[1] A good name is better than oil of great price, and the day of death
than the day of birth. [2] It is better to go to the house of weeping, than
to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and
the living will take it to their hearts. [3] Sorrow is better than joy;
when the face is sad the mind gets better. [4] The hearts of the wise are
in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of
joy. [5] It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a
man to give ear to the song of the foolish. [6] Like the cracking of thorns
under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no
purpose. [7] The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving
of money is the destruction of the heart. [8] The end of a thing is better
than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride. [9] Be not quick
to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.
[10] Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such
a question comes not from wisdom. [11] Wisdom together with a heritage is
good, and a profit to those who see the sun. [12] Wisdom keeps a man from
danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives
life to its owner. [13] Give thought to the work of God. Who will make
straight what he has made bent? [14] In the day of wealth have joy, but in
the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so
that man may not be certain what will be after him. [15] These two have I
seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his
righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing. [16]
Be not given overmuch to righteousness and be not over-wise. Why let
destruction come on you? [17] Be not evil overmuch, and be not foolish. Why
come to your end before your time? [18] It is good to take this in your
hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will
be free of the two. [19] Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers
in a town. [20] There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does
good and is free from sin all his days. [21] Do not give ear to all the
words which men say, for fear of hearing the curses of your servant. [22]
Your heart has knowledge how frequently others have been cursed by you.
[23] All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but
it was far from me. [24] Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may
have knowledge of it? [25] I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for
wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish,
and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses. [26] And I saw a
thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks
and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will
get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her. [27] Look! this I
have seen, said the Preacher, taking one thing after another to get the
true account, [28] For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not;
one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have
not seen. [29] This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they
have been searching out all sorts of inventions.
