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Ecclesiastes 7

Wisdom and Folly Contrasted

1

A  agood name is better than a good ointment, And the  bday of one's death is better than the day of one's birth.

2

It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because  1that is the  aend of every man, And the living  2 btakes it to  3heart.

3

 aSorrow is better than laughter, For  bwhen a face is sad a heart may be happy.

4

The  1mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, While the  1mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.

5

It is better to  alisten to the rebuke of a wise man Than for one to listen to the song of fools.

6

For as the  1crackling of  athorn bushes under a pot, So is the  blaughter of the fool; And this too is futility.

7

For  aoppression makes a wise man mad, And a  bbribe  1corrupts the heart.

8

The  aend of a matter is better than its beginning;  bPatience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.

9

Do not be  1 aeager in your heart to be angry, For anger resides in the bosom of fools.

10

Do not say, "Why is it that the former days were better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

11

Wisdom along with an inheritance is good And an  aadvantage to those who see the sun.

12

For  awisdom is  1protection just as money is  1protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that  bwisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.

13

Consider the  awork of God, For who is  bable to straighten what He has bent?

14

 aIn the day of prosperity be happy, But  bin the day of adversity consider-- God has made the one as well as the other So that man will  cnot discover anything that will be after him.

15

I have seen everything during my  1 alifetime of futility; there is  ba righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is  ca wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.

16

Do not be excessively  arighteous and do not  bbe overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?

17

Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you  adie before your time?

18

It is good that you grasp one thing and also not  1let go of the other; for the one who  afears God comes forth with  2both of them.

19

 aWisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

20

Indeed,  athere is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

21

Also, do not  1take seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant  acursing you.

22

For  1you also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others.

23

I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, "I will be wise,"  abut it was far from me.

24

What has been is remote and  aexceedingly  1mysterious.  bWho can discover it?

25

I  1 adirected my  2mind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness.

26

And I discovered more  abitter than death the woman whose heart is  bsnares and nets, whose hands are chains.  cOne who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but  dthe sinner will be captured by her.

27

"Behold, I have discovered this," says the Preacher, "adding one thing to another to find an explanation,

28

which  1I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a  awoman among all these.

29

"Behold, I have found only this, that  aGod made men upright, but they have sought out many devices."



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(Produced: Sat Dec 22 11:23:36 2007)

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