Ecclesiastes/Qohelet 7

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Better a good name than costly oil, the day of death than the day of birth.	1 A good name is better than good ointment, and the day of death than the day of 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.	2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, For that is the end of every man, and the living should take it to heart.
3 Better sadness than laughter: a joyful heart may be concealed behind sad looks.	3 Sorrow is better than laughter, because when the face is sad the heart grows wiser.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, the heart of fools in the house of gaiety.	4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 Better attend to the reprimand of the wise than listen to a song sung by a fool.	5 It is better to hearken to the wise man's rebuke than to hearken to the song of fools;
6 For like the crackling of thorns under the cauldron is the laughter of fools: and that too is futile.	6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the fool's laughter.
7 But being oppressed drives a sage mad, and a present corrupts the heart.	7 For oppression can make a fool of a wise man, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better the end of a matter than its beginning, better patience than ambition.	8 Better is the end of speech than its beginning; better is the patient spirit than the lofty spirit.
9 Do not be too easily exasperated, for exasperation dwel s in the heart of fools.	9 Do not in spirit become quickly discontented, for discontent lodges 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.	10 Do not say: How is it that former times were better than these? For it is not in wisdom that you ask about this.
11 Wisdom is as good as a legacy, profitable to those who enjoy the light of the sun.	11 Wisdom and an inheritance are good, and an advantage to those 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.	12 For the protection of wisdom is as the protection of money; and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
13 Consider God's creation: who, for instance, can straighten what God has bent?	13 Consider the work of God. Who can make straight what he has made crooked?
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 On a good day enjoy good things, and on an evil day consider: Both the one and the other God has made, so that man cannot find fault with him in anything.
15 In my futile life, I have seen everything: the upright person perishing in uprightness and the wickedperson surviving in wickedness.	15 I have seen all manner of things in my vain days: a just man perishing in his justice, and a wicked one surviving in his wickedness.
16 Do not be upright to excess and do not make yourself unduly wise: why should you destroy yourself?	16 "Be not just to excess, and be not overwise, lest you be ruined.
17 Do not be wicked to excess, and do not be a fool: why die before your time?	17 Be not wicked to excess, and be not foolish. Why should you die before your time?"
18 It is wise to hold on to one and not let go of the other, since the godfearing wil find both.	18 It is good to hold to this rule, and not to let that one go; but he who fears God will win through at all events.
19 Wisdom makes the wise stronger than a dozen governors in a city.	19 Wisdom is a better defense for the wise man than would be ten princes in the city,
20 No one on earth is sufficiently upright to do good without ever sinning.	20 yet there is no man on earth so just as to do good and never sin.
21 Again, do not listen to all that people say, then you wil not hear your servant abusing you.	21 Do not give heed to every word that is spoken lest you hear your servant speaking ill of you,
22 For often, as you very wel know, you have abused others.	22 for you know in your heart that you have many times spoken ill of others.
23 Thanks to wisdom, I have found all this to be true; I resolved to be wise, but this was beyond myreach!	23 All these things I probed in wisdom. I said, "I will acquire wisdom"; but it was beyond me.
24 The past is out of reach, buried deep -- who can discover it?	24 What exists is far-reaching; it is deep, very deep: who can 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.	25 I turned my thoughts toward knowledge; I sought and pursued wisdom and reason, and I recognized that wickedness is foolish and folly is madness.
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 More bitter than death I find the woman who is a hunter's trap, whose heart is a snare and whose hands are prison bonds. He who is pleasing to God will escape her, but the sinner will be entrapped by her.
27 This is what I think, says Qoheleth, having examined one thing after another to draw some conclusion,	27 Behold, this have I found, says Qoheleth, adding one thing to another that I might discover the answer
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 which my soul still seeks and has not found: One man out of a thousand have I come upon, but 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.	29 Behold, only this have I found out: God made mankind straight, but men have had recourse to many calculations.