A agood name is better than good 1oil,And the bday of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.I.e., olive oilProv 22:1Eccl 4:2; 7:82 It is better to go to a house of mourningThan to go to a house of feasting,Because 1that is the aend of every person,And the living 2btakes it to 3heart.I.e., deathLit givesLit his heartEccl 2:14, 16; 3:19, 20; 6:6; 9:2, 3Ps 90:123 aSorrow is better than laughter,For bwhen a face is sad a heart may be happy.Eccl 2:22 Cor 7:104 The 1mind of the wise is in the house of mourning,While the 2mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.Lit heart5 It is better to alisten to the rebuke of a wise personThan for one to listen to the song of fools.Ps 141:5; Prov 6:23; 13:18; 15:31, 32; 25:12; Eccl 9:176 For as the 1crackling of athorn bushes under a pot,So is the blaughter of the fool;And this too is futility.Lit voicePs 58:9; 118:12Eccl 2:27 For aoppression makes a wise person look foolish,And a bbribe 1corrupts the heart.Lit destroysEccl 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 arrogance of spirit.Eccl 7:1Prov 14:29; 16:32; Gal 5:22; Eph 4:29 Do not be 1aeager in your spirit to be angry,For anger resides in the 2heart of fools.Lit hastyLit chestProv 14:17; James 1:1910 Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?”For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.11 Wisdom along with an inheritance is good,And an aadvantage to those who see the sun.Prov 8:10, 11; Eccl 2:1312 For awisdom is 1protection just as money is 2protection,But the advantage of knowledge is that bwisdom keeps its possessors alive.Lit in a shadowEccl 7:19; 9:18Prov 3:18; 8:3513 Consider the awork of God,For who is bable to straighten what He has bent?Eccl 3:11; 8:17Eccl 1:1514 aOn the day of prosperity be happy,But bon the day of adversity consider:God has made the one as well as the otherSo that a person will cnot discover anything that will come 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 1alifetime of futility; there is ba righteous person who perishes in his righteousness, and there is ca wicked person who prolongs his life in his wickedness.Lit daysEccl 6:12; 9:9Eccl 8:14Eccl 8:12, 13 16 Do not be excessively arighteous, and do not bbe overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?Prov 25:16; Phil 3:6Rom 12:3 17 Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be foolish. Why should you adie 1before your time?Lit when not your timeJob 22:16; Ps 55:23; Prov 10:27 18 It is good that you grasp one thing while not 1letting go of the other; for one who afears God comes out with 2both of them.Lit resting your handLit all of themEccl 3:14; 5:7; 8:12, 13; 12:13
19 aWisdom strengthens a wise person more than ten rulers who are in a city.Eccl 7:12; 9:13-18 20 Indeed, athere is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin.1 Kin 8:46; 2 Chr 6:36; Ps 143:2; Prov 20:9; Rom 3:23 21 Also, do not 1take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant acursing you,Lit give your heart toProv 30:10 22 for 1you know that even you have cursed others many times as well.Lit your heart knows
23 I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” abut wisdom was far from me.Eccl 3:11; 8:17 24 What has been is remote and avery 1mysterious. bWho can discover it?Lit deepRom 11:33Job 11:7; 37:23; Eccl 8:17 25 I 1adirected my 2mind to know and to investigate, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of foolishness and the foolishness of insanity.Lit turned aboutLit heartEccl 1:15, 17; 10:13 26 And I discovered as more abitter than death the woman whose heart is bsnares and nets, whose hands are chains. cOne who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but dthe sinner will be captured by her.Prov 5:4Prov 7:23Prov 6:23, 24Prov 22:14
27 “Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “by adding one thing to another to find an explanation, 28 which 1I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a awoman among all these.Lit my soul still seeks1 Kin 11:3 29 Behold, I have found only this, that aGod made people upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”Gen 1:27