Ecclesiastes 7:8-14

Legacy Standard Bible

⁸ Better is the ^(A)end of a matter than its beginning;
^(B)Better is patience of spirit than haughtiness of spirit.
⁹ Do not be ^[a](C)eager in your spirit to be vexed,
For vexation rests in the bosom of fools.
¹⁰ Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.
¹¹ Wisdom along with an inheritance is good
And an ^(D)advantage to those who see the sun.
¹² For ^(E)wisdom is a ^(F)shadow of protection as money is a shadow of protection,
And the advantage of knowledge is that ^(G)wisdom preserves the lives of its masters.
¹³ See the ^(H)work of God,
For who is ^(I)able to straighten what He has bent?
^14 (J)In the day when there is good be of good cheer,
But ^(K)in the day when there is evil see—
God has made the one as well as the other
So that man will ^(L)not find out anything that will be after him.