Ecclesiastes 7:1-29 CEB

[1] A good name is better than fine oil, and the day of death better than the birthday. [2] It is better to go to a house in mourning than to a house party, because that is everyone’s destiny; and the living should take it to heart. [3] Aggravation is better than merriment because a sad face may lead to a glad heart. [4] The wise heart is in the house that mourns, but the foolish heart is in the house that rejoices. [5] It is better to obey the reprimand of the wise than to listen to the song of fools, [6] because the fool’s merriment is like nettles crackling under a kettle. That too is pointless. [7] Oppression turns the wise into fools; a bribe corrupts the heart. [8] The end of something is better than its beginning. Patience is better than arrogance. [9] Don’t be too quick to get angry because anger lives in the fool’s heart. [10] Don’t ask, “How is it that the former days were better than these?” because it isn’t wise to ask this. [11] Wisdom is as good as an inheritance—an advantage for those who see the sun. [12] Wisdom’s protection is like the protection of money; the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors. [13] Consider God’s work! Who can straighten what God has made crooked? [14] When times are good, enjoy the good; when times are bad, consider: God has made the former as well as the latter so that people can’t discover anything that will come to be after them. [15] I have seen everything in my pointless lifetime: the righteous person may die in spite of their righteousness; then again, the wicked may live long in spite of their wickedness. [16] Don’t be too righteous or too wise, or you may be dumbfounded. [17] Don’t be too wicked and don’t be a fool, or you may die before your time. [18] It’s good that you take hold of one of these without letting go of the other because the one who fears God will go forth with both. [19] Wisdom makes a wise person stronger than ten rulers who are in a city. [20] Remember: there’s no one on earth so righteous as to do good only and never make a mistake. [21] Don’t worry about all the things people say, so you don’t hear your servant cursing you. [22] After all, you know that you’ve often cursed others yourself! [23] I tested all of this by wisdom. I thought, I will be wise, but it eluded me. [24] All that happens is elusive and utterly unfathomable. Who can grasp it? [25] I turned my mind to know, to investigate, and to seek wisdom, along with an account of things, to know that wickedness is foolishness and folly is madness. [26] I found one woman more bitter than death: she who is a trap, her heart a snare, her hands shackles. Anyone who pleases God escapes her, but a sinner is trapped by her. [27] See, this is what I found, says the Teacher, examining one matter after another to account for things. [28] But there’s something that I constantly searched for but couldn’t find: I found one man among a thousand, but I couldn’t find a woman among any of these. [29] See, this alone I found: God made human beings straightforward, but they search for many complications.