Ecclesiastes/Qohelet 7

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW JERUSALEM
1 What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he knoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun?	1 Better a good name than costly oil, the day of death than the day of birth.
2 A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death than the day of one's birth.	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.
3 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all, and the living thinketh what is to come.	3 Better sadness than laughter: a joyful heart may be concealed behind sad looks.
4 Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.	4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, the heart of fools in the house of gaiety.
5 The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth.	5 Better attend to the reprimand of the wise than listen to a song sung by a fool.
6 It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools.	6 For like the crackling of thorns under the cauldron is the laughter of fools: and that too is futile.
7 For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.	7 But being oppressed drives a sage mad, and a present corrupts the heart.
8 Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart.	8 Better the end of a matter than its beginning, better patience than ambition.
9 Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the patient man than the presumptuous.	9 Do not be too easily exasperated, for exasperation dwel s in the heart of fools.
10 Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.	10 Do not ask why the past was better than the present, for this is not a question prompted by wisdom.
11 Say not: What thinkest thou is the cause that former times were better than they are now? for this manner of question is foolish.	11 Wisdom is as good as a legacy, profitable to those who enjoy the light of the sun.
12 Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage to them that see the sun.	12 For as money protects, so does wisdom, and the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom bestowslife on those who possess her.
13 For as wisdom is a defence, so money is a defence : but learning and wisdom excel in this, that they give life to him that possesseth them.	13 Consider God's creation: who, for instance, can straighten what God has bent?
14 Consider the works of God, that no man can correct whom he hath despised.	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.
15 In the good day enjoy good things, and beware beforehand of the evil day: for God hath made both the one and the other, that man may not find against him any just complaint.	15 In my futile life, I have seen everything: the upright person perishing in uprightness and the wickedperson surviving in wickedness.
16 These things also I saw in the days of my vanity: A just man perisheth in his justice, and a wicked man liveth a long time in his wickedness.	16 Do not be upright to excess and do not make yourself unduly wise: why should you destroy yourself?
17 Be not over just: and be not more wise than is necessary, lest thou become stupid.	17 Do not be wicked to excess, and do not be a fool: why die before your time?
18 Be not overmuch wicked: and be not foolish, lest thou die before thy time.	18 It is wise to hold on to one and not let go of the other, since the godfearing wil find both.
19 It is good that thou shouldst hold up the just, yea and from him withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God, neglecteth nothing.	19 Wisdom makes the wise stronger than a dozen governors in a city.
20 Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the city.	20 No one on earth is sufficiently upright to do good without ever sinning.
21 For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not.	21 Again, do not listen to all that people say, then you wil not hear your servant abusing you.
22 But do not apply thy heart to all words that are spoken: lest perhaps thou hear thy servant reviling thee.	22 For often, as you very wel know, you have abused others.
23 For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast often spoken evil of others.	23 Thanks to wisdom, I have found all this to be true; I resolved to be wise, but this was beyond myreach!
24 I have tried all things in wisdom. I have said: I will be wise: and it departed farther from me,	24 The past is out of reach, buried deep -- who can discover it?
25 Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?	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.
26 I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the wickedness of the fool, and the error of the imprudent:	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.
27 And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the hunter's snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall be caught by her.	27 This is what I think, says Qoheleth, having examined one thing after another to draw some conclusion,
28 Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after another, that I might find out the account,	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.
29 Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it. One man among a thousand I have found, a woman among them all I have not found.	29 This alone is my conclusion: God has created man straightforward, and human artifices are humaninventions.
30 Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions. Who is as the wise man? and who hath known the resolution of the word?