1
A good name is better than good ointment,
and the day of death than the day
of birth.
2 It
is better to go to the house of mourning
than to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of every man,
and the living should take it to
heart.
3 Sorrow
is better than laughter,
because when the face is sad the
heart grows wiser.
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 better to hearken to the wise man's rebuke
than to hearken to the song of
fools;
6 For
as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
so is the fool's laughter.
7 For
oppression can make a fool of a wise man,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better
is the end of speech than its beginning;
better is the patient spirit than
the lofty spirit.
9 Do not in spirit become quickly discontented, for
discontent lodges in the bosom of a fool. 10 Do
not say: How is it that former times were better than these? For it is not in
wisdom that you ask about this. 11 Wisdom and an
inheritance are good, and an advantage to those that see the sun. 12 For the protection of wisdom is as the protection
of money; and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of
its owner.
13 Consider the work of God. Who can make straight
what he has made crooked? 14 On a good day enjoy
good things, and on an evil day consider: Both the one and the other God has
made, so that man cannot find fault with him in anything. 15 I have seen all manner of things in my vain days: a
just man perishing in his justice, and a wicked one surviving in his wickedness.
16
"Be not just to excess,
and be not overwise,
lest you be ruined.
17
Be not wicked to excess,
and be not foolish.
Why should you die before your
time?" 18 It is good to hold to this rule,
and not to let that one go; but he who fears God will win through at all
events.
19
Wisdom is a better defense for the wise man than would be ten princes in the
city, 20 yet there is no man on earth so just as
to do good and never sin. 21 Do not give heed to
every word that is spoken lest you hear your servant speaking ill of you, 22 for you know in your heart that you have many times
spoken ill of others.
23
All these things I probed in wisdom. I said, "I will acquire wisdom";
but it was beyond me. 24 What exists is
far-reaching; it is deep, very deep: who can find it out?
25
I turned my thoughts toward knowledge; I sought and pursued wisdom and reason,
and I recognized that wickedness is foolish and folly is madness. 26 More bitter than death I find the woman who is a
hunter's trap, whose heart is a snare and whose hands are prison bonds.
He who is pleasing to God will
escape her,
but the sinner will be entrapped
by her.
27 Behold,
this have I found, says Qoheleth, adding one thing to another that I might
discover the answer 28 which my soul still seeks
and has not found:
One man out of a thousand have I
come upon,
but a woman among them all I have
not found.
29
Behold, only this have I found out: God made mankind straight, but men have had
recourse to many calculations.
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