Ecclesiastes 7:10-17

¹⁰Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not ask wisely about this.

¹¹Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.

¹²For wisdom is a defence, even as money is a defence; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

¹³Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight which he has made crooked?

¹⁴In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him.

¹⁵All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing.

¹⁶Don’t be overly righteous, neither make yourself overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

¹⁷Don’t be too wicked, neither be foolish. Why should you die before your time?