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2It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of every man;
the living should take this to heart.

3Sorrow is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.

4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

5It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke
than to listen to the song of fools.

6Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.

7Extortion turns a wise man into a fool,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.

8The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.

9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.

10Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.

11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
and benefits those who see the sun.

12Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.

13Consider what God has done:
Who can straighten
what he has made crooked?

14When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, a man cannot discover
anything about his future.

15In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
a righteous man perishing in his righteousness,
and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

16Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?

17Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?

18It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.Or will follow them both

19Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful
than ten rulers in a city.

20There is not a righteous man on earth
who does what is right and never sins.

21Do not pay attention to every word people say,
or you may hear your servant cursing you—

22for you know in your heart
that many times you yourself have cursed others.

23All this I tested by wisdom and I said,
“I am determined to be wise”—
but this was beyond me.

24Whatever wisdom may be,
it is far off and most profound—
who can discover it?

25So I turned my mind to understand,
to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
and the madness of folly.

28while I was still searching
but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
but not one upright woman among them all.

29This only have I found:
God made mankind upright,
but men have gone in search of many schemes.”