Ecclesiastes 7:8-18

⁸Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.

⁹Do not quickly ◄lose your temper/react to things angrily►, because it is foolish people SYN who become very angry.

¹⁰Do not say, “Things were a lot better RHQ previously,” because it is people who are not wise who say that.

¹¹Being wise is better than inheriting valuable things; being wise provides lasting benefits for every person on the earth MTY.

¹²We are sometimes protected by being wise like we are sometimes protected by having a lot of money, but being wise is better than having a lot of money, because being wise prevents us from doing foolish things that would cause us to die.

¹³Think carefully about what God has done. Certainly no one can RHQ cause to become straight the things that God has caused to be crooked.

¹⁴When things are going well for you, be happy, and when things are not going well for you, remember that God is the one who causes good things to happen and who also causes disasters.

¹⁵During all the time that I have been alive I have seen a lot of HYP things that seem senseless. I have seen righteous people die while they are still young, and I have seen wicked people remain alive for a very long time in spite of their continuing to be wicked.

¹⁶So do not think that you are very righteous and do not think that you are very wise, because if you think those things, you will destroy yourself.

¹⁷If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young.

¹⁸Continue to avoid doing what is evil and doing what is foolish; avoid doing both of those things by continually revering God.