Ecclesiastes 7:1-9 ▼

1 A good name is finer than good ointment, and the day of one’s death than the day he was born.

2 Better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for this is the end of all men, and the one living will give it to his heart.

3 Better is sorrow than laughter, for by the sadness of the face, the heart is made good.

4 The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, and the heart of fools is in a house of gladness.

5 Better to hear the rebuke of a wise one, than hearing a song of fools.

6 For like the sound of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool; and also this is vapor.

7 Surely oppression drives a wise one to madness, and a bribe destroys the heart.

8 Better the end of a thing than its beginning; better one long of spirit than one high of spirit.

9 Do not hurry in your spirit to become angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.