Ecc 7 | ESV | STEP | A good name is better than precious ointment , and the day of death than the day of birth .

‏ Ecclesiastes 7

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

1 ^aA good name is better than precious ointment,
and ^bthe 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 ^clay it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
^dfor 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 ^ebetter for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
6 ^fFor as the crackling of ^gthorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity. ^{▼▼The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)}
7 Surely ⁱoppression drives the wise into madness,
and ^ja bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and ^kthe patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 ^lBe not quick in your spirit to become angry,
^mfor anger lodges in the heart ^{▼▼Hebrew in the bosom} of fools.
10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who ^osee the sun.
12 For the protection of wisdom is like ^pthe protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that ^qwisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 Consider ^rthe work of God:
^swho can make straight what he has made crooked?

14 ^tIn the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, ^uso that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

15 In my ^vvain ^{▼▼The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)} life I have seen everything. There is ^xa righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who ^yprolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not ^zmake yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. ^aaWhy should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of ^abthis, and from ^acthat ^adwithhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

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

20 Surely ^afthere 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 ^agyour servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that ^ahmany times you yourself have cursed others.

23 All this I have tested by wisdom. ^aiI said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and ^ajdeep, very deep; ^akwho can find it out?

25 ^alI 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 And I find something more ^ambitter than death: ^anthe woman whose heart is ^aosnares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but ^apthe sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says ^aqthe Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. ^arOne man among a thousand I found, but ^asa woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that ^atGod made man upright, but ^authey have sought out many schemes.