Ecclesiastes 7

Reading Ecclesiastes chapter 7 in the Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible, public-domain text from 1899.

Verses 1–10

1 What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he knoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun?

2 A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

3 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all, and the living thinketh what is to come.

4 Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.

5 The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth.

6 It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools.

7 For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.

8 Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart.

9 Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the patient man than the presumptuous.

10 Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.

Ecclesiastes in other translations

• KJV Ecclesiastes
• ASV Ecclesiastes
• Darby Ecclesiastes
• WEB Ecclesiastes
• Webster Ecclesiastes
• YLT Ecclesiastes

About this translation

The Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible (1899) is one of seven public-domain translations available in the OCC Bible Explorer. Use the full app to compare translations side by side, search across all translations, and explore Strong's Hebrew and Greek concordance entries linked to every word.