A good name is better than precious oil; and the day of death, than the day of one's birth.
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made {Or, better}glad.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.
For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
{Or, For}Surely extortion maketh the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroyeth the understanding.
Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Be not hasty in thy spirit to be {Or, vexed}angry; for {Or, vexation}anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire {Hebrew: out of wisdom.}wisely concerning this.
Wisdom {Or, is good together with an inheritance, and profitable unto them &c.}is as good as an inheritance; yea, more excellent is it for them that see the sun.
For wisdom is a defence, even as money is a defence; but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom preserveth the life of him that hath it.
Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yea, God hath made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything that shall be after him.
All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his evil-doing.
Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?
Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?
It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from that withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth from them all.
Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers that are in a city.
{Or, For}Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
Also {Hebrew: give not thy heart.}take not heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee;
for oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.
All this have I {Or, tried by}proved in wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.
That which {Or, hath been}is, is far off and exceeding deep; who can find it out?
I turned about, and my heart was set to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the reason of things, and to know {Or, the wickedness of folly, and foolishness which is madness}that wickedness is folly, and that foolishness is madness.
And I find more bitter than death the woman {Or, who is a snare, and her heart is as nets}whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
Behold, this have I found, saith the Preacher, {Or, weighting one thing after another, to find out the reason}laying one thing to another, to find out the account;
which my soul still seeketh, but I have not found: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.
Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
Querverweise zu Prediger 7,9 Pred 7,9
Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good.
but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
God do so {The Syriac and some editions of Septuagint version have, unto David.}unto the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light so much as one man-child.
And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, {Or, and were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?}that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
And Cain {Hebrew: said unto.}told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not down, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.
And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done.
But he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.
And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you, give her unto him to wife.
He that is soon angry will deal foolishly;And a man of wicked devices is hated.
And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city {Or, boldly}unawares, and slew all the males.
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;And he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city.
And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went forth.
And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and, I being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and smite me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
{Psalm 4:4.}Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your {Greek: provocation.}wrath:
And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?
neither give place to the devil.
And Absalom spake unto Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.
{Or, Know ye}Ye know this, my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
And Absalom commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine; and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon, then kill him; fear not; have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.
And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother, answered and said, Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead; for by the appointment of Absalom this hath been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar.
Fervent lips and a wicked heartAre like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross.
He that hateth dissembleth with his lips;But he layeth up deceit within him:
When he speaketh fair, believe him not;For there are seven abominations in his heart:
Though his hatred cover itself with guile,His wickedness shall be openly showed before the assembly.
And Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him; and she could not;
And she went out, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptizer.