Ecclesiastes 7:1-11

¹Better is a name than good perfume, And the day of death than the day of birth.

²Better to go unto a house of mourning, Than to go unto a house of banqueting, For that is the end of all men, And the living layeth it unto his heart.

³Better is sorrow than laughter, For by the sadness of the face the heart becometh better.

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

⁵Better to hear a rebuke of a wise man, Than for a man to hear a song of fools,

⁶For as the noise of thorns under the pot, So is the laughter of a fool, even this is vanity.

⁷Surely oppression maketh the wise mad, And a gift destroyeth the heart.

⁸Better is the latter end of a thing than its beginning, Better is the patient of spirit, than the haughty of spirit.

⁹Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, For anger in the bosom of fools resteth.

¹⁰Say not thou, 'What was it, That the former days were better than these?' For thou hast not asked wisely of this.

¹¹Wisdom is good with an inheritance, And an advantage it is to those beholding the sun.