Ecclesiastes

¹ Your death date tells more than your birth date.

² After all, that's where we'll end up. We might discover something from it.

³ It blotches the face but it scours the heart.

⁴ Fools waste their lives in fun and games.

⁵ Than from the song and dance of fools.

⁶ Under the cooking pot. And like smoke.

⁷ And destroys the strongest heart.

⁸ Sticking to it is better than standing out.

⁹ Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.

¹⁰ Wise folks don't ask questions like that.

¹¹ Especially if you get both while you're still living.

¹² Plus this bonus: Wisdom energizes its owner.

¹³ Who could simplify and reduce Creation's curves and angles To a plain straight line?

¹⁴ On a bad day, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days So that we won't take anything for granted.

¹⁵ I've seen it all in my brief and pointless life—here a good person cut down in the middle of doing good, there a bad person living a long life of sheer evil.

¹⁶ So don't knock yourself out being good, and don't go overboard being wise. Believe me, you won't get anything out of it.

¹⁷ But don't press your luck by being bad, either. And don't be reckless. Why die needlessly?

¹⁸ It's best to stay in touch with both sides of an issue. A person who fears God deals responsibly with all of reality, not just a piece of it.

¹⁹ Than ten strong men give to a city.

²⁰ Not one who is truly pure and sinless.

²¹ What if the gossip's about you and you'd rather not hear it?

²² Behind someone's back you wouldn't say to his face?

²³ I tested everything in my search for wisdom. I set out to be wise, but it was beyond me,

²⁴ far beyond me, and deep—oh so deep! Does anyone ever find it?

²⁵ I concentrated with all my might, studying and exploring and seeking wisdom—the meaning of life. I also wanted to identify evil and stupidity, foolishness and craziness.

²⁶ One discovery: A woman can be a bitter pill to swallow, full of seductive scheming and grasping. The lucky escape her; the undiscerning get caught.

²⁷ At least this is my experience—what I, the Quester, have pieced together as I've tried to make sense of life.

²⁸ But the wisdom I've looked for I haven't found. I didn't find one man or woman in a thousand worth my while.

²⁹ Yet I did spot one ray of light in this murk: God made men and women true and upright; we're the ones who've made a mess of things.