Ecclesiastes 7
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Wise Sayings
7 A good name is better than fine perfume,(A)
and the day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.(B)
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
since that is the end of all mankind,
and the living should take it to heart.(C)
3 Grief is better than laughter,
for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.(D)
4 The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.
5 It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools,(E)
6 for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot,(F)
so is the laughter of the fool.
This too is futile.
7 Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool,(G)
and a bribe destroys the mind.(H)
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning;
a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.(I)
9 Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry,
for anger abides in the heart of fools.(J)
10 Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?”(K)
since it is not wise of you to ask this.
11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance
and an advantage to those who see the sun,
12 because wisdom is protection as money is protection,
and the advantage of knowledge
is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.(L)
13 Consider the work of God,(M)
for who can straighten out
what He has made crooked?(N)
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful,(O) but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other,(P) so that man cannot discover anything that will come after him.
Avoiding Extremes
15 In my futile life[a] I have seen everything:(Q) there is a righteous man who perishes in spite of his righteousness,(R) and there is a wicked man who lives long in spite of his evil.(S) 16 Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise.(T) Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?(U) 18 It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them.
19 Wisdom makes the wise man stronger
than ten rulers of a city.(V)
20 There is certainly no righteous man on the earth
who does good and never sins.(W)
21 Don’t pay attention[b] to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you,(X) 22 for you know that many times you yourself have cursed others.
What the Teacher Found
23 I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, “I will be wise,” but it was beyond me. 24 What exists is beyond reach and very deep.(Y) Who can discover it? 25 I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and seek wisdom(Z) and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness. 26 And I find more bitter than death(AA) the woman who is a trap,(AB) her heart a net, and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her. 27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation, 28 which my soul continually searches for but does not find: among a thousand people I have found one true man, but among all these I have not found a true woman.(AC) 29 Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright,(AD) but they pursued many schemes.”
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 7:15 Lit days
- Ecclesiastes 7:21 Lit Don’t give your heart
Ecclesiastes 7
Biblia Sacra Vulgata
7 Quid necesse est homini majora se quaerere, cum ignoret quid conducat sibi in vita sua, numero dierum peregrinationis suae, et tempore quod velut umbra praeterit? aut quis ei poterit indicare quod post eum futurum sub sole sit?
2 Melius est nomen bonum quam unguenta pretiosa, et dies mortis die nativitatis.
3 Melius est ire ad domum luctus quam ad domum convivii; in illa enim finis cunctorum admonetur hominum, et vivens cogitat quid futurum sit.
4 Melior est ira risu, quia per tristitiam vultus corrigitur animus delinquentis.
5 Cor sapientium ubi tristitia est, et cor stultorum ubi laetitia.
6 Melius est a sapiente corripi, quam stultorum adulatione decipi;
7 quia sicut sonitus spinarum ardentium sub olla, sic risus stulti. Sed et hoc vanitas.
8 Calumnia conturbat sapientem, et perdet robur cordis illius.
9 Melior est finis orationis quam principium. Melior est patiens arrogante.
10 Ne sis velox ad irascendum, quia ira in sinu stulti requiescit.
11 Ne dicas: Quid putas causae est quod priora tempora meliora fuere quam nunc sunt? stulta enim est hujuscemodi interrogatio.
12 Utilior est sapientia cum divitiis, et magis prodest videntibus solem.
13 Sicut enim protegit sapientia, sic protegit pecunia; hoc autem plus habet eruditio et sapientia, quod vitam tribuunt possessori suo.
14 Considera opera Dei, quod nemo possit corrigere quem ille despexerit.
15 In die bona fruere bonis, et malam diem praecave; sicut enim hanc, sic et illam fecit Deus, ut non inveniat homo contra eum justas querimonias.
16 Haec quoque vidi in diebus vanitatis meae: justus perit in justitia sua, et impius multo vivit tempore in malitia sua.
17 Noli esse justus multum, neque plus sapias quam necesse est, ne obstupescas.
18 Ne impie agas multum, et noli esse stultus, ne moriaris in tempore non tuo.
19 Bonum est te sustentare justum: sed et ab illo ne subtrahas manum tuam; quia qui timet Deum nihil negligit.
20 Sapientia confortavit sapientem super decem principes civitatis;
21 non est enim homo justus in terra qui faciat bonum et non peccet.
22 Sed et cunctis sermonibus qui dicuntur ne accomodes cor tuum, ne forte audias servum tuum maledicentem tibi;
23 scit enim conscientia tua quia et tu crebro maledixisti aliis.
24 Cuncta tentavi in sapientia. Dixi: Sapiens efficiar: et ipsa longius recessit a me,
25 multo magis quam erat. Et alta profunditas, quis inveniet eam?
26 Lustravi universa animo meo, ut scirem et considerarem, et quaererem sapientiam, et rationem, et ut cognoscerem impietatem stulti, et errorem imprudentium:
27 et inveni amariorem morte mulierem, quae laqueus venatorum est, et sagena cor ejus; vincula sunt manus illius. Qui placet Deo effugiet illam; qui autem peccator est capietur ab illa.
28 Ecce hoc inveni, dixit Ecclesiastes, unum et alterum ut invenirem rationem,
29 quam adhuc quaerit anima mea, et non inveni. Virum de mille unum reperi; mulierem ex omnibus non inveni.
30 Solummodo hoc inveni, quod fecerit Deus hominem rectum, et ipse se infinitis miscuerit quaestionibus. Quis talis ut sapiens est? et quis cognovit solutionem verbi?
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