Proverbs on Wisdom, Patience, and Righteous Living
Ecclesiastes 7:1-8:1
7
Chapter 7
1A good name is better than good oil, and the day of death better than the day of his birth.2It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all Adam, and the living will give it to his heart.3Good is anger more than laughter, for with a sad face the heart will be made good.4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, and the heart of fools is in the house of joy.5It is better to hear the rebuke of a wise man than for a man to hear the song of fools.6For like the sound of the thorns under the pot, so the fool laughs. And this too is הבל.7For oppression will make the wise man mad, and it will destroy the heart of a gift.8Better the end of a matter than its beginning. Better patience than pride.9Do not be quick in your spirit to anger, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.10Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" for you do not ask wisely about this.11Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and it is better for those who see the sun.12For the shadow of wisdom is like the shadow of silver, and the advantage of the knowledge of wisdom preserves the life of its possessors.13See the work of God, for who can straighten what he has made crooked?14In the day of good, be in good, and in the day of evil, see: God has made this as well as its opposite, on account of the word that he will not find anything in humanity after it.15I have seen everything in the days of Hebel. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evil.16Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?17Do not be too wicked, and do not be a fool—why do you die before your time?18It is good that you grasp this one and also do not withhold your hand from this one, for one who fears God will go forth with all of them.19Wisdom strengthens a wise person more than ten rulers in a city.20For there is no person on earth who does good and does not sin.21Also do not give your heart to all the words that they speak, lest you hear your servant cursing you.22for many times your heart has also known that you have also cursed others.23All this I tested with wisdom. I said, "I will be wise," but it was far from me.24Far from what has been, and deep, deep—who will find it?25I and my heart turned to know and to seek wisdom and a reckoning, and to know the wicked as fools and the folly of madness.26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is nets and herem/devotions to destruction for her heart, bindings of her hands/power. The good before God will escape from her, and a sinner will be caught in her.27See, this I have found, said Qoheleth, one by one, to find an account.28which my nephesh still sought but I did not find: one man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I did not find.29Apart from this, I have seen only this: I have found what God made—the Adam upright—and they have sought many inventions.
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Chapter 8
1Who is like the wise man, and who knows the interpretation of a word? A man's wisdom lights up his face, and the strength of his face he changes.