Ecclesiastes 7:15-28

¹⁵These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.

¹⁶Be not given overmuch to righteousness and be not over-wise. Why let destruction come on you?

¹⁷Be not evil overmuch, and be not foolish. Why come to your end before your time?

¹⁸It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.

¹⁹Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.

²⁰There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does good and is free from sin all his days.

²¹Do not give ear to all the words which men say, for fear of hearing the curses of your servant.

²²Your heart has knowledge how frequently others have been cursed by you.

²³All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.

²⁴Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?

²⁵I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.

²⁶And I saw a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.

²⁷Look! this I have seen, said the Preacher, taking one thing after another to get the true account,

²⁸For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.