The Value of Wisdom

¹ A good name is better than fine perfume,^*

and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.

² It is better to enter a house of mourning

than a house of feasting,

since death is the end of every man,

and the living should take this to heart.

³ Sorrow is better than laughter,

for a sad countenance is good for the heart.

⁴ The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

⁵ It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke

than to listen to the song of fools.

⁶ For like the crackling of thorns^* under the pot,^*

so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

⁷ Surely extortion^* turns a wise man into a fool,

and a bribe corrupts the heart.

⁸ The end of a matter is better than the beginning,

and a patient^* spirit is better than a proud one.

⁹ Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,

for anger settles in the lap of a fool.

¹⁰ Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”

For it is unwise of you to ask about this.

¹¹ Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good,

and it benefits those who see the sun.

¹² For wisdom,^* like money, is a shelter,^*

and the advantage of knowledge

is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

¹³ Consider the work of God:

Who can straighten what He has bent?

¹⁴ In the day of prosperity, be joyful,

but in the day of adversity, consider this:

God has made one of these along with the other,

so that a man cannot discover

anything that will come after him.

The Limits of Human Wisdom

¹⁵ In my futile life I have seen both of these:

A righteous man perishing in his righteousness,

and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

¹⁶ Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?^{* 17} Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? ¹⁸ It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip^* from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.

¹⁹ Wisdom makes the wise man

stronger than ten rulers in a city.

²⁰ Surely there is no righteous man on earth

who does good and never sins.

²¹ Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you. ²² For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

²³ All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me. ²⁴ What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?

²⁵ I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness. ²⁶ And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

²⁷ “Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation. ²⁸ While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman. ²⁹ Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”