Ecclesiastes 7:1-14

Complete Jewish Bible

7 A good name is better than perfumed oil,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
² Better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for all are destined to be mourned;
the living should lay this to heart.
³ Grief is better than laughter,
for sadness can improve a person.
⁴ The thoughts of the wise are in the house of mourning,
but the thoughts of fools are in the house of pleasure.
⁵ It is better to hear the rebukes of the wise
than to listen to the songs of fools.
⁶ For the laughter of fools is like the crackling of thorns
burning under a pot; this too is pointless.
⁷ But oppression can make a wise man stupid;
also a gift can destroy understanding.

⁸ The end of something is better than its beginning,
so the patient are better than the proud.
⁹ Don’t be quick to get angry,
for [only] fools nurse anger.

¹⁰ Don’t ask why the old days were better than now,
because that is a foolish question.
¹¹ Wisdom is good, along with possessions,
an advantage to all who see the sun.
¹² For wisdom is a shelter,
and money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is
that wisdom keeps the one who has it alive.

¹³ Consider the work of God:
who can make straight what he has made crooked?
¹⁴ When things are going well, enjoy yourself;
but when things are going badly, consider
that God made the one alongside the other,
so that people would learn nothing of their futures.