Berean Standard Bible

Ecclesiastes 7:1-14

1A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.2It 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.

3Sorrow is better than laughter,for a sad countenance is good for the heart.4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

5It is better to heed a wise man’s rebukethan to listen to the song of fools.6For like the crackling of thorns under the pot,so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

7Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool,and a bribe corrupts the heart.8The end of a matter is better than the beginning,and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.

9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,for anger settles in the lap of a fool.110Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”For it is unwise of you to ask about this.

11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good,and it benefits those who see the sun.12For wisdom, like money, is a shelter,and the advantage of knowledgeis that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

13Consider the work of God:Who can straighten what He has bent?14In 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 discoveranything that will come after him.

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Notes

1. Ecclesiastes 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom of fools ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7