Ecclesiastes 7:1-9 ▼

1 A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all, and the living thinketh what is to come.

3 Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.

4 The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth.

5 It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools.

6 For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.

7 Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart.

8 Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the patient man than the presumptuous.

9 Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.