Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 7

¹ Better a good name than costly oil, the day of death than the day of birth.

² Better go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting; for to this end all men come, let the living take this to heart.

³ Better sadness than laughter, a severe face confers some benefit.

⁴ The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, the heart of fools in the house of gaiety.

⁵ Better attend to a wise man’s reprimand than listen to a song sung by a fool.

⁶ For like the crackling of thorns under the cauldron is the laughter of fools: this is vanity, too.

⁷ For laughter makes a fool of the wise man and merriment corrupts the heart.

⁸ Better the end of a matter than its beginning, better patience than pride.

⁹ Do not be hasty with your resentment, for resentment is found in the heart of fools.

¹⁰ Do not ask why earlier days were better than these, for that is not a question prompted by wisdom.

¹¹ Wisdom is a precious legacy, a boon for those on whom the sun shines.

¹² For as money gives protection, so does wisdom; and the good that knowledge imparts is this: its possessor finds that wisdom keeps him safe.

¹³ Consider the work of God; who can set straight what he has made crooked?

¹⁴ When times are prosperous, enjoy your happiness; when times are bad, consider this: the one is God’s doing, as is the other, in order that man may know nothing of his destiny.

¹⁵ In this fleeting life of mine I have seen so much: the virtuous man perishing for all his virtue, for all his godlessness the godless living on.

¹⁶ Do not be over-virtuous nor play too much the sage; why drive yourself too hard?

¹⁷ Do not be wicked to excess, and do not be a fool; why die before your time?

¹⁸ The best thing is to hold the one and not let go the other, for both of these will happen to the God-fearing man.

¹⁹ Wisdom lends more strength to the wise than ten rulers in a city.

²⁰ There is no virtuous man on earth who, doing good, is ever free of sin.

²¹ Another thing: pay no attention to telltales; you may hear that your servant has reviled you;

²² your own heart knows how often you have reviled others.

²³ I have put all this to the test by wisdom, claiming to be wise; but wisdom has been beyond my reach.

²⁴ Reality lies beyond my grasp; and deep; so deep, who can discover it?

²⁵ Once again I was at pains to study wisdom and retribution, to see wickedness as folly, and foolishness as madness.

²⁶ I find woman more bitter than death; she is a snare, her heart a net, her arms are chains; He who is pleasing to God eludes her, but the sinner is her captive.

²⁷ This then you must know, says Qoheleth, is the sum of my investigation, putting this and that together.

²⁸ I have made other researches too, without result. One man in a thousand I may find, but never a woman better than the rest.

²⁹ This, however, you must know: I find that God made man simple; man’s complex problems are of his own devising.