Ecclesiastes 7 :: New International Version (NIV)

Wisdom

Ecc 7:1A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.

Ecc 7:2It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.

Ecc 7:3

Ecc 7:3Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.

Ecc 7:4

Ecc 7:4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

Ecc 7:5

Ecc 7:5It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools.

Ecc 7:6

Ecc 7:6Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.

Ecc 7:7

Ecc 7:7Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

Ecc 7:8

Ecc 7:8The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

Ecc 7:9

Ecc 7:9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.

Ecc 7:10

Ecc 7:10Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Ecc 7:11

Ecc 7:11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.

Ecc 7:12

Ecc 7:12Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.

Ecc 7:13

Ecc 7:13Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?

Ecc 7:14

Ecc 7:14When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.

Ecc 7:15

Ecc 7:15In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness.

Ecc 7:16

Ecc 7:16Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise— why destroy yourself?

Ecc 7:17

Ecc 7:17Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool— why die before your time?

Ecc 7:18

Ecc 7:18It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.[fn]

Ecc 7:19

Ecc 7:19Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful than ten rulers in a city.

Ecc 7:20

Ecc 7:20Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.

Ecc 7:21

Ecc 7:21Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you—

Ecc 7:22

Ecc 7:22for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

Ecc 7:23

Ecc 7:23All this I tested by wisdom and I said, “I am determined to be wise”— but this was beyond me.

Ecc 7:24

Ecc 7:24Whatever exists is far off and most profound— who can discover it?

Ecc 7:25

Ecc 7:25So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.

Ecc 7:26

Ecc 7:26I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.

Ecc 7:27

Ecc 7:27“Look,” says the Teacher,[fn] “this is what I have discovered: “Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—

Ecc 7:28

Ecc 7:28while I was still searching but not finding— I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.

Ecc 7:29

Ecc 7:29This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.”