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          DASV: Ecclesiastes 7    

1 A good name is better than precious perfume,
     and the day of death better than the day of one's birth.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning
     than to go to the house of feasting,
  for that is the end of every one,
     and the living should take this to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
     for a sad face is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
     but the heart of fools is in the house of merriment.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise,
     than to hear the song of fools.
6 For like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot,
     so is the laughter of the fool,
           this also is meaningless.

7 Surely extortion makes the wise foolish,
     and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
     the patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit.
9 Be not quick in your spirit to be angry,
     for anger resides in the belly of fools.
10 Do not ask, "Why were the good old days better than these days?"
     for it is not wise to ask this.
11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance,
     it benefits those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom protects, just like money protects;
     but the benefit of knowledge is,
           that wisdom preserves the life of the one who has it.

13 Consider the work of God;
     for who can make straight,
           what he has made crooked?
14 In times of prosperity be joyful,
     and in times of trouble consider;
   God has made the one as well as the other,
     so that a person cannot discover anything that comes after him.
15 I have seen many things in my futile days:
     a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness,
           and a wicked person who lives long in his evildoing.
16 Do not be overly righteous,
     or attempt to be overly wise;
           why should you destroy yourself?
17 Be not overly wicked,
     and do not be a fool;
           why should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you should take hold of this,
     without letting go of the other,
      for the one who fears God shall avoid all of these extremes.

19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man
     more than ten rulers in a city.
20 Surely there is not a righteous person on earth,
     who only does good and never sins.
21 Do not obsess over everything people say,
     lest you hear your servant curse you,
22 for you know in your own heart
     how many times you yourself have cursed others.

23 All this I have tested by wisdom,
     I said, "I will be wise,"
           but it was far from me.
24 That which exists,
     is far off and exceeding deep,
           who can figure it out?
25 I focused my heart to know and to search out,
     and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things,
   and to understand how wickedness is folly,
     and how foolishness is madness.
26 I find more bitter than death,
     the woman who is a snare,
  and whose heart is a trap,
      whose hands are like chains.
   Whoever pleases God will escape from her,
     but the sinner will be caught by her.

27 Look, this is what I have discovered, says the Teacher,
     adding one thing to another
           attempting to figure out the scheme of things,
28 which my soul continually sought,
     but I have not found.
   I found only one upright man out of a thousand,
     but I have not found a single upright woman among them all.
29 This is the only thing I have discovered:
     God made man upright;
           but they have sought out many schemes.

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