Ecclesiastes 7:1-29 GNT

[1] A good reputation is better than expensive perfume; and the day you die is better than the day you are born. [2] It is better to go to a home where there is mourning than to one where there is a party, because the living should always remind themselves that death is waiting for us all. [3] Sorrow is better than laughter; it may sadden your face, but it sharpens your understanding. [4] Someone who is always thinking about happiness is a fool. A wise person thinks about death. [5] It is better to have wise people reprimand you than to have stupid people sing your praises. [6] When a fool laughs, it is like thorns crackling in a fire. It doesn't mean a thing. [7] You may be wise, but if you cheat someone, you are acting like a fool. If you take a bribe, you ruin your character. [8] The end of something is better than its beginning. Patience is better than pride. [9] Keep your temper under control; it is foolish to harbor a grudge. [10] Never ask, "Oh, why were things so much better in the old days?" It's not an intelligent question. [11] Everyone who lives ought to be wise; it is as good as receiving an inheritance [12] and will give you as much security as money can. Wisdom keeps you safe-this is the advantage of knowledge. [13] Think about what God has done. How can anyone straighten out what God has made crooked? [14] When things are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next. [15] My life has been useless, but in it I have seen everything. Some good people may die while others live on, even though they are evil. [16] So don't be too good or too wise-why kill yourself [17] But don't be too wicked or too foolish, either-why die before you have to? [18] Avoid both extremes. If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway. [19] Wisdom does more for a person than ten rulers can do for a city. [20] There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake. [21] Don't pay attention to everything people say-you may hear your servant insulting you, [22] and you know yourself that you have insulted other people many times. [23] I used my wisdom to test all of this. I was determined to be wise, but it was beyond me. [24] How can anyone discover what life means? It is too deep for us, too hard to understand. [25] But I devoted myself to knowledge and study; I was determined to find wisdom and the answers to my questions, and to learn how wicked and foolish stupidity is. [26] I found something more bitter than death-the woman who is like a trap. The love she offers you will catch you like a net, and her arms around you will hold you like a chain. A man who pleases God can get away, but she will catch the sinner. [27] Yes, said the Philosopher, I found this out little by little while I was looking for answers. [28] I have looked for other answers but have found none. I found one man in a thousand that I could respect, but not one woman. [29] This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.