New Living Translation

English Standard Version

Wisdom for Life

A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume.
And the day you die is better than the day you are born.

1

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death than the day of birth.

2

Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties.
After all, everyone dies —
so the living should take this to heart.

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 sadness has a refining influence on us.

3

Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.

4

A wise person thinks a lot about death,
while a fool thinks only about having a good time.

4

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

5

Better to be criticized by a wise person
than to be praised by a fool.

5

It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.

6

A fool’s laughter is quickly gone,
like thorns crackling in a fire.
This also is meaningless.

6

For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.a

7

Extortion turns wise people into fools,
and bribes corrupt the heart.

7

Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.

8

Finishing is better than starting.
Patience is better than pride.

8

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

9

Control your temper,
for anger labels you a fool.

9

Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
for anger lodges in the heartb of fools.

10

Don’t long for “the good old days.”
This is not wise.

10

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

11

Wisdom is even better when you have money.
Both are a benefit as you go through life.

11

Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who see the sun.

12

Wisdom and money can get you almost anything,
but only wisdom can save your life.

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

Accept the way God does things,
for who can straighten what he has made crooked?

13

Consider the work of God:
who can make straight what he has made crooked?

14

Enjoy prosperity while you can,
but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God.
Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

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 man may not find out anything that will be after him.

15

The Limits of Human Wisdom

I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people.

15

In my vainc life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.

16

So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself?

16

Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

17

On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time?

17

Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

18

Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes.a

18

It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

19

One wise person is stronger than ten leading citizens of a town!

19

Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

20

Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.

20

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

21

Don’t eavesdrop on others — you may hear your servant curse you.

21

Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you.

22

For you know how often you yourself have cursed others.

22

Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

23

I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work.

23

All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me.

24

Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find.

24

That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

25

I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness.

25

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

I discovered that a seductive womanb is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare.

26

And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.

27

“This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle.

27

Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things —

28

Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman!

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

But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”

29

See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

Parallel

New Living Translation

English Standard Version

Ecclesiastes 7

Ecclesiastes 7