The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly
1 jA good name is better than precious ointment,
and kthe 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 lay it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
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 better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
6 For as the crackling of lthorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.1
7 Surely moppression drives the wise into madness,
and a nbribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 Be not quick in your spirit to become oangry,
for anger lodges in the heart2 of fools.
10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
11 pWisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who qsee the sun.
12 For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 Consider the work of God:
rwho can make straight what he has made crooked?
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that sman may not find out tanything that will be after him.
15 In my uvain3 life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and vthere is a wicked man who wprolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die xbefore your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who yfears God shall come out from both of them.
19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
20 zSurely 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 hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.
23 All this I have tested by awisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
25 I turned my heart to know and to bsearch out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of cfolly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more dbitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. eHe who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the fPreacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
Keep the King’s Command
1 Who is like the wise?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
A man’s wisdom makes his face shine,
and the hardness of his face is changed.
2 I say:4 Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him.5 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.6 6 For gthere is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble7 lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for hwho can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while iapplying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.
Those Who Fear God Will Do Well
10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised8 in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.9 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, jthe heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and kprolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who lfear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.
Man Cannot Know God’s Ways
14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and mthere are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has nnothing better under the sun but to oeat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the pwork of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.
Death Comes to All
1 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are qin the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2 It is the same for all, since rthe same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,10 to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, sthe hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but tthe dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the umemory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.
Enjoy Life with the One You Love
7 Go, veat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.
8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.
9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your wvain11 life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your xportion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 yWhatever your hand finds to do, zdo it with your might,12 for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
Wisdom Better Than Folly
11 aAgain I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.
13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 bThere was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a cpoor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet dno one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.
17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Final Warnings
1 xThis is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established yby the evidence of two or three witnesses. 2 I warned zthose who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them— 3 since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4 For ahe was crucified in weakness, but lives bby the power of God. For we also are cweak in him, but in dealing with you dwe will live with him by the power of God.
5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. eTest yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is fin you?—gunless indeed you hfail to meet the test! 6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. 7 But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 For we are glad when iwe are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. 10 For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come jI may not have to be severe in my use of kthe authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.
Final Greetings
11 Finally, brothers,1 rejoice. Aim for restoration, lcomfort one another,2 magree with one another, nlive in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 oGreet one another with a holy kiss. 13 pAll the saints greet you.
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the qfellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
