71A good name is better than fine perfume,and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.+2It is better to enter a house of mourningthan a house of feasting,since death is the end of every man,and the living should take this to heart.+3Sorrow is better than laughter,for a sad countenance is good for the heart.+4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.+5It is better to heed a wise man’s rebukethan to listen to the song of fools.+6For like the crackling of thorns under the pot,so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.+7Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool,and a bribe corrupts the heart.+8The end of a matter is better than the beginning,and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.+9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,for anger settles in the lap of a fool.+10Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”For it is unwise of you to ask about this.+11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good,and it benefits those who see the sun.+12For wisdom, like money, is a shelter,and the advantage of knowledgeis that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.+13Consider the work of God:Who can straighten what He has bent?+14In the day of prosperity, be joyful,but in the day of adversity, consider this:God has made one of these along with the other,so that a man cannot discoveranything that will come after him.+
The Limits of Human Wisdom
15In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.+16Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?+17Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?+18It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.+19Wisdom makes the wise manstronger than ten rulers in a city.+20Surely there is no righteous man on earthwho does good and never sins.+21Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.+22For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.+23All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.+24What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?+25I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.+26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.+27“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.+28While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.+29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”+Footnotes (2)
a7:9 Hebrew in the bosom of fools
b7:18 Or will avoid all extremes
Berean Standard Bible
The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible (BSB). Dedicated to the public domain.
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