¹A reputation is better than fine oil,

And the day of death than the day of one's birth.

²It is better to go to the house of mourning

Than to go to a house of banqueting,

For that is the end of every man.

And may he who is alive lay it to his heart.

³Grief is better than laughter,

For in a sad expression the heart is benefited.

⁴The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

Whereas the heart of fools

Is in the house of rejoicing.

⁵It is better to hear the rebuke of a wise man

Than for a man to hear the song of fools.

⁶For as is the sound of the thorns under the pot,

So is the laughter of the fool.

And this too is vanity.

⁷For unjust gain shames the wise,

And a bribe makes the heart stray.

⁸The end of a matter is better than its beginning,

And longsuffering is better than arrogance.

⁹Do not be quick in your spirit to become angry,

For anger lodges in the bosom of fools.

¹⁰Do not say, ‘What has taken place?

Because the first days were better than these’,

For you would not be asking wisely about this.

¹¹Wisdom with an inheritance is good,

And is advantageous to those who see the sun.

¹²For one may be under the protection of wisdom,

Or under the protection of money,

But the advantage of knowledge

Is that wisdom gives life to its owners.

¹³Look at the work of God,

For who can straighten

That which he has made bent?

¹⁴On a day of prosperity, enjoy the success,

But on a day of adversity, observe:

God has made both one thing and another

In order that man should not find out

About anything coming after him.

¹⁵I have seen everything in my vain days.

There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness,

And there is a wicked man

Who lives a long time in his wickedness.

¹⁶Do not be over-righteous,

And do not make yourself too wise.

Why should you destroy yourself?

¹⁷Do not do much wrong,

And do not be foolish.

Why should you die

When it is not your time?

¹⁸It is good if you hold on to this,

And do not let your hands drop this either,

For he who fears God

Will leave with everyone else.

¹⁹Wisdom will strengthen the wise man

More than ten rulers

Who are in the city.

²⁰For there is not a just man on the earth

Who does good and does not sin.

²¹Moreover do not concern yourself

With all the words spoken,

So that you do not hear

Your servant cursing you.

²²For also your heart knows

That you have also cursed others

Many times.

²³I have tested all this with wisdom.

I said, ‘I will be wise’,

But it was far from me.

²⁴Who can find what is distant

And very deep?

²⁵Then I applied my heart

To know and to investigate and to seek wisdom,

And an explanation of things,

And to know the wickedness of foolhardiness,

And foolishness and folly.

²⁶And I found more bitter than death

The woman who is out to catch,

And whose heart is set on enticements,

Whose hands are bonds.

It is good in God's sight that one should escape from her,

But the sinner will be caught by her.

²⁷‘See what I have found’,

Says the convener,

‘Putting one thing and another together

To find the result.’

²⁸So my mind is still seeking

And I have not found it.

I have found one man in a thousand,

But I have not found such a woman among all these.

²⁹Just look at this that I have found,

That God made man upright,

Yet they seek all sorts of schemes.

Reference(s) in Chapter 7: v.20 ↔ Romans 3:10.