Ecl 7:2 It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every man, And the living takes it to heart.

Ecl 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For when a face is sad a heart may be happy.

Ecl 7:4 The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, While the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.

Ecl 7:5 It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man Than for one to listen to the song of fools.

Ecl 7:6 For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool; And this too is futility.

Ecl 7:7 For oppression makes a wise man mad, And a bribe corrupts the heart.

Ecl 7:8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.

Ecl 7:9 Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, For anger resides in the bosom of fools.

Ecl 7:10 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.

Ecl 7:11 Wisdom along with an inheritance is good And an advantage to those who see the sun.

Ecl 7:12 For wisdom is protection just as money is protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.

Ecl 7:13 Consider the work of God, For who is able to straighten what He has bent?

Ecl 7:14 In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider-- God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything that will be after him.

Ecl 7:15 I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.

Ecl 7:16 Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?

Ecl 7:17 Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

Ecl 7:18 It is good that you grasp one thing and also not let go of the other; for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them.

Ecl 7:19 Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

Ecl 7:20 Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

Ecl 7:21 Also, do not take seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you.

Ecl 7:22 For you also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others.

Ecl 7:23 I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, "I will be wise," but it was far from me.

Ecl 7:24 What has been is remote and exceedingly mysterious. Who can discover it?

Ecl 7:25 I directed my mind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness.

Ecl 7:26 And I discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

Ecl 7:27 "Behold, I have discovered this," says the Preacher, "adding one thing to another to find an explanation,

Ecl 7:28 which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these.

Ecl 7:29 Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices."

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Ecl 8:1 Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man's wisdom illumines him and causes his stern face to beam.

Ecl 8:2 I say, "Keep the command of the king because of the oath before God.

Ecl 8:3 Do not be in a hurry to leave him. Do not join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases."

Ecl 8:4 Since the word of the king is authoritative, who will say to him, "What are you doing?"

Ecl 8:5 He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure.

Ecl 8:6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man's trouble is heavy upon him.

Ecl 8:7 If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?

Ecl 8:8 No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and evil will not deliver those who practice it.

Ecl 8:9 All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt.

Ecl 8:10 So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility.

Ecl 8:11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.

Ecl 8:12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly.

Ecl 8:13 But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

Ecl 8:14 There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.

Ecl 8:15 So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

Ecl 8:16 When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night),

Ecl 8:17 and I saw every work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, "I know," he cannot discover.

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Ecl 9:1 For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him.

Ecl 9:2 It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear.

Ecl 9:3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.

Ecl 9:4 For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.

Ecl 9:5 For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten.

Ecl 9:6 Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.

Ecl 9:7 Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works.

Ecl 9:8 Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head.

Ecl 9:9 Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.

Ecl 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

Ecl 9:11 I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all.

Ecl 9:12 Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them.

Ecl 9:13 Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me.

Ecl 9:14 There was a small city with few men in it and a great king came to it, surrounded it and constructed large siegeworks against it.

Ecl 9:15 But there was found in it a poor wise man and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

Ecl 9:16 So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded.

Ecl 9:17 The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

Ecl 9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

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Ecl 10:1 Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.

Ecl 10:2 A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man's heart directs him toward the left.

Ecl 10:3 Even when the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.

Ecl 10:4 If the ruler's temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because composure allays great offenses.

Ecl 10:5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which goes forth from the ruler--

Ecl 10:6 folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places.

Ecl 10:7 I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

Ecl 10:8 He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall.

Ecl 10:9 He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them.

Ecl 10:10 If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

Ecl 10:11 If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.

Ecl 10:12 Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him;

Ecl 10:13 the beginning of his talking is folly and the end of it is wicked madness.

Ecl 10:14 Yet the fool multiplies words. No man knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will come after him?

Ecl 10:15 The toil of a fool so wearies him that he does not even know how to go to a city.

Ecl 10:16 Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad and whose princes feast in the morning.

Ecl 10:17 Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time--for strength and not for drunkenness.

Ecl 10:18 Through indolence the rafters sag, and through slackness the house leaks.

Ecl 10:19 Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything.

Ecl 10:20 Furthermore, in your bedchamber do not curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man, for a bird of the heavens will carry the sound and the winged creature will make the matter known.

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Ecl 11:1 Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days.

Ecl 11:2 Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.

Ecl 11:3 If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it lies.

Ecl 11:4 He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.

Ecl 11:5 Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.

Ecl 11:6 Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.

Ecl 11:7 The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.

Ecl 11:8 Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.

Ecl 11:9 Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.

Ecl 11:10 So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.

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Ecl 12:1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no delight in them";

Ecl 12:2 before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain;

Ecl 12:3 in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men stoop, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim;

Ecl 12:4 and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly.

Ecl 12:5 Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street.

Ecl 12:6 Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;

Ecl 12:7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Ecl 12:8 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "all is vanity!"

Ecl 12:9 In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs.

Ecl 12:10 The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.

Ecl 12:11 The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd.

Ecl 12:12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.

Ecl 12:13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

Ecl 12:14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.