New American Standard Bible 2020

Ecclesiastes 7:11-22

11Wisdom along with an inheritance is good, And an 1advantage to those who see the sun.12For 2wisdom is 3protection just as money is 4protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that 5wisdom keeps its possessors alive.13Consider the 6work of God, For who is 7able to straighten what He has bent?14 8On the day of prosperity be happy, But 9on the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other So that a person will 10not discover anything that will come after him.

15I have seen everything during my 11 12lifetime of futility; there is 13a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness, and there is 14a wicked person who prolongs his life in his wickedness. 16Do not be excessively 15righteous, and do not 16be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? 17Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be foolish. Why should you 17die 18before your time? 18It is good that you grasp one thing while not 19letting go of the other; for one who 20fears God comes out with 21both of them.

19 22Wisdom strengthens a wise person more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20Indeed, 23there is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin. 21Also, do not 24take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant 25cursing you, 22for 26you know that even you have cursed others many times as well.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 7

Notes

1. Ecclesiastes 7:11 Prov 8:10, 11; Eccl 2:13 ↩
2. Ecclesiastes 7:12 Eccl 7:19; 9:18 ↩
3. Ecclesiastes 7:12 Lit in a shadow ↩
4. Ecclesiastes 7:12 Lit in a shadow ↩
5. Ecclesiastes 7:12 Prov 3:18; 8:35 ↩
6. Ecclesiastes 7:13 Eccl 3:11; 8:17 ↩
7. Ecclesiastes 7:13 Eccl 1:15 ↩
8. Ecclesiastes 7:14 Deut 26:11; Eccl 3:22; 9:7; 11:9 ↩
9. Ecclesiastes 7:14 Deut 8:5; Job 2:10 ↩
10. Ecclesiastes 7:14 Eccl 3:22 ↩
11. Ecclesiastes 7:15 Lit days ↩
12. Ecclesiastes 7:15 Eccl 6:12; 9:9 ↩
13. Ecclesiastes 7:15 Eccl 8:14 ↩
14. Ecclesiastes 7:15 Eccl 8:12, 13 ↩
15. Ecclesiastes 7:16 Prov 25:16; Phil 3:6 ↩
16. Ecclesiastes 7:16 Rom 12:3 ↩
17. Ecclesiastes 7:17 Job 22:16; Ps 55:23; Prov 10:27 ↩
18. Ecclesiastes 7:17 Lit when not your time ↩
19. Ecclesiastes 7:18 Lit resting your hand ↩
20. Ecclesiastes 7:18 Eccl 3:14; 5:7; 8:12, 13; 12:13 ↩
21. Ecclesiastes 7:18 Lit all of them ↩
22. Ecclesiastes 7:19 Eccl 7:12; 9:13-18 ↩
23. Ecclesiastes 7:20 1 Kin 8:46; 2 Chr 6:36; Ps 143:2; Prov 20:9; Rom 3:23 ↩
24. Ecclesiastes 7:21 Lit give your heart to ↩
25. Ecclesiastes 7:21 Prov 30:10 ↩
26. Ecclesiastes 7:22 Lit your heart knows ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7