Proverbs on Wisdom, Patience, and Righteous Living
Ecclesiastes 7:1-8:1
1A good name is better than good oil, and the day of death is better than the day of one's birth.2It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every person, and the living take it to heart.3Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad face the heart is made glad.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 to hear the song of fools.6For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool; this also is vanity.7For oppression drives a wise man mad, and a gift destroys the heart.8Better is the end of a word than its beginning; better is the slow in spirit than the high in spirit.9Do not be quick in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.10Do not say, 'Why were the former days better than these?' for it is not from wisdom that you ask this.11Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and an advantage to those who see the sun.12For in the shadow of wisdom is the shadow of silver, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.13Consider the work of God, for who is able to make straight what he has made crooked?14In the day of good be in good, and in the day of distress consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find anything after him.15All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his distress.16Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise; why should you destroy yourself?17Be not overly wicked, and do not be a fool; why should you die before your time?18It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that do not withhold your hand, for the one who fears God will come out with them all.19Wisdom is stronger for the wise than ten rulers who are in a city.20For there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin.21Also do not take to heart all the words that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you.22For your heart also knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.23All this I have tested by wisdom; I said, 'I will be wise,' but it was far from me.24That which is, is far off, and deep, deep; who can find it out?25I turned, I and my heart, to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the sum of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness of madness.26And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are bonds; he who pleases God escapes from her, but the sinner is captured by her.27Behold, this I found, says the Preacher, adding one to one to find the sum.28Which my soul still seeks but I have not found: one man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.29See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
Chapter 8
1Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a word? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the strength of his face is changed.