1 ARST It is better that other people honor us than to have fine perfume. The day that we die is better than the day that we are born. BSB BSB: A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.
2 ARST It is better to go to a house where people are mourning about someone who has died than to go to a house where people are feasting, because everyone will die some day, and people should think about when they will die. BSB BSB: It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.
3 ARST It is better to be sad than to be always laughing, because when we are sad, we can think better about the things that will make us wise and happy. BSB BSB: Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.
4 ARST Wise people who go to where others are mourning think about the fact that some day they also will die, but foolish people do not think about that; they are always laughing. BSB BSB: The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5 ARST It is better to pay attention to someone who is rebuking you than to listen to the songs of a foolish person. BSB BSB: It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.
6 ARST By listening to foolish people laughing we will not learn anymore than by listening to the crackling of thorns being burned under a pot. Listening to fools is senseless. BSB BSB: For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.
7 ARST When wise people say to others,“You must pay me a lot of money for me to protect you,” that causes those wise people to become foolish. Those who accept bribes become unable to do what is right. BSB BSB: Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 ARST Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud. BSB BSB: The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.
9 ARST Do not quickly lose your temper, because it is foolish people who become very angry. BSB BSB: Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
10 ARST Do not say,“Things were a lot better previously,” because it is only foolish people who say that. BSB BSB: Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this.
11 ARST Being wise is like inheriting valuable things. There are lasting benefits for anyone on earth who is wise. BSB BSB: Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.
12 ARST We are sometimes protected by being wise, as we are sometimes protected by having a lot of money. However, being wise is better than having a lot of money, because being wise prevents us from doing foolish things that would cause us to die. BSB BSB: For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
13 ARST Think carefully about what God has done. Certainly no one can cause to become straight the things that God has caused to be crooked. BSB BSB: Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?
14 ARST When things are going well for you, be happy, and when things are not going well for you, remember that God is the one who causes good things to happen and who also causes disasters. Yet God does not reveal to anyone exactly what his future holds. BSB BSB: In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.
15 ARST During all the time that I have been alive I have seen many things that seem senseless. I have seen righteous people die while they were still young, and I have seen wicked people remain alive for a very long time in spite of their continuing to be wicked. BSB BSB: In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
16 ARST So do not think that you are very righteous, and do not think that you are very wise, because if you think those things, you will destroy yourself. BSB BSB: Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?
17 ARST If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young. BSB BSB: Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
18 ARST Continue to try to become wise and do what is right. The person who always respects God will show this by his behavior. BSB BSB: It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.
19 ARST If you are wise, you will be more powerful than the ten most powerful men in your city. BSB BSB: Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.
20 ARST There is no one in this world who always does what is right, who never sins. BSB BSB: Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
21 ARST Do not pay attention to everything that people say, because if you do that, you might hear your servant curse you. BSB BSB: Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.
22 ARST After all, you yourself know very well that you have also cursed other people. BSB BSB: For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
23 ARST I said to myself that I would use my wisdom to study all the things that I have written about, but I was not able to do it. BSB BSB: All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.
24 ARST Wisdom seems to be far from me. There is no one who can truly understand everything. BSB BSB: What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?
25 ARST But I decided to investigate things and by my wisdom try to understand the reason for everything. I also wanted to understand why people act wickedly and why they act very foolishly. BSB BSB: I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.
26 ARST One thing I learned was that allowing a woman to seduce you is worse than dying. A woman who tries to seduce men is as dangerous as a trap. If you allow her to put her arms around you, it will be as though she is fastening you with chains. Women like that will capture sinful men, but men who please God will escape from such women. BSB BSB: And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.
27 ARST This is what I have learned. I tried to learn more and more about things to try to find out the reason for everything, BSB BSB: “Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.
28 ARST and I continued to try to learn more, but I could not find all that I was searching for. But one thing that I found out was that among one thousand people I found one righteous man, but I did not find even one righteous woman. BSB BSB: While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.
29 ARST I have learned only this: That when God created people, they were righteous, but they have found many ways to complicate their own lives. BSB BSB: Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.