Ecclesiastes 7:5-18

⁵It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.

⁶Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.

⁷The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.

⁸The end of a thing is better than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride.

⁹Be not quick to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.

¹⁰Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.

¹¹Wisdom together with a heritage is good, and a profit to those who see the sun.

¹²Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.

¹³Give thought to the work of God. Who will make straight what he has made bent?

¹⁴In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.

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.