Ecclesiastes

¹ A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.

² than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.

³ because a sad face is good for the heart.

⁴ but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

⁵ than to listen to the song of fools.

⁶ so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.

⁷ and a bribe corrupts the heart.

⁸ and patience is better than pride.

⁹ for anger resides in the lap of fools.

¹⁰ For it is not wise to ask such questions.

¹¹ and benefits those who see the sun.

¹² as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.

¹³ Who can straighten what he has made crooked?

¹⁴ but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.

¹⁵ a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

¹⁶ neither be overwise— why destroy yourself?

¹⁷ and do not be a fool— why die before your time?

¹⁸ and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.

¹⁹ than ten rulers in a city.

²⁰ who does what is right and never sins.

²¹ or you may hear your servant cursing you—

²² that many times you yourself have cursed others.

²³ “I am determined to be wise”— but this was beyond me.

²⁴ it is far off and most profound— who can discover it?

²⁵ to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.

²⁶ the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.

²⁷ “Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—

²⁸ but not finding— I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.

²⁹ God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.”