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Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7

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Ecclesiastes 7 NWT - New World TranslationEcclesiastes 7 NWT - New World Translation

Chapter 7 of Ecclesiastes—New World Translation (NWT)

  1. ¶ A name[a] is better than good oil,1 and the day of death than the day of one’s being born.2
  2. Better is it to go to the house of mourning than to go to the banquet house,3 because that is the end of all mankind; and the one alive should take [it] to his heart.
  3. Better is vexation than laughter,4 for by the crossness of the face the heart becomes better.5
  4. The heart of the wise ones is in the house of mourning,6 but the heart of the stupid ones is in the house of rejoicing.7
  5. ¶ Better is it to hear the rebuke of someone wise8 than to be the man[b] hearing the song of the stupid ones.9
  6. For as the sound of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the stupid one;10 and this too is vanity.
  7. For mere oppression may make a wise one act crazy,11 and a gift12 can destroy the heart.13
  8. ¶ Better is the end afterward of a matter than its beginning.14 Better is one who is patient[c] than one who is haughty in spirit.15
  9. Do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended,16 for the taking of offense is what rests in the bosom of the stupid ones.17
  10. ¶ Do not say: “Why has it happened that the former days proved to be better than these?”18 for it is not due to wisdom19 that you have asked about this.
  11. ¶ Wisdom along with an inheritance is good and is advantageous[d] for those seeing the sun.20
  12. For wisdom is for a protection[e]21 [the same as] money is for a protection;22 but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom itself preserves alive its owners.23
  13. ¶ See the work24 of the [true] God, for who is able to make straight what he has made crooked?25
  14. On a good day prove yourself to be in goodness,26 and on a calamitous day see that the [true] God has made even this exactly as that,27 to the intent that mankind[f] may not discover anything at all after them.28
  15. ¶ Everything I have seen during my vain days.29 There exists the righteous one perishing in his righteousness,30 and there exists the wicked one continuing long in his badness.31
  16. ¶ Do not become righteous overmuch,32 nor show yourself excessively wise.33 Why should you cause desolation to yourself?34
  17. Do not be wicked overmuch,35 nor become foolish.36 Why should you die when it is not your time?37
  18. It is better that you should take hold of the one, but from the other also do not withdraw your hand;38 for he that fears God will go forth with them all.39
  19. ¶ Wisdom itself is stronger for the wise one than ten men in power who happened to be in a city.40
  20. For there is no man righteous in the earth that keeps doing good and does not sin.41
  21. ¶ Also, do not give your heart to all the words that people may speak,42 that you may not hear your servant calling down evil upon you.43
  22. For your own heart well knows even many times that you, even you, have called down evil upon others.44
  23. ¶ All this I have tested with wisdom. I said: “I will become wise.” But it was far from me.45
  24. What has come to be is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out?46
  25. I myself turned around, even my heart did,47 to know and to explore and to search for wisdom48 and the reason of things,49 and to know about the wickedness of stupidity and the foolishness of madness;50
  26. and I was finding out: More bitter than death51 [I found] the woman who is herself nets for hunting and whose heart is dragnets [and] whose hands are fetters.52 One is good before the [true] God if one escapes from her, but one is sinning if one is captured by her.53
  27. ¶ “See! This I have found,” said the congregator,[g]54 “one thing [taken] after another, to find out the sum-up,55
  28. which my soul has continuously sought, but I have not found. One man out of a thousand I have found,56 but a woman among all these I have not found.57
  29. See! This only I have found, that the [true] God made mankind[h] upright,58 but they themselves have sought out many plans.”59

FOOTNOTES

  1. ^ “A name.” Heb., shem; LXXVg, “A good name.” See Pr 22:1 ftn.
  2. ^ See 6:2 ftn.
  3. ^ Lit., “long in spirit.”
  4. ^ Or, “Wisdom [compared] with a possession is better and is more profitable.”
  5. ^ Lit., “for a shadow.” Heb., betselʹ.
  6. ^ See 6:7 ftn.
  7. ^ “Said the congregator.” The verb and subject are both fem. See Title and 1:1 ftns.
  8. ^ “Mankind.” Heb., ha·ʼa·dhamʹ.

REFERENCES

  1. ^ Pr 10:7; 22:1; Is 56:5; Eze 36:23; Mt 6:9; Lu 10:20
  2. ^ Ec 7:8; 2Co 5:1; Re 2:10
  3. ^ Pr 14:13; Is 5:12; Mt 5:4; Jm 4:9; 1Pe 4:3
  4. ^ Ps 119:71; Lu 6:21
  5. ^ Ro 5:3; 2Co 4:17; 7:10; Heb 12:11
  6. ^ Ne 9:1; Da 9:3
  7. ^ 1Sa 25:36; Pr 21:17; Da 5:1; Ho 7:5; Mr 6:21
  8. ^ Ps 141:5; Pr 15:31; Re 3:19
  9. ^ Ps 69:12
  10. ^ Ec 2:2
  11. ^ De 28:34
  12. ^ De 16:19; Pr 15:27
  13. ^ Ex 23:8; 1Sa 8:3; Pr 17:23
  14. ^ Ge 50:20; Ps 126:6; Ec 7:1; Jn 12:24; Jm 5:11
  15. ^ Ps 138:6; Pr 13:10; Ga 6:3; Jm 5:10; 1Pe 5:5
  16. ^ Pr 14:17; 16:32; 29:11; Jm 1:19
  17. ^ Ge 4:5; Es 5:9; Pr 14:29
  18. ^ Jg 6:13
  19. ^ Lu 9:62; Pp 3:13
  20. ^ 1Ki 3:7
  21. ^ Pr 2:11; 4:6
  22. ^ Pr 10:15; Lu 16:9
  23. ^ Pr 3:18; 8:35; 9:11
  24. ^ Ps 107:43
  25. ^ Jb 9:12; Is 14:27; 46:10
  26. ^ Ps 30:11; Ga 5:22; Jm 5:13
  27. ^ De 8:3; Jb 2:10; Is 45:7; Ro 11:22
  28. ^ Pr 27:1; Ec 9:11; Jm 4:14
  29. ^ Ps 39:5; Ec 4:4
  30. ^ Ge 4:8; 1Sa 22:18; Mt 23:34; Jn 16:2; 1Pe 4:12; 5:10
  31. ^ Jb 21:7; Ps 73:12; Je 12:1
  32. ^ Is 65:5; Mt 6:1; 12:2; 23:23; Lu 18:9; Ro 10:3; 14:10; Col 2:23
  33. ^ Pr 3:7; Jn 12:5; Ro 12:3; 1Co 3:18
  34. ^ 2Sa 6:7; Pr 16:18
  35. ^ Jos 7:21; Eze 8:17; 16:20; 2Ti 4:14; Jm 1:21; 2Pe 2:14
  36. ^ Ps 14:1; 75:4; Pr 14:9
  37. ^ 1Sa 25:38; Ps 55:23; Pr 10:27
  38. ^ Mt 11:19; 12:1; Pp 4:5
  39. ^ Lu 16:9
  40. ^ 2Sa 20:16; Pr 21:22; 24:5; Ec 9:16
  41. ^ 2Ch 6:36; Ps 51:5; 130:3; 143:2; Pr 20:9; Ro 3:23; Jm 3:2; 1Jo 1:8
  42. ^ 1Sa 24:9
  43. ^ 2Sa 16:10
  44. ^ Lu 9:54; Jm 3:2, 9
  45. ^ De 29:29; Jb 28:12; Ps 119:114
  46. ^ Jb 11:7; Ps 36:6; 139:6; Is 55:9; Ro 11:33
  47. ^ Ec 1:13; 2:3
  48. ^ Ps 51:6; Pr 2:4; Ec 1:17
  49. ^ Jb 38:3; 42:2
  50. ^ De 32:6; Pr 11:29; Ec 2:12; 9:3
  51. ^ 1Sa 15:32; Ps 55:4
  52. ^ Jg 16:21; Pr 7:22
  53. ^ Pr 5:14; 7:23, 26; 22:14
  54. ^ Ec 1:1, 12
  55. ^ Ec 7:25
  56. ^ Ne 7:2; Jb 33:23; Ps 12:1; Pp 2:20; 2Pe 2:8
  57. ^ Pr 18:22; 31:10
  58. ^ Ge 1:26, 31; De 32:4
  59. ^ Ge 3:6; 6:12; 11:4; De 32:5; Je 2:13; Mr 7:9; Jm 1:14

Read Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 in other Bible versions:

Comments

  1. David yakubuDavid yakubu
    Oct 29, 2022 08:05 GMT

    When i do read some comments and seeing that its the same people that are supposed to be called believers but are talking ill of other denominations, it hurts. Let us all remember that We should judge not

    1. jonas smithjonas smith
      Apr 23, 2023 02:57 GMT

      The bible tells us to test the spirits. Satan disguises himself as angel of light. So yes some denomination are not teaching the truth. You are responsible for judging which ones are not. You have to judge the truth at all times. this is what the bible teaches

  2. THTH
    Apr 7, 2021 00:20 GMT

    The NWT is a very good translation. Dr. Jason David BeDuhn PhD attests to that in his book Truth in Translation. drive.google.com/...5p16melHzg8/view

    1. jim mcleodjim mcleod
      Aug 22, 2021 06:16 GMT

      NWT is a false translation that takes away from the deity of Jesus !

  3. SlightlyChaoticSlightlyChaotic
    Jan 30, 2021 16:33 GMT

    Thank you for taking the time to provide this service. I like seeing the NASB on your web page in the same format as I read on paper. On other sites, the text area is smaller, and so I have to keep scrolling down to read and sometimes I lose the context. So I really appreciate the format.

    As far as the NWT, you are certainly free to do whatever you think best with your own web pages. I'd suggest that you make a note anytime you have a translation that is associated with only one denomination or church, for example:
    New World Translation (Jehovah's Witness version).

    In Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares. the main idea seems to be that you can't easily distinguish between God's people and not-God's people on this earth, so our Lord's response is to wait until they are shown to be the kind of people they are inside. But the NWT seems like false teaching to me. So I think the warning passages from Jesus' apostles are more applicable, as in 2 Peter 3:15-16, when he talks about Paul's writings:
    "There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."
    And we also have the positive exhortations, as in 2 Timothy 2:15:
    "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

    1. BroderickBroderick
      Jan 31, 2021 00:57 GMT

      Your suggestion regarding the denominational flagging is duly noted. But I can’t help but wonder, wouldn’t a Catholic also want “Protestant versions” marked as well?

      As for the parable, I’m pretty sure the slaves were convinced in their own minds that they could tell the tares from the wheat. After all, aren’t they the ones who identified the problem in the first place? But the master obviously thought otherwise.

      Furthermore, even at the time when Jesus himself was walking the earth, not everybody who claimed fellowship actually followed him causing John to inquire at Mark 9:39, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him . . . for he who is not against us is for us.”

  4. Joshua HarderJoshua Harder
    Dec 11, 2020 17:48 GMT

    Hello, question.. why have you included the NWT with other legitimate bible translations? Or why have you not atleast included a warning to readers? Don't you fear that someone could be influenced by the Watchtower's intentional heresies? Thank you.

    1. KevinKevin
      Jul 11, 2021 17:45 GMT

      en.m.wikipedia.org/..._Holy_Scriptures

      See the section critical review

  5. julietjuliet
    Aug 17, 2022 09:36 GMT

    the sky is blue

  6. mercymercy
    Aug 12, 2022 21:23 GMT

    i am Mercy, the sky is blue what else do you need

    1. mercymercy
      Aug 12, 2022 21:25 GMT

      i am so sorry, it was a big mistake

  7. God is able to do all thingsGod is able to do all things
    May 17, 2021 17:59 GMT

    Jesus how much love calling yo name

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