Eclesiastes 7

The Value of Practical Wisdom

1 A *Prov. 22:1good name is better than precious ointment,

And the day of death than the day of one’s *Eccl. 4:2birth;

2 Better 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 *(Ps. 90:12)heart.

3 Sorrow is better than laughter,

*(2 Cor. 7:10)For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.

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

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

5 *Ps. 141:5; (Prov. 13:18; 15:31, 32)Itis better to hear the rebuke of the wise

Than for a man to hear the song of fools.

6 *Eccl. 2:2For like the crackling of thorns under a pot,

So is the laughter of the fool.

This also is vanity.

7 Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason,

*Ex. 23:8; Deut. 16:19; (Prov. 17:8, 23)And a bribe debases the heart.

8 The end of a thing is better than its beginning;

*Prov. 14:29; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 4:2The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

9 *Prov. 14:17; James 1:19Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,

For anger rests in the bosom of fools.

10 Do not say,

"Why were the former days better than these?"

For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,

And profitable *Eccl. 11:7to those who see the sun.

12 For wisdom is a *Eccl. 9:18defense as money is a defense,

But the excellence of knowledge isthat wisdom gives *Prov. 3:18life to those who have it.

13 Consider the work of God;

For *Job 12:14who can make straight what He has made crooked?

14 *Deut. 28:47In the day of prosperity be joyful,

But in the day of adversity consider:

Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other,

So that man can find out nothing thatwillcome after him.

15 I have seen everything in my days of vanity:

*Eccl. 8:12–14There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness,

And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.

16 *Prov. 25:16; Phil. 3:6Do not be overly righteous,

*Rom. 12:3Nor be overly wise:

Why should you destroy yourself?

17 Do not be overly wicked,

Nor be foolish:

*Job 15:32; Ps. 55:23Why should you die before your time?

18 Itis good that you grasp this,

And also not remove your hand from the other;

For he who *Eccl. 3:14; 5:7; 8:12, 13fears God will escape them all.

19 *Prov. 21:22; Eccl. 9:13–18Wisdom strengthens the wise

More than ten rulers of the city.

20 *1 Kin. 8:46; 2 Chr. 6:36; Prov. 20:9; Rom. 3:23; 1 John 1:8For thereis not a just man on earth who does good

And does not sin.

21 Also do not take to heart everything people say,

Lest you hear your servant cursing you.

22 For many times, also, your own heart has known

That even you have cursed others.

23 All this I have proved by wisdom.

*Rom. 1:22I said, "I will be wise";

But it was far from me.

24 *Job 28:12; 1 Tim. 6:16As for that which is far off and *Rom. 11:33exceedingly deep,

Who can find it out?

25 *Eccl. 1:17I applied my heart to know,

To search and seek out wisdom and the reason ofthings,

To know the wickedness of folly,

Even of foolishness and madness.

26 *Prov. 5:3, 4And I find more bitter than death

The woman whose heart is snares and nets,

Whose hands are fetters.

He who pleases God shall escape from her,

But the sinner shall be trapped by her.

27 Here is what I have found," says *Eccl. 1:1, 2the Preacher,

"Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,

28 Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find:

*Job 33:23One man among a thousand I have found,

But a woman among all these I have not found.

29 Truly, this only I have found:

*Gen. 1:27That God made man upright,

But *Gen. 3:6, 7they have sought out many schemes."