Ecclesiastes 7:11-18

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

¹²For wisdom is a defense, even as money is a defense; 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?

¹⁸It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also don’t withdraw your hand from that; for he who fears God will come out of them all.