Ecclesiastes 7
Douay-Rheims Bible, American Edition (1899)Translation
Douay-Rheims Bible, American Edition (1899)
Berean Standard Bible
1What 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?
1A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.
2A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
2It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.
3It 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.
3Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.
4Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.
4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth.
5It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.
6It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools.
6For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.
7For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.
7Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart.
8The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.
9Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the patient man than the presumptuous.
9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
10Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.
10Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this.
11Say not: What thinkest thou is the cause that former times were better than they are now? for this manner of question is foolish.
11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.
12Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage to them that see the sun.
12For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
13For 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.
13Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?
14Consider the works of God, that no man can correct whom he hath despised.
14In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.
15In 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.
15In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
16These 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.
16Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?
17Be not over just: and be not more wise than is necessary, lest thou become stupid.
17Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
18Be not overmuch wicked: and be not foolish, lest thou die before thy time.
18It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.
19It is good that thou shouldst hold up the just, yea and from him withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God, neglecteth nothing.
19Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.
20Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the city.
20Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
21For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not.
21Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.
22But do not apply thy heart to all words that are spoken: lest perhaps thou hear thy servant reviling thee.
22For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
23For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast often spoken evil of others.
23All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.
24I have tried all things in wisdom. I have said: I will be wise: and it departed farther from me,
24What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?
25Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?
25I 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.
26I 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:
26And 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.
27And 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“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.
28Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after another, that I might find out the account,
28While 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.
29Which 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.
29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
30Only 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?
no verse 30 in this text
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