Jubilee2000 - Ecclesiastes - 7

7:1  A good name [is] better than precious ointment and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

7:2  [It is] better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that [is] the end of all men; and the living will lay [it] to his heart.

7:3  Sorrow [is] better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made whole.

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 hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.

7:6  The laughter of the fool [is] as the crackling of thorns under a pot, and this [also (the laughter or prosperity of the fool) is] vanity.

7:7  Surely oppression makes a wise man mad, and a gift destroys the heart.

7:8  Better [is] the end of a thing than its beginning, [and] he who has suffered in spirit [is] better than the proud in spirit.

7:9  Do not be hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

7:10  Never say, What is [the cause] that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.

7:11  Knowledge [is] good with an inheritance and [is] the excellency of those that see the sun.

7:12  For knowledge [is] a defence, [and] money [is] a defence; but wisdom excels in [that] it gives life to those that have it.

7:13  Consider the work of God; for who can make straight that which [he] has twisted?

7:14  In the day of good enjoy that which is good, but in the day of adversity open your [eyes and learn]: God also has made the one [(the day of adversity)] before the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

7:15  All [things] have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just [man] that perishes for his righteousness, and there is a wicked [man] that prolongs [his days] by his wickedness.

7:16  Do not be too legalistic; neither make thyself over wise [in thine own eyes]: why should thou destroy thyself?

7:17  Do not be hasty [to] condemn, neither be thou foolish: why should thou die in the midst of thy labours?

7:18  [It is] good that thou should take hold of this; and also from the other not withdraw thy hand; for he that fears God shall come through with everything.

7:19  Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten mighty [men] who are in the city.

7:20  For surely [there is] not a just man upon earth that in doing good does not sin.

7:21  Also do not take to heart all the words that are spoken lest thou hear thy servant speak evil of thee:

7:22  For thine own heart knows that thou thyself likewise hast spoken evil of others many times.

7:23  All this I have proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise, but it [was] far from me.

7:24  That which has been is far off and that [which is] exceeding deep, who can find it out?

7:25  I applied my heart to know and to search and to seek out wisdom and the reason [of things], and to know the wickedness of folly and the madness of error;

7:26  and I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart [is] snares and nets, [and] her hands [are] bonds; whosoever pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be held prisoner in her.

7:27  Behold, this I have found, saith the preacher, [weighing things] one by one to find out the answer,

7:28  which my soul yet seeks, but I find not: one man among a thousand I have found, but a woman among all those I have not found.

7:29  Behold, this only have I found: that God has made man upright, but they have sought out many perversions.: