← Ecclesiastes 6 | Ecclesiastes 8 →
1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth. | C | C² | TOSK |
2 It 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. | C | C² | TOSK |
3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart. | C | C² | TOSK |
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. | C | C² | TOSK |
5 It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools. | C | C² | TOSK |
6 For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. | C | C² | TOSK |
7 Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. | C | C² | TOSK |
8 The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one. | C | C² | TOSK |
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool. | C | C² | TOSK |
10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this. | TOSK |
11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun. | TOSK |
12 For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. | TOSK |
13 Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent? | TOSK |
14 In 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 discover anything that will come after him. | C | TOSK |
15 In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. | TOSK |
16 Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? | C | TOSK |
17 Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? | TOSK |
18 It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings. | TOSK |
19 Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city. | TOSK |
20 Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. | C | C² | TOSK |
21 Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you. | C | C² | TOSK |
22 For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. | C | C² | TOSK |
23 All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me. | C | C² | TOSK |
24 What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it? | C | C² | TOSK |
25 I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness. | C | C² | TOSK |
26 And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared. | C | C² | TOSK |
27 “Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation. | C | TOSK |
28 While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman. | C | TOSK |
29 Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” | C | TOSK |