1
hProv. 22:1; [Song 1:3] A good name is better than precious ointment,
andich. 4:2 the 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 willj[Ps. 90:12] lay it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
k[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 islProv. 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 m[Joel 2:5] For as the crackling ofn[Ps. 58:9; 118:12] thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.
7 Surelyo[ch. 4:1] oppression drives the wise into madness,
andpDeut. 16:19; See Prov. 17:8 a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
andqSee Prov. 14:29 the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 r[Prov. 14:17; 16:32; James 1:19] Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
s[Eph. 4:26] for anger lodges 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 whotch. 6:5; 11:7 see the sun.
12 For the protection of wisdom is likeu[ch. 10:19] the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is thatvProv. 3:18 wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 Considerw[ch. 3:11] the work of God:
x[ch. 1:15; Job 12:14; Isa. 14:27] who can make straight what he has made crooked?
14 y[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,z[ch. 3:22; 6:12] so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
15 In myach. 6:12; 9:9 vain life I have seen everything. There isbSee ch. 8:14 a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man whocch. 8:12, 13 prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do notd[Rom. 12:3] make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool.e[Prov. 10:27]; See Job 22:16 Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold off[ver. 17] this, and fromg[ver. 16] thathch. 11:6 withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
19 ich. 9:16, 18; Prov. 21:22; 24:5 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
20 SurelyjSee 1 Kgs. 8:46 there 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 hearkProv. 30:10 your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows thatl[Gal. 6:1] many times you have yourself cursed others.
23 All this I have tested by wisdom.m[Rom. 1:22] I said, “I will be wise, ” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, andn[Rom. 11:33] deep, very deep;oJob 28:12, 20; [1 Tim. 6:16] who can find it out?
25 pSee ch. 1:17 I 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 moreqProv. 5:4 bitter than death:rSee Prov. 2:16 the woman whose heart issProv. 12:12; [Prov. 23:28] snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, buttProv. 22:14 the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, saysuSee ch. 1:1 the 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.vJob 33:23; [ver. 20] One man among a thousand I found, butw[1 Kgs. 11:3] a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, thatx[Gen. 1:27] God made man upright, buty[Gen. 3:6, 7] they have sought out many schemes.