Ecclesiastes · Bible in Basic English
Ecclesiastes 7 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 A good name is better than oil of great price, and the day of death than the day of birth.
1 MEJOR es la [buena] fama que el buen ungüento; y el día de la muerte que el día del nacimiento.
2 It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.
2 Mejor es ir á la casa del luto que á la casa del convite: porque aquello es el fin de todos los hombres; y el que vive parará mientes.
3 Sorrow is better than joy; when the face is sad the mind gets better.
3 Mejor es el enojo que la risa: porque con la tristeza del rostro se enmendará el corazón.
4 The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.
4 El corazón de los sabios, en la casa del luto; mas el corazón de los insensatos, en la casa del placer.
5 It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.
5 Mejor es oir la reprensión del sabio, que la canción de los necios.
6 Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.
6 Porque la risa del necio es como el estrépito de las espinas debajo de la olla. Y también esto es vanidad.
7 The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.
7 Ciertamente la opresión hace enloquecer al sabio: y el presente corrompe el corazón.
8 The end of a thing is better than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride.
8 Mejor es el fin del negocio que su principio: mejor es el sufrido de espíritu que el altivo de espíritu.
9 Be not quick to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.
9 No te apresures en tu espíritu á enojarte: porque la ira en el seno de los necios reposa.
10 Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.
10 Nunca digas: ¿Qué es la causa que los tiempos pasados fueron mejores que éstos? Porque nunca de esto preguntarás con sabiduría.
11 Wisdom together with a heritage is good, and a profit to those who see the sun.
11 Buena es la ciencia con herencia; y más á los que ven el sol.
12 Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.
12 Porque escudo es la ciencia, y escudo es el dinero: mas la sabiduría excede en que da vida á sus poseedores.
13 Give thought to the work of God. Who will make straight what he has made bent?
13 Mira la obra de Dios; porque ¿quién podrá enderezar lo que él torció?
14 In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.
14 En el día del bien goza del bien; y en el día del mal considera. Dios también hizo esto delante de lo otro, porque el hombre no halle nada tras de él.
15 These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.
15 Todo esto he visto en los días de mi vanidad. Justo hay que perece por su justicia, y hay impío que por su maldad alarga [sus días].
16 Be not given overmuch to righteousness and be not over-wise. Why let destruction come on you?
16 No seas demasiado justo, ni seas sabio con exceso: ¿por qué te destruirás?
17 Be not evil overmuch, and be not foolish. Why come to your end before your time?
17 No hagas mal mucho, ni seas insensato: ¿por qué morirás antes de tu tiempo?
18 It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.
18 Bueno es que tomes esto, y también de estotro no apartes tu mano; porque el que á Dios teme, saldrá con todo.
19 Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.
19 La sabiduría fortifica al sabio más que diez poderosos la ciudad en que fueron.
20 There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does good and is free from sin all his days.
20 Ciertamente no hay hombre justo en la tierra, que haga bien y nunca peque.
21 Do not give ear to all the words which men say, for fear of hearing the curses of your servant.
21 Tampoco apliques tu corazón á todas las cosas que se hablaren, porque no oigas á tu siervo que dice mal de ti:
22 Your heart has knowledge how frequently others have been cursed by you.
22 Porque tu corazón sabe, como tú también dijiste mal de otros muchas veces.
23 All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.
23 Todas estas cosas probé con sabiduría, diciendo: Hacerme he sabio: mas ella se alejó de mí.
24 Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?
24 Lejos está lo que fué; y lo muy profundo ¿quién lo hallará?
25 I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.
25 Yo he rodeado con mi corazón por saber, y examinar, é inquirir la sabiduría, y la razón; y por conocer la maldad de la insensatez, y el desvarío del error;
26 And I saw a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.
26 Y yo he hallado más amarga que la muerte la mujer, la cual es redes, y lazos su corazón; sus manos [como] ligaduras. El que agrada á Dios escapará de ella; mas el pecador será preso en ella.
27 Look! this I have seen, said the Preacher, taking one thing after another to get the true account,
27 He aquí, esto he hallado, dice el Predicador, [pesando] las cosas una por una para hallar la razón;
28 For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.
28 Lo que aun busca mi alma, y no encuentro: un hombre entre mil he hallado; mas mujer de todas éstas nunca hallé.
29 This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they have been searching out all sorts of inventions.
29 He aquí, solamente he hallado esto: que Dios hizo al hombre recto, mas ellos buscaron muchas cuentas.
Cross references (29)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Revelation 14:13; Proverbs 22:1; Ecclesiastes 4:2; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:21–23
- 2 Psalm 90:12; Hebrews 9:27; Deuteronomy 32:29; Deuteronomy 32:46; Philippians 3:19
- 3 2 Corinthians 7:9–11; Romans 5:3–4; James 4:8–10; John 16:20–22; Hebrews 12:10–11
- 4 Matthew 8:14–16; Luke 7:12–13; 1 Samuel 25:36; Nehemiah 2:2–5; Jeremiah 51:39
- 5 Proverbs 15:31–32; Psalm 141:5; Revelation 3:19; Proverbs 13:18; Proverbs 17:10
- 6 Psalm 58:9; Psalm 118:12; Ecclesiastes 2:2; Luke 6:25; Jude 12–13
- 7 Deuteronomy 16:19; Exodus 23:8; Proverbs 17:23; Ecclesiastes 4:1; Isaiah 1:23
- 8 Hebrews 10:36; Psalm 126:5–6; Proverbs 14:29; 1 Peter 1:13; James 5:11
- 9 James 1:19; Proverbs 14:17; Proverbs 16:32; Ephesians 4:26–27; Proverbs 26:23–26
- 10 Psalm 14:2–3; Genesis 6:11–12; Romans 1:22–32; Isaiah 50:1; Judges 6:13
- 11 Ecclesiastes 11:7; 1 Timothy 6:17–19; Proverbs 8:10–11; Ecclesiastes 2:13; Ecclesiastes 9:15–18
- 12 Proverbs 8:35; Proverbs 2:7; Proverbs 3:18; Proverbs 11:4; Judges 9:15
- 13 Ecclesiastes 1:15; Job 12:14; Psalm 107:43; Isaiah 14:27; Ecclesiastes 3:11
- 14 Ecclesiastes 3:4; Ecclesiastes 3:22; Deuteronomy 8:3; Ecclesiastes 12:13; James 5:13
- 15 Ecclesiastes 8:12–14; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Psalm 73:3–13; Matthew 23:34–35; Ecclesiastes 9:1–2
- 16 Romans 12:3; Proverbs 25:16; Colossians 2:18; James 3:13–17; Matthew 6:1–7
- 17 Proverbs 10:27; Job 22:16; Psalm 55:23; Acts 12:23; Acts 5:10
- 18 Ecclesiastes 12:13; Ecclesiastes 11:6; Malachi 4:2; Ecclesiastes 8:12; Luke 1:50
- 19 Proverbs 21:22; Colossians 1:9–11; Ecclesiastes 9:13–18; Proverbs 24:5; 2 Samuel 20:16–22
- 20 Romans 3:23; Isaiah 53:6; 1 John 1:8–10; James 3:2; Proverbs 20:9
- 21 Proverbs 30:10; Isaiah 29:21; 2 Samuel 16:10; 2 Samuel 19:19; 1 Corinthians 13:5–7
- 22 James 3:9; Matthew 15:19; Matthew 18:32–35; 1 Kings 2:44; John 8:7–9
- 23 Romans 1:22; 1 Corinthians 1:20; Genesis 3:5; 1 Kings 11:1–8; 1 Kings 3:11–12
- 24 Romans 11:33; Isaiah 55:8–9; 1 Timothy 6:16; Psalm 139:6; Job 28:28
- 25 Ecclesiastes 10:13; Joshua 7:13; Ecclesiastes 2:15; Proverbs 17:12; Ecclesiastes 3:16–17
- 26 Proverbs 22:14; Proverbs 5:3–5; Proverbs 2:16; Proverbs 2:18–19; Ecclesiastes 2:26
- 27 Ecclesiastes 12:8–10; Ecclesiastes 1:1–2
- 28 Job 33:23; Psalm 12:1; 1 Kings 11:1–3; Isaiah 26:9; Ecclesiastes 7:23–24
- 29 Jeremiah 4:22; Genesis 6:11–12; Mark 7:8–9; Titus 3:3; Genesis 5:1
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… about eating and drinking, which he often repeats, and very much commends, does not savor the dainties of carnal pleasures, is made plain enough when he says, "It is better to go into the house of mourning than to go into the house of feasting." And a little after He says, "The heart of the wise is in the house …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
For God, according to the Preacher, made man upright, and they have themselves sought out many inventions.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… is better to go into the house of mourning than to go into the house of feasting." And a little after He says, "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, and the heart of the simple in the house of feasting." But I think that more worthy of quotation from this book which relates to both …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)