Old/New Testament
7 A good reputation is more valuable than the most expensive perfume.
The day one dies is better than the day he is born! 2 It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die, and it is a good thing to think about it while there is still time. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. 4 Yes, a wise man thinks much of death, while the fool thinks only of having a good time now.
5 It is better to be criticized by a wise man than to be praised by a fool! 6 For a fool’s compliment is as quickly gone as paper in fire, and it is silly to be impressed by it.
7 The wise man is turned into a fool by a bribe; it destroys his understanding.
8 Finishing is better than starting! Patience is better than pride! 9 Don’t be quick-tempered—that is being a fool.
10 Don’t long for “the good old days,” for you don’t know whether they were any better than these!
11 To be wise is as good as being rich; in fact, it is better. 12 You can get anything by either wisdom or money, but being wise has many advantages.
13 See the way God does things and fall into line. Don’t fight the facts of nature.[a] Who can straighten what he has made crooked? 14 Enjoy prosperity whenever you can, and when hard times strike, realize that God gives one as well as the other—so that everyone will realize that nothing is certain in this life.
15-17 In this silly life I have seen everything, including the fact that some of the good die young and some of the wicked live on and on. So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself? On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either—don’t be a fool! Why should you die before your time?
18 Tackle every task that comes along, and if you fear God, you can expect his blessing.
19 A wise man is stronger than the mayors of ten big cities! 20 And there is not a single man in all the earth who is always good and never sins.
21-22 Don’t eavesdrop! You may hear your servant cursing you! For you know how often you yourself curse others!
23 I have tried my best to be wise. I declared, “I will be wise,” but it didn’t work. 24 Wisdom is far away and very difficult to find. 25 I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and the reason for things . . . to prove to myself the wickedness of folly and that foolishness is madness.
26 A prostitute[b] is more bitter than death. May it please God that you escape from her, but sinners don’t evade her snares.
27-28 This is my conclusion, says the Preacher. Step by step I came to this result after researching in every direction: One tenth of one percent of the men I interviewed could be said to be wise, but not one woman!
29 And I found that though God has made men upright, each has turned away to follow his own downward road.
8 How wonderful to be wise, to understand things, to be able to analyze them and interpret them. Wisdom lights up a man’s face, softening its hardness.
2-3 Obey the king as you have vowed to do. Don’t always be trying to get out of doing your duty, even when it’s unpleasant. For the king punishes those who disobey. 4 The king’s command is backed by great power, and no one can withstand it or question it. 5 Those who obey him will not be punished. The wise man will find a time and a way to do what he says. 6-7 Yes, there is a time and a way for everything, though man’s trouble lies heavy upon him; for how can he avoid what he doesn’t know is going to happen?
8 No one can hold back his spirit from departing; no one has the power to prevent his day of death, for there is no discharge from that obligation and that dark battle. Certainly a man’s wickedness is not going to help him then.
9-10 I have thought deeply about all that goes on here in the world, where people have the power of injuring each other. I have seen wicked men buried, and as their friends returned from the cemetery, having forgotten all the dead man’s evil deeds, these men were praised in the very city where they had committed their many crimes! How odd! 11 Because God does not punish sinners instantly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. 12 But though a man sins a hundred times and still lives, I know very well that those who fear God will be better off, 13 unlike the wicked, who will not live long, good lives—their days shall pass away as quickly as shadows because they don’t fear God.
14 There is a strange thing happening here upon the earth: Providence seems to treat some good men as though they were wicked, and some wicked men as though they were good. This is all very vexing and troublesome!
15 Then I decided to spend my time having fun because I felt that there was nothing better in all the earth than that a man should eat, drink, and be merry, with the hope that this happiness would stick with him in all the hard work that God gives to mankind everywhere.
16-17 In my search for wisdom I observed all that was going on everywhere across the earth—ceaseless activity, day and night. (Of course, only God can see everything, and even the wisest man who says he knows everything, doesn’t!)
9 This, too, I carefully explored—that godly and wise men are in God’s will; no one knows whether he will favor them or not. All is chance! 2-3 The same providence confronts everyone, whether good or bad, religious or irreligious, profane or godly. It seems so unfair that one fate comes to all. That is why men are not more careful to be good but instead choose their own mad course, for they have no hope—there is nothing but death ahead anyway.
4 There is hope only for the living. “It is better to be a live dog than a dead lion!” 5 For the living at least know that they will die! But the dead know nothing ; they don’t even have their memories.[c] 6 Whatever they did in their lifetimes—loving, hating, envying—is long gone, and they have no part in anything here on earth anymore. 7 So go ahead, eat, drink, and be merry, for it makes no difference to God! 8 Wear fine clothes—with a dash of cologne! 9 Live happily with the woman you love through the fleeting days of life, for the wife God gives you is your best reward down here for all your earthly toil. 10 Whatever you do, do well, for in death, where you are going, there is no working or planning, or knowing, or understanding.
11 Again I looked throughout the earth and saw that the swiftest person does not always win the race, nor the strongest man the battle, and that wise men are often poor, and skillful men are not necessarily famous; but it is all by chance, by happening to be at the right place at the right time. 12 A man never knows when he is going to run into bad luck. He is like a fish caught in a net, or a bird caught in a snare.
13 Here is another thing that has made a deep impression on me as I have watched human affairs: 14 There was a small city with only a few people living in it, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. 15 There was in the city a wise man, very poor, and he knew what to do to save the city, and so it was rescued. But afterwards no one thought any more about him. 16 Then I realized that though wisdom is better than strength, nevertheless, if the wise man is poor, he will be despised, and what he says will not be appreciated. 17 But even so, the quiet words of a wise man are better than the shout of a king of fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one rotten apple can spoil a barrelful.
13 This is the third time I am coming to visit you. The Scriptures tell us that if two or three have seen a wrong, it must be punished. Well, this is my third warning as I come now for this visit.[a] 2 I have already warned those who had been sinning when I was there last; now I warn them again and all others, just as I did then, that this time I come ready to punish severely and I will not spare them.
3 I will give you all the proof you want that Christ speaks through me. Christ is not weak in his dealings with you but is a mighty power within you. 4 His weak, human body died on the cross, but now he lives by the mighty power of God. We, too, are weak in our bodies, as he was, but now we live and are strong, as he is, and have all of God’s power to use in dealing with you.
5 Check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test? Do you feel Christ’s presence and power more and more within you? Or are you just pretending to be Christians when actually you aren’t at all? 6 I hope you can agree that I have stood that test and truly belong to the Lord.
7 I pray that you will live good lives, not because that will be a feather in our caps,[b] proving that what we teach is right; no, for we want you to do right even if we ourselves are despised. 8 Our responsibility is to encourage the right at all times, not to hope for evil.[c] 9 We are glad to be weak and despised if you are really strong. Our greatest wish and prayer is that you will become mature Christians.
10 I am writing this to you now in the hope that I won’t need to scold and punish when I come; for I want to use the Lord’s authority that he has given me, not to punish you but to make you strong.
11 I close my letter with these last words: Be happy. Grow in Christ. Pay attention to what I have said. Live in harmony and peace. And may the God of love and peace be with you.
12 Greet each other warmly in the Lord. 13 All the Christians here send you their best regards. 14 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. May God’s love and the Holy Spirit’s friendship be yours.
Paul
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.