ECCLESIASTES Chapter 7 (GNB)
SERAPHIM
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7:1 A good
reputation is better than expensive perfume; and the day you die is better
than the day you are born. |
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7:2 It is better
to go to a home where there is mourning than to one where there is a party,
because the living should always remind themselves
that death is waiting for us all. |
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7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter; it may sadden your face,
but it sharpens your understanding. |
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7:4 Someone who is
always thinking about happiness is a fool. A wise person thinks about death. |
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7:5 It is better
to have wise people reprimand you than to have stupid people sing your
praises. |
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7:6 When a fool
laughs, it is like thorns crackling in a fire. It doesn't mean a thing. |
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7:7 You may be
wise, but if you cheat someone, you are acting like a fool. If you take a
bribe, you ruin your character. |
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7:8 The end of
something is better than its beginning. Patience is better than pride. |
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7:9 Keep your
temper under control; it is foolish to harbor a
grudge. |
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7:10 Never ask,
"Oh, why were things so much better in the old days?" It's not an
intelligent question. |
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7:11 Everyone who
lives ought to be wise; it is as good as receiving an inheritance |
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7:12 and will give
you as much security as money can. Wisdom keeps you safe---this is the
advantage of knowledge. |
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7:13 Think about
what God has done. How can anyone straighten out what God has made crooked? |
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7:14 When things
are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble
comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know
what is going to happen next. |
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7:15 My life has
been useless, but in it I have seen everything. Some good people may die
while others live on, even though they are evil. |
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7:16 So don't be
too good or too wise---why kill yourself ? |
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7:17 But don't be
too wicked or too foolish, either---why die before you have to? |
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7:18 Avoid both
extremes. If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway. |
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7:19 Wisdom does
more for a person than ten rulers can do for a city. |
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7:20 There is no
one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake. |
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7:21 Don't pay
attention to everything people say---you may hear your servant insulting you,
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7:22 and you know
yourself that you have insulted other people many times. |
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7:23 I used my
wisdom to test all of this. I was determined to be wise, but it was beyond
me. |
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7:24 How can anyone
discover what life means? It is too deep for us, too hard to understand. |
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7:25 But I devoted
myself to knowledge and study; I was determined to find wisdom and the
answers to my questions, and to learn how wicked and foolish stupidity is. |
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7:26 I found
something more bitter than death---the woman who is like a trap. The love she
offers you will catch you like a net, and her arms around you will hold you
like a chain. A man who pleases God can get away, but she will catch the
sinner. |
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7:27 Yes, said the
Philosopher, I found this out little by little while I was looking for
answers. |
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7:28 I have looked
for other answers but have found none. I found one man in a thousand that I
could respect, but not one woman. |
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7:29 This is all
that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves
very complicated. |
CHAPTER
ENDS
SERAPHIM
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