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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Ecclesiastes 7</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/bsb/spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ecclesiastes/7.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmc//ecclesiastes/7-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/ecclesiastes/">Ecclesiastes</a> > Ecclesiastes 7</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ecclesiastes/6.htm" title="Ecclesiastes 6">◄</a> Ecclesiastes 7 <a href="../ecclesiastes/8.htm" title="Ecclesiastes 8">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div align="center" id="jump2"><a href="/niv/ecclesiastes/7.htm">NIV</a> • <a href="/nlt/ecclesiastes/7.htm">NLT</a> • <a href="/esv/ecclesiastes/7.htm">ESV</a> • <a href="/kjv/ecclesiastes/7.htm">KJV</a> • <a href="/nkjv/ecclesiastes/7.htm">NKJ</a> • <a href="/nasb/ecclesiastes/7.htm">NAS</a></div><br /><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="1%" valign="top">BSB</td><td width="99%" valign="top" align="right"><a href="/parallel/ecclesiastes/7.htm" style="font-weight:normal" title="Parallel Chapters">Parallel Chapters ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">The Value of Wisdom<p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>A good name is better than fine perfume, <p class="indent2"> and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth. <A name="3"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>It is better to enter a house of mourning <p class="indent2"> than a house of feasting, <p class="indent1"> since death is the end of every man, <p class="indent2"> and the living should take this to heart. <A name="4"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Sorrow is better than laughter, <p class="indent2"> for a sad countenance is good for the heart. <A name="5"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, <p class="indent2"> but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. <A name="6"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke <p class="indent2"> than to listen to the song of fools. <A name="7"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, <p class="indent2"> so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. <A name="8"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, <p class="indent2"> and a bribe corrupts the heart. <A name="9"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>The end of a matter is better than the beginning, <p class="indent2"> and a patient spirit is better than a proud one. <A name="10"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, <p class="indent2"> for anger settles in the lap of a fool.<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">a</a></span> <A name="11"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” <p class="indent2"> For it is unwise of you to ask about this. <A name="12"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, <p class="indent2"> and it benefits those who see the sun. <A name="13"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, <p class="indent2"> and the advantage of knowledge <p class="indent2"> is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. <A name="14"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Consider the work of God: <p class="indent2"> Who can straighten what He has bent? <A name="15"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>In the day of prosperity, be joyful, <p class="indent2"> but in the day of adversity, consider this: <p class="indent1"> God has made one of these along with the other, <p class="indent2"> so that a man cannot discover <p class="indent2"> anything that will come after him. <A name="16"></a><p class="hdg">The Limits of Human Wisdom<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>In my futile life I have seen both of these: <p class="list1stline"> A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, <p class="list1"> and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. <A name="17"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? <A name="18"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? <A name="19"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">b</a></span> <A name="20"></a><p class="indent1stline"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Wisdom makes the wise man <p class="indent2"> stronger than ten rulers in a city. <A name="21"></a><p class="indent1"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>Surely there is no righteous man on earth <p class="indent2"> who does good and never sins. <A name="22"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you. <A name="23"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. <A name="24"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me. <A name="25"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it? <A name="26"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness. <A name="27"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared. <A name="28"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation. <A name="29"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”</p><A name="fn"></a><div id="fnlink"><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:</b><br><br><span class="fnverse">9</span> <span class="footnotesbot">a</span> Hebrew <i>in the bosom of fools</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">18</span> <span class="footnotesbot">b</span> Or <i>will avoid all extremes</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><br /></div><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Berean Bible (<a href=http://berean.bible>www.Berean.Bible</a>) <a href=http://bereanbible.com>Berean Study Bible (BSB)</a> © 2016, 2020 by <a href=http://biblehub.com>Bible Hub</a> and <a href=http://berean.bible>Berean.Bible</a>. 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