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New International Version |   | |
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| | Ecc 7:1 | A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
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| | Ecc 7:2 | It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.
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| | Ecc 7:3 | Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.
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| | Ecc 7:4 | The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
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| | Ecc 7:5 | It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.
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| | Ecc 7:6 | Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.
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| | Ecc 7:7 | Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
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| | Ecc 7:8 | The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
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| | Ecc 7:9 | Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
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| | Ecc 7:10 | Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.
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| | Ecc 7:11 | Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.
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| | Ecc 7:12 | Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.
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| | Ecc 7:13 | Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?
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| | Ecc 7:14 | When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.
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| | Ecc 7:15 | In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
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| | Ecc 7:16 | Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise-- why destroy yourself?
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| | Ecc 7:17 | Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool-- why die before your time?
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| | Ecc 7:18 | It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all [extremes].
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| | Ecc 7:19 | Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.
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| | Ecc 7:20 | There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
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| | Ecc 7:21 | Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you--
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| | Ecc 7:22 | for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
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| | Ecc 7:23 | All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined to be wise"-- but this was beyond me.
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| | Ecc 7:24 | Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound-- who can discover it?
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| | Ecc 7:25 | So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.
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| | Ecc 7:26 | I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
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| | Ecc 7:27 | "Look," says the Teacher, "this is what I have discovered: "Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things--
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| | Ecc 7:28 | while I was still searching but not finding-- I found one [upright] man among a thousand, but not one [upright] woman among them all.
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| | Ecc 7:29 | This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes."
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