Christian Standard Bible

English Standard Version

1A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth.

1A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.

2It 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.

2It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

3Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.

3Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.

4The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.

4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

5It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than to listen to the song of fools,

5It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.

6for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

6For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity.

7Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the mind.

7Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

8The end of a matter is better than its beginning; a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.

8Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

9Don't let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools.

9Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.

10Don't say, "Why were the former days better than these?" since it is not wise of you to ask this.

10Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

11Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun,

11Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.

12because wisdom is protection as silver is protection; but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

12For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

13Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked?

13Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?

14In 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.

14In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

15In my futile life I have seen everything: someone righteous perishes in spite of his righteousness, and someone wicked lives long in spite of his evil.

15In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.

16Don't be excessively righteous, and don't be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

16Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

17Don't be excessively wicked, and don't be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

17Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

18It 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.

18It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

19Wisdom makes the wise person stronger than ten rulers of a city.

19Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

20There is certainly no one righteous on the earth who does good and never sins.

20Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

21Don't pay attention to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you,

21Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you.

22for in your heart you know that many times you yourself have cursed others.

22Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

23I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, "I will be wise," but it was beyond me.

23All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me.

24What exists is beyond reach and very deep. Who can discover it?

24That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

25I 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.

25I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.

26And 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.

26And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.

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

27Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things—

28which my soul continually searches for but does not find: I found one person in a thousand, but none of those was a woman.

28which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.

29Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright, but they pursued many schemes."

29See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.