Better this than that
1Better a name than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. 2Better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for that is the end of every man, and the living should take it to heart. 3Vexation is better than laughter, for with a sad face the heart is made well. 4The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, and the heart of fools in a house of joy. 5Better to hear the rebuke of a wise man than to be a man who hears the song of fools. 6For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is a breath. 7For extortion drives a wise man mad, and a gift destroys the heart. 8Better the end of a matter than its beginning; better a patient spirit than a proud spirit. 9Do not be quick in your spirit to be vexed, for vexation rests in the bosom of fools. 10Do not say, “How is it that the former days were better than these?” For it is not out of wisdom that you ask this. 11Wisdom is good along with an inheritance, and a gain to those who see the sun. 12For to be in the shelter of wisdom is to be in the shelter of money; and the gain of knowledge is this: wisdom keeps its owner alive. 13Look at the work of God: who can straighten what he has made crooked? 14In a good day be in good; and in an evil day, look — God has made the one alongside the other, so that man may find out nothing of what comes after him.
What I sought and did not find
15In the days of my breath I have seen it all: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evil. 16Do not be righteous overmuch, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17Do not be very wicked, and do not be foolish. Why should you die before your time? 18It is good that you take hold of the one and not let go of the other; for whoever fears God will come through with them all. 19Wisdom gives the wise man more strength than ten rulers who are in a city. 20For there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21Also, do not give your heart to everything people say, so that you do not hear your servant cursing you; 22for your heart knows many times over that you yourself have cursed others. 23All this I tested with wisdom. I said, “I will be wise” — but it was far from me. 24Far off is whatever has been, and deep, so deep — who can find it? 25I turned, I and my heart, to know and to explore and to seek out wisdom and the sum of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness. 26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, whose heart is a net and whose hands are chains. The one who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is caught by her. 27See, this I have found, says Qohelet, adding one to one to find the sum — 28what my soul kept seeking and I did not find: one man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I did not find. 29See, this alone I have found: that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
