Ecclesiastes 7 — AAB
The Value of Wisdom
7Verse 1A good name is better than fine perfume,and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.Verse 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.Verse 3Sorrow is better than laughter,for a sad countenance is good for the heart.Verse 4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.Verse 5It is better to heed a wise man’s rebukethan to listen to the song of fools.Verse 6For like the crackling of thorns under the pot,so is the laughter of the fool. This too is vapor.Verse 7Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool,and a bribe corrupts the heart.Verse 8The end of a matter is better than the beginning,and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.Verse 9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,for anger settles in the lap of a fool.+Verse 10Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”For it is unwise of you to ask about this.Verse 11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good,and it benefits those who see the sun.Verse 12For wisdom, like money, is a shelter,and the advantage of knowledgeis that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.Verse 13Consider the work of God:Who can straighten what He has bent?Verse 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 discover
anything that will come after him.
The Limits of Human Wisdom
Verse 15In my vapor life I have seen both of these:A righteous man perishing in his righteousness,
and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.Verse 16Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?Verse 17Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?Verse 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.+Verse 19Wisdom makes the wise manstronger than ten rulers in a city.Verse 20Surely there is no righteous man on earthwho does good and never sins.Verse 21Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.Verse 22For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.Verse 23All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.Verse 24What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?Verse 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.Verse 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.Verse 27“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.Verse 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.Verse 29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”