Ecclesiastes · Biblica Open New Living Bible (Nueva Biblia Viva 2008)
Ecclesiastes 7 Biblica Open New Living Bible (Nueva Biblia Viva 2008)
Audio: Reina-Valera Antigua (RVA), read by Joyfull · About the recordings
ONBV Biblica Open New Living Bible (Nueva Biblia Viva 2008)
WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
1 La buena fama es más valiosa que el perfume más caro. Mejor es el día de nuestra muerte que el día que nacimos.
1 A good name is better than fine perfume; and the day of death better than the day of one’s birth.
2 Más vale gastar el tiempo en funerales que en festivales. Porque la muerte te espera y es bueno pensar en ello mientras te quede tiempo.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of all men, and the living should take this to heart.
3 Mejor es el dolor que la risa, porque la tristeza ejerce una influencia purificadora.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the face the heart is made good.
4 El sabio piensa mucho en la muerte, mientras que el necio sólo piensa en divertirse hoy.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 Mejor es la censura del sabio que la alabanza del necio.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 Porque la adulación del necio se desvanece tan pronto como el papel en el fuego, y es tonto dejar que nos impresione.
6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.
7 El soborno entorpece al sabio; le destruye el entendimiento.
7 Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding.
8 Mejor es terminar que comenzar. La paciencia es mejor que el orgullo.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 No te dejes llevar por la ira, porque eso es necedad.
9 Don’t be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10 No digas: «todo tiempo pasado fue mejor», pues no sabes si en verdad lo fue.
10 Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not ask wisely about this.
11 Tan bueno es ser sabio como ser rico; en realidad, es mejor.
11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.
12 Todo se puede obtener con sabiduría o con dinero, pero en la sabiduría hay muchas ventajas.
12 For wisdom is a defense, even as money is a defense; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 Observa los métodos de Dios, y ponte en armonía con ellos. No vayas en contra de la naturaleza.
13 Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight which he has made crooked?
14 Disfruta de los buenos tiempos siempre que puedas, y cuando lleguen los malos tiempos, reconoce que unos y otros proceden de Dios, para que todos se den cuenta de que no hay nada seguro en esta vida.
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him.
15 He visto de todo en esta loca vida, inclusive que a los justos los destruye su justicia y los malvados disfrutan de larga vida. No seas, pues, ni demasiado bueno ni demasiado sabio. ¿Para qué vas a matarte? Por otra parte, no seas tampoco demasiado malo: ¡no seas necio! ¿Para qué morir antes de tiempo?
15 All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing.
16 Not in this translation
16 Don’t be overly righteous, neither make yourself overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?
17 Not in this translation
17 Don’t be too wicked, neither be foolish. Why should you die before your time?
18 Pon manos a la obra que te corresponda, y si temes a Dios puedes confiar en sus bendiciones.
18 It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also don’t withdraw your hand from that; for he who fears God will come out of them all.
19 Un sabio tiene más poder que los alcaldes de diez grandes ciudades.
19 Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
20 Y no hay en toda la tierra un ser humano que sea siempre bueno y no peque jamás.
20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and doesn’t sin.
21 No escuches a hurtadillas. Podrías oír a tu siervo murmurando de ti. Bien sabes cuán a menudo hablas tú mal del prójimo.
21 Also don’t take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you;
22 Not in this translation
22 for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others.
23 He hecho lo posible por ser sabio. Dije: «Yo quiero ser sabio», pero fue inútil.
23 All this I have proved in wisdom. I said, “I will be wise;” but it was far from me.
24 Lejana y difícil de hallar es la sabiduría.
24 That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out?
25 Investigué por doquier resuelto a hallar sabiduría y la razón de las cosas, y a comprobar que la insensatez es maldad y la necedad locura.
25 I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.
26 Pero más amarga que la muerte es aquella mujer que es una trampa, que por corazón tiene una red y por brazos cadenas. Quien agrada a Dios se librará de ella, pero los pecadores no huyen de sus lazos.
26 I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be ensnared by her.
27 A esta conclusión llego, dice el Predicador. Paso tras paso llegué a este resultado tras investigar en todas direcciones: de mil hombres, uno podía tenerse por sabio; y de las mujeres, ninguna.
27 “Behold, I have found this,” says the Preacher, “to one another, to find an explanation
28 Not in this translation
28 which my soul still seeks, but I have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all those.
29 Y descubrí que si bien Dios hizo íntegros a los hombres, cada cual se apartó para ir por su camino cuesta abajo.
29 Behold, I have only found this: that God made mankind upright; but they search for many inventions.”
Cross references (25)
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
- 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
- 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
- 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)