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Ecclesiastes 7:10-21

Ecclesiastes 7:10-22 The Message (MSG)

Don’t always be asking, “Where are the good old days?” Wise folks don’t ask questions like that. Wisdom is better when it’s paired with money, Especially if you get both while you’re still living. Double protection: wisdom and wealth! Plus this bonus: Wisdom energizes its owner. Take a good look at God’s work. Who could simplify and reduce Creation’s curves and angles To a plain straight line? On a good day, enjoy yourself; On a bad day, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days So that we won’t take anything for granted. I’ve seen it all in my brief and pointless life—here a good person cut down in the middle of doing good, there a bad person living a long life of sheer evil. So don’t knock yourself out being good, and don’t go overboard being wise. Believe me, you won’t get anything out of it. But don’t press your luck by being bad, either. And don’t be reckless. Why die needlessly? It’s best to stay in touch with both sides of an issue. A person who fears God deals responsibly with all of reality, not just a piece of it. Wisdom puts more strength in one wise person Than ten strong men give to a city. There’s not one totally good person on earth, Not one who is truly pure and sinless. Don’t eavesdrop on the conversation of others. What if the gossip’s about you and you’d rather not hear it? You’ve done that a few times, haven’t you—said things Behind someone’s back you wouldn’t say to his face?

Ecclesiastes 7:10-21 Amplified Bible (AMP)

Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this. Wisdom along with an inheritance is good And an [excellent] advantage for those who see the sun. For wisdom is a protection even as money is a protection, But the [excellent] advantage of knowledge is that wisdom shields and preserves the lives of its possessors. Consider the work of God: Who can make straight what He has bent? In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider that God has made the one as well as the other, So that man will not find out anything that will be after him. I have seen everything during my [fleeting] days of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in [spite of] his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives a long life in [spite of] his wickedness. Do not be excessively righteous [like those given to self-conceit], and do not be overly wise (pretentious)—why should you bring yourself to ruin? Do not be excessively or willfully wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you take hold of one thing (righteousness) and also not let go of the other (wisdom); for the one who fears and worships God [with awe-filled reverence] will come forth with both of them. Wisdom strengthens the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. [Ps 127:1; 2 Tim 3:15] Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who always does good and who never sins. [Is 53:6; Rom 3:23] Also, do not take seriously everything that is said, so that you will not hear your servant cursing you