Ecclesiastes:7-9
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A good name is better than precious ointment ;
and the day of death than the day of one '
s birth .
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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 .
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Sorrow is better than laughter :
for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better .
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The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning ;
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth .
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It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise ,
than for a man to hear the song of fools .
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For as the crackling of thorns under a pot ,
so is the laughter of the fool :
this also is vanity .
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Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad ;
and a gift destroyeth the heart .
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Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof :
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit .
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Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry :
for anger resteth in the bosom of fools .
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Say not thou ,
What is the cause that the former days were better than these ?
for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this .
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Wisdom is good with an inheritance :
and by it there is profit to them that see the sun .
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For wisdom is a defence ,
and money is a defence :
but the excellency of knowledge is ,
that wisdom giveth life to them that have it .
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Consider the work of God :
for who can make that straight ,
which he hath made crooked ?
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In the day of prosperity be joyful ,
but in the day of adversity consider :
God also hath set the one over against the other ,
to the end that man should find nothing after him .
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All things have I seen in the days of my vanity :
there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness ,
and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness .
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Be not righteous over much ;
neither make thyself over wise :
why shouldest thou destroy thyself ?
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Be not over much wicked ,
neither be thou foolish :
why shouldest thou die before thy time ?
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It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this ;
yea ,
also from this withdraw not thine hand :
for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all .
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Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city .
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For there is not a just man upon earth ,
that doeth good ,
and sinneth not .
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Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken ;
lest thou hear thy servant curse thee :
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For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others .
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All this have I proved by wisdom :
I said ,
I will be wise ;
but it was far from me .
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That which is far off ,
and exceeding deep ,
who can find it out ?
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I applied mine heart to know ,
and to search ,
and to seek out wisdom ,
and the reason of things ,
and to know the wickedness of folly ,
even of foolishness and madness :
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And I find more bitter than death the woman ,
whose heart is snares and nets ,
and her hands as bands :
whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her ;
but the sinner shall be taken by her .
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Behold ,
this have I found ,
saith the preacher ,
counting one by one ,
to find out the account :
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Which yet my soul seeketh ,
but I find not :
one man among a thousand have I found ;
but a woman among all those have I not found .
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Lo ,
this only have I found ,
that God hath made man upright ;
but they have sought out many inventions .
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Who is as the wise man ?
and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing ?
a man '
s wisdom maketh his face to shine ,
and the boldness of his face shall be changed .
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I counsel thee to keep the king '
s commandment ,
and that in regard of the oath of God .
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Be not hasty to go out of his sight :
stand not in an evil thing ;
for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him .
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Where the word of a king is ,
there is power :
and who may say unto him ,
What doest thou ?
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Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing :
and a wise man '
s heart discerneth both time and judgment .
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Because to every purpose there is time and judgment ,
therefore the misery of man is great upon him .
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For he knoweth not that which shall be :
for who can tell him when it shall be ?
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There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit ;
neither hath he power in the day of death :
and there is no discharge in that war ;
neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it .
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All this have I seen ,
and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun :
there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt .
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And so I saw the wicked buried ,
who had come and gone from the place of the holy ,
and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done :
this is also vanity .
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Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily ,
therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil .
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Though a sinner do evil an hundred times ,
and his days be prolonged ,
yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God ,
which fear before him :
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But it shall not be well with the wicked ,
neither shall he prolong his days ,
which are as a shadow ;
because he feareth not before God .
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There is a vanity which is done upon the earth ;
that there be just men ,
unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked ;
again ,
there be wicked men ,
to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous :
I said that this also is vanity .
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Then I commended mirth ,
because a man hath no better thing under the sun ,
than to eat ,
and to drink ,
and to be merry :
for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life ,
which God giveth him under the sun .
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When I applied mine heart to know wisdom ,
and to see the business that is done upon the earth : (
for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes :)
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Then I beheld all the work of God ,
that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun :
because though a man labour to seek it out ,
yet he shall not find it ;
yea further ;
though a wise man think to know it ,
yet shall he not be able to find it .
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For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this ,
that the righteous ,
and the wise ,
and their works ,
are in the hand of God :
no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them .
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All things come alike to all :
there is one event to the righteous ,
and to the wicked ;
to the good and to the clean ,
and to the unclean ;
to him that sacrificeth ,
and to him that sacrificeth not :
as is the good ,
so is the sinner ;
and he that sweareth ,
as he that feareth an oath .
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This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun ,
that there is one event unto all :
yea ,
also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil ,
and madness is in their heart while they live ,
and after that they go to the dead .
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For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope :
for a living dog is better than a dead lion .
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For the living know that they shall die :
but the dead know not any thing ,
neither have they any more a reward ;
for the memory of them is forgotten .
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Also their love ,
and their hatred ,
and their envy ,
is now perished ;
neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun .
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Go thy way ,
eat thy bread with joy ,
and drink thy wine with a merry heart ;
for God now accepteth thy works .
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Let thy garments be always white ;
and let thy head lack no ointment .
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Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity ,
which he hath given thee under the sun ,
all the days of thy vanity :
for that is thy portion in this life ,
and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun .
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Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do ,
do it with thy might ;
for there is no work ,
nor device ,
nor knowledge ,
nor wisdom ,
in the grave ,
whither thou goest .
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I returned ,
and saw under the sun ,
that the race is not to the swift ,
nor the battle to the strong ,
neither yet bread to the wise ,
nor yet riches to men of understanding ,
nor yet favour to men of skill ;
but time and chance happeneth to them all .
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For man also knoweth not his time :
as the fishes that are taken in an evil net ,
and as the birds that are caught in the snare ;
so are the sons of men snared in an evil time ,
when it falleth suddenly upon them .
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This wisdom have I seen also under the sun ,
and it seemed great unto me :
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There was a little city ,
and few men within it ;
and there came a great king against it ,
and besieged it ,
and built great bulwarks against it :
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Now there was found in it a poor wise man ,
and he by his wisdom delivered the city ;
yet no man remembered that same poor man .
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Then said I ,
Wisdom is better than strength :
nevertheless the poor man '
s wisdom is despised ,
and his words are not heard .
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The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools .
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Wisdom is better than weapons of war :
but one sinner destroyeth much good .
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Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour :
so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour .