| 章 |
| 7:1 |
A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
|
| 7:2 |
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.
|
| 7:3 |
Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.
|
| 7:4 |
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
|
| 7:5 |
It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.
|
| 7:6 |
Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.
|
| 7:7 |
Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
|
| 7:8 |
The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
|
| 7:9 |
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
|
| 7:10 |
Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.
|
| 7:11 |
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.
|
| 7:12 |
Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.
|
| 7:13 |
Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?
|
| 7:14 |
When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.
|
| 7:15 |
In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
|
| 7:16 |
Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise-- why destroy yourself?
|
| 7:17 |
Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool-- why die before your time?
|
| 7:18 |
It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.
|
| 7:19 |
Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.
|
| 7:20 |
There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
|
| 7:21 |
Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you--
|
| 7:22 |
for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
|
| 7:23 |
All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined to be wise"-- but this was beyond me.
|
| 7:24 |
Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound-- who can discover it?
|
| 7:25 |
So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.
|
| 7:26 |
I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
|
| 7:27 |
"Look," says the Teacher, "this is what I have discovered: "Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things--
|
| 7:28 |
while I was still searching but not finding-- I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.
|
| 7:29 |
This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes."
|
