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The Blue Letter Bible

Ecclesiastes 7 :: Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

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Wise Sayings
Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:1 -

A good name is better than fine perfume,

and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:2 -

It is better to go to a house of mourning

than to go to a house of feasting,

since that is the end of all mankind,

and the living should take it to heart.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:3 -

Grief is better than laughter,

for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:4 -

The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:5 -

It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person

than to listen to the song of fools,

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:6 -

for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot,

so is the laughter of the fool.

This too is futile.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:7 -

Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool,

and a bribe corrupts the mind.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:8 -

The end of a matter is better than its beginning;

a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:9 -

Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry,

for anger abides in the heart of fools.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:10 -

Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these? ”

since it is not wise of you to ask this.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:11 -

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance

and an advantage to those who see the sun,

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:12 -

because wisdom is protection as silver is protection;

but the advantage of knowledge

is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:13 -

Consider the work of God,

for who can straighten out

what he has made crooked?

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:14 -

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that no one can discover anything that will come after him.

Avoiding Extremes
Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:15 -

In my futile life[fn] I have seen everything: someone righteous perishes in spite of his righteousness, and someone wicked lives long in spite of his evil.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:16 -

Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:17 -

Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:18 -

It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:19 -

Wisdom makes the wise person stronger

than ten rulers of a city.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:20 -

There is certainly no one righteous on the earth

who does good and never sins.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:21 -

Don’t pay attention[fn] to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you,

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:22 -

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

What the Teacher Found
Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:23 -

I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, “I will be wise,” but it was beyond me.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:24 -

What exists is beyond reach and very deep. Who can discover it?

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:25 -

I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and examine wisdom and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:26 -

And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap: her heart a net and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:27 -

“Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation,

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:28 -

“which my soul continually searches for but does not find: I found one person in a thousand, but none of those was a woman.

Unchecked Copy BoxEcc 7:29 -

“Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright, but they pursued many schemes.”

CSB Footnotes
Lit days
Lit Don’t give your heart
CSB

Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Additional information is provided here.

For more information on this translation, see the CSB Preface.

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Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 — Additional Translations: