She is of more value than jewels, and nothing for which you may have a desire is fair in comparison with her.

Give ear, my sons, to the teaching of a father; give attention so that you may have knowledge:

And he gave me teaching, saying to me, Keep my words in your heart; keep my rules so that you may have life:

So that you may be ruled by a wise purpose, and your lips may keep knowledge.

For honey is dropping from the lips of the strange woman, and her mouth is smoother than oil;

For fear that you may give your honour to others, and your wealth to strange men:

Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain.

He will come to his end for need of teaching; he is so foolish that he will go wandering from the right way.

So that they may keep you from the strange woman, even from her whose words are smooth.

Like a bird falling into a net; with no thought that his life is in danger, till an arrow goes into his side.

For wisdom is better than jewels, and all things which may be desired are nothing in comparison with her.

My fruit is better than gold, even than the best gold; and my increase is more to be desired than silver.

So that I may give my lovers wealth for their heritage, making their store-houses full.

When he put a limit to the sea, so that the waters might not go against his word: when he put in position the bases of the earth:

But he does not see that the dead are there, that her guests are in the deep places of the underworld.

A man may give freely, and still his wealth will be increased; and another may keep back more than is right, but only comes to be in need.

He who is of low position and has a servant, is better than one who has a high opinion of himself and is in need of bread.

Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great wealth together with trouble.

Better is a simple meal where love is, than a fat ox and hate with it.

Better is a little with righteousness, than great wealth with wrongdoing.

How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! and to get knowledge is more to be desired than silver.

Better it is to have a gentle spirit with the poor, than to take part in the rewards of war with men of pride.

He who is slow to be angry is better than a man of war, and he who has control over his spirit than he who takes a town.

Better a bit of dry bread in peace, than a house full of feasting and violent behaviour.

A word of protest goes deeper into one who has sense than a hundred blows into a foolish man.

It is better to come face to face with a bear whose young ones have been taken away than with a foolish man acting foolishly.

How will money in the hand of the foolish get him wisdom, seeing that he has no sense?

There are friends who may be a man's destruction, but there is a lover who keeps nearer than a brother.

Better is the poor man whose ways are upright, than the man of wealth whose ways are twisted.

Let your ear be open to suggestion and take teaching, so that at the end you may be wise.

The ornament of a man is his mercy, and a poor man is better than one who is false.

To do what is right and true is more pleasing to the Lord than an offering.

It is better to be living in an angle of the house-top, than with a bitter-tongued woman in a wide house.

It is better to be living in a waste land, than with a bitter-tongued and angry woman.

A good name is more to be desired than great wealth, and to be respected is better than silver and gold.

So that your faith may be in the Lord, I have made them clear to you this day, even to you.

To make you see how certain are true words, so that you may give a true answer to those who put questions to you?

Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.

In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake.

For fear that the Lord may see it, and it may be evil in his eyes, and his wrath may be turned away from him.

Put your work in order outside, and make it ready in the field; and after that, see to the building of your house.

For it is better to have it said to you, Come up here; than for you to be put down in a lower place before the ruler.

If you have honey, take only as much as is enough for you; for fear that, being full of it, you may not be able to keep it down.

It is better to be living in an angle of the house-top, than with a bitter-tongued woman in a wide house.

Have you seen a man who seems to himself to be wise? There is more hope for the foolish than for him.

The hater of work seems to himself wiser than seven men who are able to give an answer with good sense.

A stone has great weight, and sand is crushing; but the wrath of the foolish is of greater weight than these.

Better is open protest than love kept secret.

Do not give up your friend and your father's friend; and do not go into your brother's house in the day of your trouble: better is a neighbour who is near than a brother far off.

My son, be wise and make my heart glad, so that I may give back an answer to him who puts me to shame.

Better is the poor man whose ways are upright, than the man of wealth whose ways are not straight.

He who is ever desiring wealth goes running after money, and does not see that need will come on him.

He who says words of protest to a man will later have more approval than one who says smooth words with his tongue.

Have you seen a man who is quick with his tongue? There is more hope for a foolish man than for him.

For I am more like a beast than any man, I have no power of reasoning like a man:

I have not got wisdom by teaching, so that I might have the knowledge of the Holy One.

For fear that if I am full, I may be false to you and say, Who is the Lord? or if I am poor, I may become a thief, using the name of my God wrongly.

Do not give your strength to women, or your ways to that which is the destruction of kings.

For fear that through drinking they may come to have no respect for the law, wrongly judging the cause of those who are in trouble.

Who may make discovery of a woman of virtue? For her price is much higher than jewels.

She sees that her marketing is of profit to her: her light does not go out by night.

Unnumbered women have done well, but you are better than all of them.

That which has been, is that which is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will be done, and there is no new thing under the sun.

That which is bent may not be made straight, and that which is not there may not be numbered.

I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem--yes, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.

And I gave my heart to getting knowledge of wisdom, and of the ways of the foolish. And I saw that this again was desire for wind.

I made a search with my heart to give pleasure to my flesh with wine, still guiding my heart with wisdom, and to go after foolish things, so that I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life.

I got men-servants and women-servants, and they gave birth to sons and daughters in my house. I had great wealth of herds and flocks, more than all who were in Jerusalem before me.

And I became great; increasing more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom was still with me.

Then I saw all the works which my hands had made, and everything I had been working to do; and I saw that all was to no purpose and desire for wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

Then I saw that wisdom is better than foolish ways--as the light is better than the dark.

The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.

Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!

And who is to say if that man will be wise or foolish? But he will have power over all my work which I have done and in which I have been wise under the sun. This again is to no purpose.

There is nothing better for a man than taking meat and drink, and having delight in his work. This again I saw was from the hand of God.

He has made everything right in its time; but he has made their hearts without knowledge, so that man is unable to see the works of God, from the first to the last.

I am certain that there is nothing better for a man than to be glad, and to do good while life is in him.

I am certain that whatever God does will be for ever. No addition may be made to it, nothing may be taken from it; and God has done it so that man may be in fear before him.

And again, I saw under the sun, in the place of the judges, that evil was there; and in the place of righteousness, that evil was there.

I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, so that God may put them to the test and that they may see themselves as beasts.

Because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beasts is the same. As is the death of one so is the death of the other, and all have one spirit. Man is not higher than the beasts; because all is to no purpose.

Who is certain that the spirit of the sons of men goes up to heaven, or that the spirit of the beasts goes down to the earth?

So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?

So my praise was for the dead who have gone to their death, more than for the living who still have life.

Yes, happier than the dead or the living seemed he who has not ever been, who has not seen the evil which is done under the sun.

And I saw that the cause of all the work and of everything which is done well was man's envy of his neighbour. This again is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

One hand full of rest is better than two hands full of trouble and desire for wind.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their work.

A young man who is poor and wise is better than a king who is old and foolish and will not be guided by the wisdom of others.

Put your feet down with care when you go to the house of God, for it is better to give ear than to make the burned offerings of the foolish, whose knowledge is only of doing evil.

It is better not to take an oath than to take an oath and not keep it.

Let not your mouth make your flesh do evil. And say not before the angel, It was an error. So that God may not be angry with your words and put an end to the work of your hands.

If you see the poor under a cruel yoke, and law and right being violently overturned in a country, be not surprised, because one authority is keeping watch on another and there are higher than they.

And this again is a great evil, that in all points as he came so will he go; and what profit has he in working for the wind?

This is what I have seen: it is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink and to have joy in all his work under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; that is his reward.

A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.

If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.

Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.

What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?

What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.