The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Ecclesiastes 07
1 A good name is better than fine perfume; and the day of death better than the
day of one’s birth.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for
that is the end of all men, and the living
should take this to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter; for by
the sadness of the face the heart is made
good.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of
mourning; but the heart of fools is in the
house of mirth.
5 Itisbetter tohear the rebuke ofthe wise
than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 For as the crackling of thorns under a
pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also
is vanity.
7 Surely extortion makes the wise man
foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its
beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the
proud in spirit.
9 Don’t be hasty in your spiritto be angry,
for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Don’t say, “Why were the former days
better than these?” For you do not ask
wisely about this.
11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance.
Yes, it is more excellent for those who see
the sun.
12 For wisdom is a defense, even as
money is a defense; but the excellency of
knowledge is that wisdom preserves the
life of him who has it.
13 Consider the work of God, for who
can make that straight which he has made
crooked?
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and
in the day of adversity consider; yes, God
has made the one side by side with the
other, to the end that man should not find
out anything after him.
15 All this I have seen in my days of vanity:
there is a righteous man who perishes
in his righteousness, and there is a wicked
man who lives long in his evildoing.
16 Don’t be overly righteous, neither
make yourself overly wise. Why should
you destroy yourself?
17 Don’t be too wicked, neither be foolish.
Why should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you should take hold of
this. Yes, also don’t withdraw your hand
from that; for he who fears God will come
out of them all.
19 Wisdom is a strength to the wise man
more than ten rulers who are in a city.
20 Surely there is not a righteous man on
earth who does good and doesn’t sin.
21 Also don’t take heed to all words that
are spoken, lest you hear your servant
curse you;
22 for often your own heart knows that
you yourself have likewise cursed others.
23 All this I have proved in wisdom. I
said, “I will be wise;” but it was far from
me.
24 That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out?
25 I turned around, and my heart sought
to know and to search out, and to seek
wisdom and the scheme of things, and
to know that wickedness is stupidity, and
that foolishness is madness.
26 I find more bitter than death the
woman whose heart is snares and traps,
whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases
God shall escape from her; but the sinner
will be ensnared by her.
27 “Behold, I have found this,” says the
Preacher, “to one another, to find an explanation
28 which my soul still seeks, but I have
not found. I have found one man among
a thousand, but I have not found a woman
among all those.
29 Behold, I have only found this: that
God made mankind upright; but they
search for many inventions.”