Ecclesiastes 7-12

New International Version

⁷ Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
    and a bribe^(J) corrupts the heart.

⁸ The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
    and patience^(K) is better than pride.
⁹ Do not be quickly provoked^(L) in your spirit,
    for anger resides in the lap of fools.^(M)

¹⁰ Do not say, “Why were the old days^(N) better than these?”
    For it is not wise to ask such questions.

¹¹ Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing^(O)
    and benefits those who see the sun.^(P)
12 Wisdom is a shelter
    as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
    Wisdom preserves those who have it.

Who can straighten
    what he has made crooked?^(R)
14 When times are good, be happy;
    but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
    as well as the other.^(S)
Therefore, no one can discover
    anything about their future.

the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
    and the wicked living long in their wickedness.^(U)
16 Do not be overrighteous,
    neither be overwise—
    why destroy yourself?
¹⁷ Do not be overwicked,
    and do not be a fool—
    why die before your time?^(V)
18 It is good to grasp the one
    and not let go of the other.
    Whoever fears God^(W) will avoid all extremes.^[a]

¹⁹ Wisdom^(X) makes one wise person more powerful^(Y)
    than ten rulers in a city.

²⁰ Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,^(Z)
    no one who does what is right and never sins.^(AA)

²¹ Do not pay attention to every word people say,
    or you^(AB) may hear your servant cursing you—
²² for you know in your heart
    that many times you yourself have cursed others.

“I am determined to be wise”^(AC)—
    but this was beyond me.
²⁴ Whatever exists is far off and most profound—
    who can discover it?^(AD)
25 So I turned my mind to understand,
    to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things^(AE)
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
    and the madness of folly.^(AF)

²⁶ I find more bitter than death
    the woman who is a snare,^(AG)
whose heart is a trap
    and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
    but the sinner she will ensnare.^(AH)

“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
²⁸     while I was still searching
    but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
    but not one upright woman^(AJ) among them all.
²⁹ This only have I found:
    God created mankind upright,
    but they have gone in search of many schemes.”

8 Who is like the wise?
    Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
    and changes its hard appearance.

⁵ Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
    and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
⁶ For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,^(AM)
    though a person may be weighed down by misery.

⁷ Since no one knows the future,
    who can tell someone else what is to come?
⁸ As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
    so^[c] no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
    so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

As it is with the good,
    so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
    so with those who are afraid to take them.^(BD)

⁵ For the living know that they will die,
    but the dead know nothing;^(BH)
they have no further reward,
    and even their name^(BI) is forgotten.^(BJ)
6 Their love, their hate
    and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
    in anything that happens under the sun.^(BK)

The race is not to the swift
    or the battle to the strong,^(BU)
nor does food come to the wise^(BV)
    or wealth to the brilliant
    or favor to the learned;
but time and chance^(BW) happen to them all.^(BX)

As fish are caught in a cruel net,
    or birds are taken in a snare,
so people are trapped by evil times^(BY)
    that fall unexpectedly upon them.^(BZ)

¹⁷ The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
    than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
¹⁸ Wisdom^(CD) is better than weapons of war,
    but one sinner destroys much good.

10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
    so a little folly^(CE) outweighs wisdom and honor.
² The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left.
³ Even as fools walk along the road,
    they lack sense
    and show everyone^(CF) how stupid they are.
⁴ If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
    do not leave your post;^(CG)
    calmness can lay great offenses to rest.^(CH)

⁵ There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
    the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
⁶ Fools are put in many high positions,^(CI)
    while the rich occupy the low ones.
⁷ I have seen slaves on horseback,
    while princes go on foot like slaves.^(CJ)

⁸ Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;^(CK)
    whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.^(CL)
9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
    whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.^(CM)

¹⁰ If the ax is dull
    and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed,
    but skill will bring success.

¹¹ If a snake bites before it is charmed,
    the charmer receives no fee.^(CN)

¹² Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,^(CO)
    but fools are consumed by their own lips.^(CP)
13 At the beginning their words are folly;
    at the end they are wicked madness—
¹⁴     and fools multiply words.^(CQ)

No one knows what is coming—
    who can tell someone else what will happen after them?^(CR)

¹⁵ The toil of fools wearies them;
    they do not know the way to town.

¹⁶ Woe to the land whose king was a servant^[h](CS)
    and whose princes feast in the morning.
¹⁷ Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
    and whose princes eat at a proper time—
    for strength and not for drunkenness.^(CT)

¹⁸ Through laziness, the rafters sag;
    because of idle hands, the house leaks.^(CU)

¹⁹ A feast is made for laughter,
    wine^(CV) makes life merry,
    and money is the answer for everything.

²⁰ Do not revile the king^(CW) even in your thoughts,
    or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
    and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

³ If clouds are full of water,
    they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
⁴ Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵ As you do not know the path of the wind,^(CZ)
    or how the body is formed^[i] in a mother’s womb,^(DA)
so you cannot understand the work of God,
    the Maker of all things.

⁶ Sow your seed in the morning,
    and at evening let your hands not be idle,^(DB)
for you do not know which will succeed,
    whether this or that,
    or whether both will do equally well.

⁹ You who are young, be happy while you are young,
    and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart
    and whatever your eyes see,
but know that for all these things
    God will bring you into judgment.^(DE)
10 So then, banish anxiety^(DF) from your heart
    and cast off the troubles of your body,
    for youth and vigor are meaningless.^(DG)

12 Remember^(DH) your Creator
    in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble^(DI) come
    and the years approach when you will say,
    “I find no pleasure in them”—
² before the sun and the light
    and the moon and the stars grow dark,
    and the clouds return after the rain;
³ when the keepers of the house tremble,
    and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
    and those looking through the windows grow dim;
⁴ when the doors to the street are closed
    and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
    but all their songs grow faint;^(DJ)
5 when people are afraid of heights
    and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
    and the grasshopper drags itself along
    and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home^(DK)
    and mourners^(DL) go about the streets.

⁶ Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
    and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
    and the wheel broken at the well,
⁷ and the dust returns^(DM) to the ground it came from,
    and the spirit returns to God^(DN) who gave it.^(DO)

⁸ “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.^[j](DP)
    “Everything is meaningless!^(DQ)”

¹³ Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God^(DW) and keep his commandments,^(DX)
    for this is the duty of all mankind.^(DY)
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,^(DZ)
    including every hidden thing,^(EA)
    whether it is good or evil.