| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Berean Study Bible |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one. |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent? |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you. |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me. |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it? |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness. |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared. |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation. |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman. |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” |
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