Ecclesiastes · 29 verses
Ecclesiastes 7
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The Teacher sets wisdom between two abysses: too much righteousness may destroy a man, while too much wickedness may kill him before his time.
Mourning has the better housevv. 1–6
The chapter opens by putting a good name above perfume and death above birth, then sends the living into the house of mourning rather than the house of feasting. Sorrow is called good for the heart, and the wise heart is found among mourners, while the fool’s laughter makes the brief, crackling noise of thorns under a pot.
Both warnings in handvv. 7–22
Extortion can make a wise man foolish, and a bribe can corrupt the heart; patience, meanwhile, is preferred to pride, and the end to the beginning. Prosperity and adversity stand together under God’s work, while the righteous may perish in righteousness and the wicked live long in wickedness. The Teacher therefore warns against becoming excessively righteous or excessively wicked, and wisdom appears as a shelter stronger than ten rulers in a city. There is no righteous man who never sins, so even a servant’s curse need not become a grand investigation.
The search reaches a strange accountingvv. 23–29
The Teacher resolved to be wise, tested everything by wisdom, and found the subject beyond him: what exists is out of reach and very deep. Searching for an explanation, he finds one upright man among a thousand, but no such woman among all these. The last discovery is less a neat answer than a crooked little conclusion: God made mankind upright, and mankind went looking for many schemes.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Eccl 7:1A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.
Eccl 7:2It 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.
Eccl 7:3Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.
Eccl 7:4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
Eccl 7:5It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.
Eccl 7:6For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.
Eccl 7:7Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
Eccl 7:8The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.
Eccl 7:9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
Eccl 7:10Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this.
Eccl 7:11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.
Eccl 7:12For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
Eccl 7:13Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?
Eccl 7:14In 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.
Eccl 7:15In 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.
Eccl 7:16Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?
Eccl 7:17Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
Eccl 7:18It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.
Eccl 7:19Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.
Eccl 7:20Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
Eccl 7:21Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.
Eccl 7:22For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
Eccl 7:23All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.
Eccl 7:24What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?
Eccl 7:25I 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.
Eccl 7:26And 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.
Eccl 7:27“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.
Eccl 7:28While 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.
Eccl 7:29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 379 passages were voted onto 29 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 8Hebrews 10:36You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.
- 20Romans 3:23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- 8Psalms 126:5–6Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.
- 20Isaiah 53:6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
- 8Proverbs 14:29A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
- 9James 1:19My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
- 81 Peter 1:13Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- 8James 5:11See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
- 201 John 1:8–10If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- 20James 3:2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
- 9Proverbs 14:17A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a devious man is hated.
- 20Proverbs 20:9Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?
- 1Revelation 14:13And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them.”
- 8James 5:8You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
- 8Proverbs 15:18A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
- 16Romans 12:3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.
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