A agood name is better than precious perfume,And the bday of one’s death better than the day of one’s birth.Prov 22:1Eccl 4:2; 7:82 It is better to go to the house of mourningThan to go to the house of feasting,For that day of death is the aend of every man,And the living will btake it to heart and solemnly ponder its meaning.Eccl 2:14, 16; 3:19, 20; 6:6; 9:2, 3Ps 90:123 aSorrow is better than laughter,For bwhen a face is sad (deep in thought) the heart may be happy because it is growing in wisdom. 2+@Cor 7:10Eccl 2:22 Cor 7:104 The heart of the wise learns when it is in the house of mourning,But the heart of fools is senseless in the house of pleasure.5 It is better to alisten to the rebuke of the wise man and pursue wisdomThan for one to listen to the song of fools and pursue stupidity.Ps 141:5; Prov 6:23; 13:18; 15:31, 32; 25:12; Eccl 9:176 For like the crackling of burning athorn bushes under a pot,So is the blaughter of the fool;And this too is vanity (futility) .Ps 58:9; 118:12Eccl 2:27 For aoppression makes a wise man foolish,And a bbribe corrupts the good judgment of the heart.Eccl 4:1; 5:8Ex 23:8; Deut 16:19; Prov 17:8, 238 The aend of a matter is better than its beginning;bPatience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit (pride) .Eccl 7:1Prov 14:29; 16:32; Gal 5:22; Eph 4:29 Do not be aeager in your heart to be angry,For anger dwells in the heart of fools. James 1:19, 20Prov 14:17; James 1:1910 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.11 Wisdom along with an inheritance is goodAnd an aexcellent advantage for those who see the sun.Prov 8:10, 11; Eccl 2:1312 For awisdom is a protection even as money is a protection,But the excellent advantage of knowledge is that bwisdom shields and preserves the lives of its possessors.Eccl 7:19; 9:18Prov 3:18; 8:3513 Consider the awork of God:Who bcan make straight what He has bent?Eccl 3:11; 8:17Eccl 1:1514 aIn the day of prosperity be joyful,But bin the day of adversity consider thatGod has made the one as well as the other,So that man will cnot find out anything that will be after him.Deut 26:11; Eccl 3:22; 9:7; 11:9Deut 8:5; Job 2:10Eccl 3:22 15 I have seen everything during my fleeting adays of futility; there is a brighteous man who perishes in spite of his righteousness, and there is ca wicked man who 1lives a long life in spite of his wickedness.Lit prolongs.Eccl 6:12; 9:9Eccl 8:14Eccl 8:12, 13 16 Do not be excessively arighteous like those given to self-conceit, and do not bbe overly wise (pretentious)—why should you bring yourself to ruin?Prov 25:16; Phil 3:6Rom 12:3 17 Do not be excessively or willfully wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you adie before your time?Job 22:16; Ps 55:23; Prov 10:27 18 It is good that you take hold of one thing (righteousness) and also not let go of the other (wisdom) ; for the one who afears and worships God with awe-filled reverence will come forth with both of them.Eccl 3:14; 5:7; 8:12, 13; 12:13
19 aWisdom strengthens the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. Ps 127:1; 2+@Tim 3:15Eccl 7:12; 9:13-18 20 Indeed, athere is not a righteous man on earth who always does good and who never sins. Is 53:6; Rom 3:231 Kin 8:46; 2 Chr 6:36; Ps 143:2; Prov 20:9; Rom 3:23 21 Also, do not take seriously everything that is said, so that you will not hear your servant acursing you,Prov 30:10 22 for you also know that you too have cursed others many times.
23 I have tested all this with wisdom. I said, “I will be wise independently of God,” abut true wisdom was far from me.Eccl 3:11; 8:17 24 Whatever has been is far off, deeply remote and aexceedingly mysterious. bWho can discover it for it is beyond the grasp of man? Job 28:12-28; 1+@Cor 2:9-16Rom 11:33Job 11:7; 37:23; Eccl 8:17 25 I aturned around and directed my heart to know, to investigate and to seek skillful and godly wisdom and the reason for things, and to know that wickedness is folly and that foolishness is madness leading to stupidity and recklessness.Eccl 1:15, 17; 10:13 26 And I discovered that of all irrational sins none has been so destructive in beguiling one away from God as immoral women for more abitter than death is the woman whose heart is composed of bsnares and nets, and whose hands are chains. cWhoever pleases God will escape from her, but dthe sinner will be taken captive by her evil.Prov 5:4Prov 7:23Prov 6:23, 24Prov 22:14
27 “Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “while adding one thing to another to find an explanation, 28 which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one 1man among a thousand who pleases God, but I have not found such a awoman among all these a thousand in my harem. 1+@Kin 11:3Or person.1 Kin 11:3 29 Behold, I have found only this as a reason: aGod made man upright and uncorrupted, but they both men and women have sought out many devices for evil.”Gen 1:27