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Words of the teacher, Son of David

The Value of Practical Wisdom​

Ecc 7

1 A good name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;

2 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 take it to heart.

3 [a]Sorrow is better than laughter,
For by a sad countenance the heart is made [b]better.

4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

5 It is better to [c]hear the rebuke of the wise
Than for a man to hear the song of fools.

6 For like the [d]crackling of thorns under a pot,
So is the laughter of the fool.
This also is vanity.

7 Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason,
And a bribe [e]debases the heart.

8 The end of a thing is better than its beginning;
The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

9 Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.

10 Do not say,
“Why were the former days better than these?”
For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
And profitable to those who see the sun.

12 For wisdom is [f]a defense as money is a defense,

But the [g]excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.

13 Consider the work of God;
For who can make straight what He has made crooked?

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful,
But in the day of adversity consider:

Surely God has appointed the one [h]as well as the other,
So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.

15 I have seen everything in my days of vanity:

There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness,
And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.

16 Do not be overly righteous,
Nor be overly wise:

Why should you destroy yourself?

17 Do not be overly wicked,
Nor be foolish:

Why should you die before your time?

18 It is good that you grasp this,
And also not remove your hand from the other;

For he who fears God will [i]escape them all.

19 Wisdom strengthens the wise
More than ten rulers of the city.

20 For there is not a just man on earth who does good
And does not sin.

21 Also do not take to heart everything people say,
Lest you hear your servant cursing you.

22 For many times, also, your own heart has known
That even you have cursed others.

23 All this I have [j]proved by wisdom.
I said, “I will be wise”;

But it was far from me.

24 As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep,
Who can find it out?

25 I applied my heart to know,
To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things,
To know the wickedness of folly,
Even of foolishness and madness.

26 And I find more bitter than death
The woman whose heart is snares and nets,
Whose hands are fetters.

[k]He who pleases God shall escape from her,
But the sinner shall be trapped by her.

27 “Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher,
“Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,

28 Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find:
One man among a thousand I have found,
But a woman among all these I have not found.

29 Truly, this only I have found:
That God made man upright,
But they have sought out many schemes.”
 
Only 4 more chapters to go

“How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things.

Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness.

Obey the king since you vowed to God that you would.

Don’t try to avoid doing your duty, and don’t stand with those who plot evil, for the king can do whatever he wants. His command is backed by great power.

No one can resist or question it.

Those who obey him will not be punished.

Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right, for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble. Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen?

None of us can hold back our spirit from departing.

None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death.

There is no escaping that obligation, that dark battle.

And in the face of death, wickedness will certainly not rescue the wicked.

I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other. I have seen wicked people buried with honor.

Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless.

When a crime is not punished
quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.

But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time,

I know that those who fear God will be better off.

The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God.

Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.

And this is not all that is meaningless in our world.

In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless!

So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life.

That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun. In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night.

I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun.

Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭8:1-17‬ ‭NLT‬‬
 

Death Comes to All​

9

For I [a]considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them.

2 All things come alike to all:

One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;

To the [b]good, the clean, and the unclean;
To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.

As is the good, so is the sinner;
He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.


3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all.

Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil;

madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

4 But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

5 For the living know that they will die;
But the dead know nothing,

And they have no more reward,
For the memory of them is forgotten.


6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.

7 Go, eat your bread with joy,
And drink your wine with a merry heart;
For God has already accepted your works.

8 Let your garments always be white,
And let your head lack no oil.

9 [c]Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity;

for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.

10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

11 I returned and saw under the sun that—

The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;

But time and chance happen to them all.

12 For man also does not know his time:
Like fish taken in a cruel net,
Like birds caught in a snare,

So the sons of men are snared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them.

Wisdom Superior to Folly​

13 This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me:

14 There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great [d]snares around it.

15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

16 Then I said:

“Wisdom is better than strength.
Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised,
And his words are not heard.

17 Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard
Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war;
But one sinner destroys much good.”
 

Ecclesiastes 10

New International Version

​

10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of the fool to the left.

3 Even as fools walk along the road,
they lack sense
and show everyone how stupid they are.

4 If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
do not leave your post;
calmness can lay great offenses to rest.

5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
the sort of error that arises from a ruler:

6 Fools are put in many high positions,
while the rich occupy the low ones.

7 I have seen slaves on horseback,
while princes go on foot like slaves.

8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;
whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.

10 If the ax is dull
and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed,
but skill will bring success.

11 If a snake bites before it is charmed,
the charmer receives no fee.

12 Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,
but fools are consumed by their own lips.

13 At the beginning their words are folly;
at the end they are wicked madness—

14 and fools multiply words.
No one knows what is coming—
who can tell someone else what will happen after them?


15 The toil of fools wearies them;
they do not know the way to town.


16 Woe to the land whose king was a servant[a]
and whose princes feast in the morning.


17 Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
and whose princes eat at a proper time—
for strength and not for drunkenness.


18 Through laziness, the rafters sag;
because of idle hands, the house leaks.


19 A feast is made for laughter,
wine makes life merry,
and money is the answer for everything.


20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts,
or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
and a bird on the wing may report what you say.
 
There are twelve chapters in the book of Ecclesiastes. The OP was cut off, two chapters short of posting the entire book.

“The number 12 is one of the foundations of Scripture. The word ‘twelve’ recorded 189 times in the King James translation, is found the most in 1 Chronicles (26 times) followed by Revelation (22). The word ‘twelfth’ is found an additional 23 times. The meaning of 12 is that it symbolizes God’s power and authority, as well as serving as a perfect governmental foundation. It can also symbolize completeness or the nation of Israel as a whole.”

Meaning of the Number 12 in the Bible

Why does the number 12 represent a perfect governmental foundation? Who were the twelve patriarchs from Shem to Jacob?
www.biblestudy.org
 
Mattathias said:
There are twelve chapters in the book of Ecclesiastes. The OP was cut off, two chapters short of posting the entire book.

“The number 12 is one of the foundations of Scripture. The word ‘twelve’ recorded 189 times in the King James translation, is found the most in 1 Chronicles (26 times) followed by Revelation (22). The word ‘twelfth’ is found an additional 23 times. The meaning of 12 is that it symbolizes God’s power and authority, as well as serving as a perfect governmental foundation. It can also symbolize completeness or the nation of Israel as a whole.”

Meaning of the Number 12 in the Bible

Why does the number 12 represent a perfect governmental foundation? Who were the twelve patriarchs from Shem to Jacob?
www.biblestudy.org
Click to expand...

It's really interesting. Jacob became the father of 12 tribes. Before him, Ishmael became the father of 12 princes. Jesus had 12 disciples. 12 gates, 12 foundations, 12 stones, 12 kinds of fruit on the tree of life, and so on.
 
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