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The Best in Life

(A) A good reputation
    at the time of death
is better than loving care
    at the time of birth.[a]
It's better to go to a funeral
    than to attend a feast;
funerals remind us
    that we all must die.
Choose sorrow over laughter
because a sad face
    may hide a happy heart.
A sensible person mourns,
    but fools always laugh.
Correction from someone wise
is better by far
    than praise from fools.
Foolish laughter is stupid.
It sounds like thorns
    crackling in a fire.
Corruption[b] makes fools
of sensible people,
    and bribes can ruin you.
Something completed is better
    than something just begun;
patience is better
    than too much pride.
(B) Only fools get angry quickly
    and hold a grudge.
10 It isn't wise to ask,
“Why is everything worse
    than it used to be?”
11 Having wisdom is better
    than an inheritance.
12 Wisdom will protect you
    just like money;
knowledge with good sense
    will lead you to life.
13 Think of what God has done!
If God makes something crooked,
    can you make it straight?

14 When times are good,
    you should be cheerful;
when times are bad,
    think about what it means.
God makes them both
to keep us from knowing
    what will happen next.

Some of Life's Questions

15 I have seen everything during this senseless life of mine. I have seen good citizens die for doing the right thing, while criminals live and prosper. 16 So don't destroy yourself by being too good or acting too smart! 17 Don't die before your time by being too evil or acting like a fool. 18 Keep to the middle of the road. You can do this if you truly respect God.

19 Wisdom will make you stronger than the ten most powerful leaders in your city.

20 No one in this world always does right.

21 Don't listen to everything that everyone says, or you might hear your servant cursing you. 22 Haven't you cursed many others?

23 I told myself that I would be smart and try to understand all this, but it was too much for me. 24 The truth is beyond us. It's far too deep. 25 So I decided to learn everything I could and become wise enough to discover what life is all about. At the same time, I wanted to understand why it's stupid and senseless to be an evil fool.

26 Here is what I discovered: A bad woman is worse than death. She is a trap, reaching out with body and soul to catch you. But if you obey God, you can escape. If you don't obey, you are done for. 27 With all my wisdom I have tried to find out how everything fits together, 28 but so far I have not been able to. I do know there is one good man in a thousand, but never have I found a good woman. 29 I did learn one thing: We were completely honest when God created us, but now we have twisted minds.

Who is smart enough
    to explain everything?
Wisdom makes you cheerful
    and gives you a smile.

Obey the King

If you promised God that you would be loyal to the king, I advise you to keep that promise. Don't quickly oppose the king or argue when he has already made up his mind. The king's word is law. No one can ask him, “Why are you doing this?” If you obey the king, you will stay out of trouble. So be wise and learn what to do and when to do it. Life is hard, but there is a time and a place for everything, though no one can tell the future. We cannot control the wind[c] or determine the day of our death. There is no escape in time of war, and no one can hide behind evil. I noticed all this and thought seriously about what goes on in the world. Why does one person have the power to hurt another?

Who Can Understand the Ways of God?

10 I saw the wicked buried with honor, but God's people had to leave the holy city and were forgotten.[d] None of this makes sense. 11 When we see criminals commit crime after crime without being punished, it makes us want to start a life of crime. 12 They commit hundreds of crimes and live a long time, in spite of the saying:

Everyone who lives right
and respects God
    will prosper,
13 but no one who sins
    and rejects God
will prosper or live very long.

14 There is something else that doesn't make sense to me. Good citizens are treated as criminals, while criminals are honored as though they were good citizens. 15 So I think we should get as much out of life as we possibly can. There is nothing better than to enjoy our food and drink and have a good time. Then we can make it through this troublesome life that God has given us here on earth.

16 Day and night I went without sleep, trying to understand what goes on in this world. 17 I saw everything God does, and I realized no one can really understand what happens. We may be very wise, but no matter how much we try or how much we claim to know, we cannot understand it all.

One Day at a Time

I thought about these things. Then I understood that God has power over everyone, even those who are wise and live right. Anything can happen to any one of us, and so we never know if life will be good or bad.[e] But exactly[f] the same thing will finally happen to all of us, whether we live right and respect God or sin and don't respect God. Yes, the same thing will happen if we offer sacrifices to God or if we don't, if we keep our promises or are afraid to make them.

It's terribly unfair for the same thing to happen to each of us. We are mean and foolish while we live, and then we die. As long as we are alive, we still have hope, just as a live dog is better off than a dead lion. We know we will die, but the dead don't know a thing. Nothing good will happen to them—they are gone and forgotten. Their loves, their hates, and their jealous feelings have all disappeared with them. They will never again take part in anything that happens on this earth.

So be happy and enjoy eating and drinking! God decided long ago that this is what you should do. Dress up, comb your hair, and look your best. Life is short, and you love your wife, so enjoy being with her. This is what you are supposed to do as you struggle through life on this earth. 10 Work hard at whatever you do. You will soon go to the world of the dead, where no one works or thinks or reasons or even knows anything.

11 Here is something else I have learned:

The fastest runners
    and the greatest heroes
don't always win races
    and battles.
Wisdom, intelligence, and skill
don't always make you healthy,
    rich, or popular.
We each have our own share
    of misfortune.

12 None of us know when we might fall victim to a sudden disaster and find ourselves like fish in a net or birds in a trap.

Better To Be Wise than Foolish

13 Once I saw what people really think of wisdom, and it made an impression on me. 14 It happened when a powerful ruler surrounded and attacked a small city where only a few people lived. The enemy army was getting ready to break through the city walls. 15 But the city was saved by the wisdom of a poor person who was soon forgotten. 16 So I decided that wisdom is better than strength. Yet if you are poor, no one pays any attention to you, no matter how smart you are.

17 Words of wisdom spoken softly
    make much more sense
than the shouts of a ruler
    to a crowd of fools.
18 Wisdom is more powerful
    than weapons,
yet one mistake can destroy
    all the good you have done.

Footnotes

  1. 7.1 birth: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 1.
  2. 7.7 Corruption: Or “Oppression.”
  3. 8.8 control the wind: Or “escape from death.”
  4. 8.10 but … forgotten: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  5. 9.1 or bad: Three ancient translations; the Hebrew text does not have these words.
  6. 9.2 But exactly: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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