Ecclesiastes 7

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

1 *Prov. 22:1;[Song 1:3] A good name is better than precious ointment,

and *ch. 4:2the day of death than the day of birth.

2 It is better to go to the house of mourning

than to go to the house of feasting,

for this is the end of all mankind,

and the living will *[Ps. 90:12]lay it to heart.

3 Sorrow is better than laughter,

*[2 Cor. 7:10]for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.

4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

5 It is *Prov. 13:18;15:31,32;[Ps. 141:5]better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise

than to hear the song of fools.

6 *[Joel 2:5] For as the crackling of *[Ps. 58:9;118:12]thorns under a pot,

so is the laughter of the fools;

this also is vanity.*7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a "vapor" or "mere breath" (see note on 1:2)

7 Surely *[ch. 4:1] oppression drives the wise into madness,

and *Deut. 16:19;See Prov. 17:8a bribe corrupts the heart.

8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,

and *See Prov. 14:29the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

9 *[Prov. 14:17;16:32;James 1:19] Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,

*[Eph. 4:26]for anger lodges in the heart*7:9 Hebrew in the bosom of fools.

10 Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?"

For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,

an advantage to those who *ch. 6:5;11:7see the sun.

12 For the protection of wisdom is like *[ch. 10:19] the protection of money,

and the advantage of knowledge is that *Prov. 3:18wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

13 Consider *[ch. 3:11] the work of God:

*[ch. 1:15;Job 12:14;Isa. 14:27]who can make straight what he has made crooked?

14 *[ch. 3:4,22;Deut. 28:47] In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, *[ch. 3:22;6:12]so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

15 In my *ch. 6:12;9:9vain*7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a "vapor" or "mere breath" (see note on 1:2) life I have seen everything. There is *See ch. 8:14a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who *ch. 8:12,13prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not *[Rom. 12:3]make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. *[Prov. 10:27]; See Job 22:16Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of *[ver. 17] this, and from *[ver. 16] that *ch. 11:6withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

19 *ch. 9:16,18;Prov. 21:22;24:5Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

20 Surely *See 1 Kgs. 8:46there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear *Prov. 30:10your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that *[Gal. 6:1]many times you yourself have cursed others.

23 All this I have tested by wisdom. *[Rom. 1:22]I said, "I will be wise," but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and *[Rom. 11:33] deep, very deep; *Job 28:12,20;[1 Tim. 6:16]who can find it out?

25 *See ch. 1:17I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more *Prov. 5:4bitter than death: *See Prov. 2:16the woman whose heart is *Prov. 12:12;[Prov. 23:28] snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but *Prov. 22:14the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says *See ch. 1:1the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. *Job 33:23;[ver. 20] One man among a thousand I found, but *[1 Kgs. 11:3]a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that *[Gen. 1:27] God made man upright, but *[Gen. 3:6,7]they have sought out many schemes.