Ecclesiastes/Qohelet 7

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Better a good name than costly oil, the day of death than the day of birth.	1 Why is it necessary for a man to seek things that are greater than himself, when he does not know what is advantageous for himself in his life, during the number of the days of his sojourn, and while time passes by like a shadow? Or who will be able to tell him what will be in the future after him under the sun?
2 Better go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting; for to this end everyone comes, let theliving take this to heart.	2 A good name is better than precious ointments, and a day of death is better than a day of birth.
3 Better sadness than laughter: a joyful heart may be concealed behind sad looks.	3 It is better to go to a house of mourning, than to a house of feasting. For in the former, we are admonished about the end of all things, so that the living consider what may be in the future.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, the heart of fools in the house of gaiety.	4 Anger is better than laughter. For through the sadness of the countenance, the soul of one who offends may be corrected.
5 Better attend to the reprimand of the wise than listen to a song sung by a fool.	5 The heart of the wise is a place of mourning, and the heart of the foolish is a place of rejoicing.
6 For like the crackling of thorns under the cauldron is the laughter of fools: and that too is futile.	6 It is better to be corrected by a wise man, than to be deceived by the false praise of the foolish.
7 But being oppressed drives a sage mad, and a present corrupts the heart.	7 For, like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of the foolish. But this, too, is emptiness.
8 Better the end of a matter than its beginning, better patience than ambition.	8 A false accusation troubles the wise man and saps the strength of his heart.
9 Do not be too easily exasperated, for exasperation dwel s in the heart of fools.	9 The end of a speech is better than the beginning. Patience is better than arrogance.
10 Do not ask why the past was better than the present, for this is not a question prompted by wisdom.	10 Do not be quickly moved to anger. For anger resides in the sinews of the foolish.
11 Wisdom is as good as a legacy, profitable to those who enjoy the light of the sun.	11 You should not say: “What do you think is the reason that the former times were better than they are now?” For this type of question is foolish.
12 For as money protects, so does wisdom, and the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom bestowslife on those who possess her.	12 Wisdom with riches is more useful and more advantageous, for those who see the sun.
13 Consider God's creation: who, for instance, can straighten what God has bent?	13 For as wisdom protects, so also does money protect. But learning and wisdom have this much more: that they grant life to one who possesses them.
14 When things are going wel , enjoy yourself, and when they are going badly, consider this: God hasdesigned the one no less than the other so that we should take nothing for granted.	14 Consider the works of God, that no one is able to correct whomever he has despised.
15 In my futile life, I have seen everything: the upright person perishing in uprightness and the wickedperson surviving in wickedness.	15 In good times, enjoy good things, but beware of an evil time. For just as God has establish the one, so also the other, in order that man may not find any just complaint against him.
16 Do not be upright to excess and do not make yourself unduly wise: why should you destroy yourself?	16 I also saw this, in the days of my vanity: a just man perishing in his justice, and an impious man living a long time in his malice.
17 Do not be wicked to excess, and do not be a fool: why die before your time?	17 Do not try to be overly just, and do not try to be more wise than is necessary, lest you become stupid.
18 It is wise to hold on to one and not let go of the other, since the godfearing wil find both.	18 Do not act with great impiety, and do not choose to be foolish, lest you die before your time.
19 Wisdom makes the wise stronger than a dozen governors in a city.	19 It is good for you to support a just man. Furthermore, you should not withdraw your hand from him, for whoever fears God, neglects nothing.
20 No one on earth is sufficiently upright to do good without ever sinning.	20 Wisdom has strengthened the wise more than ten princes of a city.
21 Again, do not listen to all that people say, then you wil not hear your servant abusing you.	21 But there is no just man on earth, who does good and does not sin.
22 For often, as you very wel know, you have abused others.	22 So then, do not attach your heart to every word that is spoken, lest perhaps you may hear your servant speaking ill of you.
23 Thanks to wisdom, I have found all this to be true; I resolved to be wise, but this was beyond myreach!	23 For your conscience knows that you, too, have repeatedly spoken evil of others.
24 The past is out of reach, buried deep -- who can discover it?	24 I have tested everything in wisdom. I have said: “I will be wise.” And wisdom withdrew farther from me,
25 But I have reached the point where, having learnt, explored and investigated wisdom and reflection, Irecognise evil as being a form of madness, and fol y as something stupid.	25 so much more than it was before. Wisdom is very profound, so who shall reveal her?
26 And I find woman more bitter than Death, she is a snare, her heart is a net, and her arms are chains.The man who is pleasing to God eludes her, but the sinner is captured by her.	26 I have examined all things in my soul, so that I may know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason, and so that I may recognize the impiety of the foolish, and the error of the imprudent.
27 This is what I think, says Qoheleth, having examined one thing after another to draw some conclusion,	27 And I have discovered a woman more bitter than death: she who is like the snare of a hunter, and whose heart is like a net, and whose hands are like chains. Whoever pleases God shall flee from her. But whoever is a sinner shall be seized by her.
28 which I am still looking for, although unsuccessful y: one man in a thousand, I may find, but a womanbetter than other women-never.	28 Behold, Ecclesiastes said, I have discovered these things, one after another, in order that I might discover the explanation
29 This alone is my conclusion: God has created man straightforward, and human artifices are humaninventions.	29 which my soul still seeks and has not found. One man among a thousand, I have found; a woman among them all, I have not found.
	30 This alone have I discovered: that God made man righteous, and yet he has adulterated himself with innumerable questions. Who is so great as the wise? And who has understood the meaning of the word?