7:12 For wisdom provides 1 protection, 2
just as 3 money provides protection. 4
But the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves the life 5 of its owner.
7:13 Consider the work of God:
For who can make straight what he has bent?
7:14 In times of prosperity 6 be joyful,
but in times of adversity 7 consider this:
God has made one as well as the other, 8
so that no one can discover what the future holds. 9
7:15 During the days of my fleeting life 10 I have seen both 11 of these things:
Sometimes 12 a righteous person dies prematurely 13 in spite of 14 his righteousness,
and sometimes 15 a wicked person lives long 16 in spite of his evil deeds.
7:16 So do not be excessively righteous or excessively 17 wise; 18
otherwise 19 you might 20 be disappointed. 21
7:17 Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool;
otherwise 22 you might die before your time.
7:18 It is best to take hold of one warning 23 without letting go of the other warning; 24
for the one who fears God will follow 25 both warnings. 26
7:19 Wisdom gives a wise person more protection 27
than ten rulers in a city.
7:20 For 28 there is not one truly 29 righteous person on the earth
who continually does good and never sins.
7:21 Also, do not pay attention to everything that people 30 say;
otherwise, 31 you might even hear 32 your servant cursing you.
7:22 For you know in your own heart 33
that you also have cursed others many times.
7:23 I have examined all this by wisdom;
I said, “I am determined 34 to comprehend this” 35 – but it was beyond my grasp. 36
7:24 Whatever has happened is beyond human 37 understanding; 38
it is far deeper than anyone can fathom. 39
7:25 I tried 40 to understand, examine, and comprehend 41
the role of 42 wisdom in the scheme of things, 43
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness 44 and the insanity of folly. 45
7:26 I discovered this: 46
More bitter than death is the kind of 47 woman 48 who is like a hunter’s snare; 49
her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains.
The man who pleases God escapes her,
but the sinner is captured by her.
7:27 The Teacher says:
I discovered this while trying to discover the scheme of things, item by item.
7:28 What I have continually sought, I have not found;
I have found only 50 one upright 51 man among a thousand,
but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.
7:29 This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright,
but they have sought many evil schemes.