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1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living take it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for through a sad face the heart is made better.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of joy.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of a wise man than to hear the song of fools.
6 For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool.
This too is vanity.
7 Surely oppression drives a wise man mad, and a bribe destroys the heart.
8 Better the end of a matter than its beginning;
better a patient spirit than a proud spirit.
9 Do not be quick in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom gives shelter as money gives shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.
13 Consider the work of God: Who can make straight what he has made crooked?
14 In the day of prosperity enjoy the good, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man cannot discover anything that will come after him.
15 I have seen everything in the days of my fleeting life: There is a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness, and a wicked man who lives long in his wickedness. 16 Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you ruin yourself? 17 Do not be overly wicked or be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good to take hold of this without letting your hand go from that, for whoever fears God will come through them all. 19 Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers in a city. 20 For there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Also, do not take to heart all the words people speak, lest you hear your servant cursing you, 22 for your heart knows that many times you too have cursed others. 23 All this I tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 What exists is far off and deep, very deep. Who can discover it? 25 I turned my heart to know, explore, and seek wisdom and the reason of things, and to know that wickedness is folly and foolishness is madness. 26 I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are chains. The one who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is caught by her. 27 “Look, this I found,” says the Preacher, “adding one thing to another to find the reason, 28 which my soul still seeks but has not found: One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I did not find. 29 Look, this alone I found: God made man upright, but they have sought many schemes.”