Ecclesiastes 7:19-29

Wisdom Needed Because No One is Truly Righteous

7:19 Wisdom gives a wise person more protection

than ten rulers in a city.

7:20 For there is not one truly righteous person on the earth

who continually does good and never sins.

7:21 Also, do not pay attention to everything that people say;

otherwise, you might even hear your servant cursing you.

7:22 For you know in your own heart

that you also have cursed others many times.

Human Wisdom is Limited

7:23 I have examined all this by wisdom;

I said, “I am determined to comprehend this” – but it was beyond my grasp.

7:24 Whatever has happened is beyond human understanding;

it is far deeper than anyone can fathom.

True Righteousness and Wisdom are Virtually Nonexistent

7:25 I tried to understand, examine, and comprehend

the role of wisdom in the scheme of things,

and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the insanity of folly.

7:26 I discovered this:

More bitter than death is the kind of woman who is like a hunter’s snare;

her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains.

The man who pleases God escapes her,

but the sinner is captured by her.

7:27 The Teacher says:

I discovered this while trying to discover the scheme of things, item by item.

7:28 What I have continually sought, I have not found;

I have found only one upright man among a thousand,

but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.

7:29 This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright,

but they have sought many evil schemes.