| NET Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1A good reputation is better than precious perfume; likewise, 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 funeral than a feast. For death is the destiny of every person, and the living should take this 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. |
| 3Sorrow is better than laughter, because sober reflection is good for the heart. | 3Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. |
| 4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of merrymaking. | 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 for a person to receive a rebuke from those who are wise 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 quick-burning thorns under a cooking pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This kind of folly also is useless. | 6For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity. |
| 7Surely oppression can turn a wise person into a fool; likewise, a bribe corrupts the heart. | 7Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart. |
| 8The end of a matter is better than its beginning; likewise, patience is better than pride. | 8Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. |
| 9Do not let yourself be quickly provoked, for anger resides in the lap of fools. | 9Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools. |
| 10Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these days?" for it is not wise to ask that. | 10Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. |
| 11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing; it benefits those who see the light of day. | 11Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. |
| 12For wisdom provides protection, just as money provides protection. But the advantage of knowledge is this: 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 make straight what he has bent? | 13Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? |
| 14In times of prosperity be joyful, but in times of adversity consider this: God has made one as well as the other, so that no one can discover what the future holds. | 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. |
| 15During the days of my fleeting life I have seen both of these things: Sometimes a righteous person dies prematurely in spite of his righteousness, and sometimes a wicked person lives long in spite of his evil deeds. | 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. |
| 16So do not be excessively righteous or excessively wise; otherwise you might be disappointed. | 16Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? |
| 17Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool; otherwise you might die before your time. | 17Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? |
| 18It is best to take hold of one warning without letting go of the other warning; for the one who fears God will follow both warnings. | 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 gives a wise person more protection than ten rulers in a city. | 19Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. |
| 20For there is not one truly righteous person on the earth who continually does good and never sins. | 20Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. |
| 21Also, do not pay attention to everything that people say; otherwise, you might even hear your servant cursing you. | 21Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. |
| 22For you know in your own heart that you also have cursed others many times. | 22Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. |
| 23I have examined all this by wisdom; I said, "I am determined to comprehend this"--but it was beyond my grasp. | 23All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. |
| 24Whatever has happened is beyond human understanding; it is far deeper than anyone can fathom. | 24That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? |
| 25I tried to understand, examine, and comprehend the role of wisdom in the scheme of things, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the insanity of folly. | 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. |
| 26I discovered this: More bitter than death is the kind of woman who is like a hunter's snare; her heart is like a hunter's net and her hands are like prison chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is 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. |
| 27The Teacher says: I discovered this while trying to discover the scheme of things, item by item. | 27Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— |
| 28What I have continually sought, I have not found; I have found only one upright man among a thousand, but I have not found one upright woman among all of them. | 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. |
| 29This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright, but they have sought many evil schemes. | 29See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. |
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