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

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

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

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

7:5 It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.

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

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

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

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

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

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

7:12 Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.

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

7:14 When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.

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

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

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

7:18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.

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

7:20 There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.

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

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

7:23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined to be wise"--but this was beyond me.

7:24 Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound--who can discover it?

7:25 So 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.

7:26 I 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.

7:27 "Look," says the Teacher, "this is what I have discovered: "Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things--

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

7:29 This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes."