The Value of Practical Wisdom
1A good name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;
2Better 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 will take it to heart.
3[a]Sorrow is better than laughter,
For by a sad countenance the heart is made [b]better.
4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5It is better to [c]hear the rebuke of the wise
Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6For like the [d]crackling of thorns under a pot,
So is the laughter of the fool.
This also is vanity.
7Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason,
And a bribe [e]debases the heart.
8The end of a thing is better than its beginning;
The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10Do not say,
“Why were the former days better than these?”
For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.
11Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
And profitable to those who see the sun.
12For wisdom is [f]a defense as money is a defense,
But the [g]excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.
13Consider the work of God;
For who can make straight what He has made crooked?
14In the day of prosperity be joyful,
But in the day of adversity consider:
Surely God has appointed the one [h]as well as the other,
So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.
15I have seen everything in my days of vanity:
There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness,
And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.
16Do not be overly righteous,
Nor be overly wise:
Why should you destroy yourself?
17Do not be overly wicked,
Nor be foolish:
Why should you die before your time?
18It is good that you grasp this,
And also not remove your hand from the other;
For he who fears God will [i]escape them all.
19Wisdom strengthens the wise
More than ten rulers of the city.
20For there is not a just man on earth who does good
And does not sin.
21Also do not take to heart everything people say,
Lest you hear your servant cursing you.
22For many times, also, your own heart has known
That even you have cursed others.
23All this I have [j]proved by wisdom.
I said, “I will be wise”;
But it was far from me.
24As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep,
Who can find it out?
25I applied my heart to know,
To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things,
To know the wickedness of folly,
Even of foolishness and madness.
26And I find more bitter than death
The woman whose heart is snares and nets,
Whose hands are fetters.
[k]He who pleases God shall escape from her,
But the sinner shall be trapped by her.
27“Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher,
“Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,
28Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find:
One man among a thousand I have found,
But a woman among all these I have not found.
29Truly, this only I have found:
That God made man upright,
But they have sought out many schemes.”
