ruler of foolish people.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war.
    But one sinner destroys a lot of good.

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