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 7,17 Pred 7,17
How trimmest thou thy way to seek love! therefore even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways.
And Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah slew him.
And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother.
And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and he slew him also.
Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor: {Or, I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these}thou didst not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things.
And it came to pass about ten days after, that Jehovah smote Nabal, so that he died.
Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
It shall be {Or, paid in full.}accomplished before his time,And his branch shall not be green.
Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter,
He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine,And shall cast off his flower as the olive-tree.
Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of {Or, malice}wickedness, receive with meekness the {Or, inborn}implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
But thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction:Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;But I will trust in thee.
The fear of Jehovah {Hebrew: addeth.}prolongeth days;But the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost: and great fear came upon all that heard it.
And she fell down immediately at his feet, and gave up the ghost: and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband.
And immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.