Ecclesiastes Chapter 7
1 A good reputation is better than expensive ointment;
the day you die is better than the day you’re born.
2 It’s better to go to a house of mourning
than to a house of feasting;
because that’s the end of everyone,
and the living should take it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter in this respect:
when the face is sad, the heart can be happy.
4 The heart of the wise remembers there’s mourning,
but the heart of a fool just thinks about having fun.
5 It’s better to listen to a rebuke from the wise
than be regaled by the songs of a fool.
6 A fool’s laughter doesn’t last long;
it’s like thorns crackling under a heating pot:
it’s pointless.
Eccl 7:1-6
7 Oppression can turn the wise into fools;
bribes corrupt their heart.
8 Finishing is better than starting;
patience is better than pride.
9 Don’t get mad quick,
because anger thrives in the chest of fools.
10 Don’t say, “Why were the old days better than now?”
You don’t ask that because you’re wise.
11 Wisdom plus inheritance is good;
it’s an advantage to those who see the sun.
12 Protecting knowledge is like protecting money,
but only knowledge can save your life.
Eccl 7:7-12
13 Think about what God does;
who can straighten out what he bends?
14 Be happy in prosperous times,
but in hard times think about this:
God has made the one as well as the other;
so you can’t be sure what will happen when you’re gone.
15 I’ve seen all kinds of things in my pointless life,
including good people that die young and bad people that die old.
16 Don’t overestimate your “goodness” or “wisdom.”
Why ruin what you really are?
17 Don’t be excessively bad or foolish.
Why die early? 18 Avoid extremes.
A humble person that respects God
ends up with both wise goodness and long life.
19 One wise person is stronger than ten rulers in a city.
20 Nobody’s always good; 21 so don’t take too seriously everything you hear; you may hear your servant cursing you, 22 and you know how often you’ve cursed people.
Eccl 7:13-22
23 I determined I’d be wise about everything, but I couldn’t do it. 24 No one can figure out what’s distant and deep. 25 I set my mind to knowing, investigating, looking for wisdom and explanation, to identifying sinfulness, foolishness, and folly. 26 I discovered more bitter than death is a woman whose heart is a snare, whose hands are chains.
27 “Here’s something I’ve discovered,” the Preacher says, “combining one thing with another to reach a conclusion, 28 something I’m still looking for and haven’t found. I’ve found a man among a thousand, but I haven’t found a woman among them. 29 I’ve found only this: God made people godly, but they’ve sought out their own ways.”
Eccl 7:23-29