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7:1  A good name is better than expensive perfume, and the day you die is better than the day you're born.
7:2  It is better to go to a funeral than to a banquet because that is where everyone will end up. Everyone who is alive should take this to heart!
7:3  Sorrow is better than laughter because, in spite of a sad face, the heart can be joyful.
7:4  The minds of wise people think about funerals, but the minds of fools think about banquets.
7:5  It is better to listen to wise people who reprimand you than to fools who sing your praises.
7:6  The laughter of a fool is like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot. Even this is pointless.
7:7  Oppression can turn a wise person into a fool, and a bribe can corrupt the mind.
7:8  The end of something is better than its beginning. It is better to be patient than arrogant.
7:9  Don't be quick to get angry, because anger is typical of fools.
7:10  Don't ask, "Why were things better in the old days than they are now?" It isn't wisdom that leads you to ask this!
7:11  Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. It is an advantage to everyone who sees the sun.
7:12  Wisdom protects us just as money protects us, but the advantage of wisdom is that it gives life to those who have it.
7:13  Consider what God has done! Who can straighten what God has bent?
7:14  When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one time as well as the other so that mortals cannot predict their future.
7:15  I have seen it all in my pointless life: Righteous people die in spite of being righteous. Wicked people go on living in spite of being wicked.
7:16  Don't be too virtuous, and don't be too wise. Why make yourself miserable?
7:17  Don't be too wicked, and don't be a fool. Why should you die before your time is up?
7:18  It's good to hold on to the one and not let go of the other, because the one who fears God will be able to avoid both extremes.
7:19  Wisdom will help a wise person more than ten rulers can help a city.
7:20  Certainly, there is no one so righteous on earth that he always does what is good and never sins.
7:21  Don't take everything that people say to heart, or you may hear your own servant cursing you.
7:22  Your conscience knows that you have cursed others many times.
7:23  I used wisdom to test all of this. I said, "I want to be wise, but it is out of my reach."
7:24  Whatever wisdom may be, it is out of reach. It is deep, very deep. Who can find out what it is?
7:25  I turned my attention to study, to explore, and to seek out wisdom and the reason for things. I learned that wickedness is stupid and foolishness is madness.
7:26  I find that a woman whose thoughts are [like] traps and snares is more bitter than death itself. Even her hands are [like] chains. Whoever pleases God will escape her, but she will catch whoever continues to sin.
7:27  The spokesman said, "This is what I've found: I added one thing to another in order to find a reason for things.
7:28  I am still seeking a reason for things, but have not found any. I found one man out of a thousand who had it, but out of all these I didn't find one woman.
7:29  I have found only this: God made people decent, but they looked for many ways [to avoid being decent]."