Ecclesiastes 7:15
13 Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?
14 In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.
In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
16 Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?
17 Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
- KJV
- All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.
- WEB
- 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.
- ASV
- All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth [his life] in his evil-doing.
- DARBY
- All [this] have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a righteous [man] that perisheth by his righteousness, and there is a wicked [man] that prolongeth [his days] by his wickedness.
- BLB
- All I have seen in the days of my vapor: There is a righteous one perishing in his righteousness, and there is a wicked one living long in his wickedness.
- ÅB
- Alt dette har jeg sett i mitt tomme liv: Mangen rettferdig går til grunne tross sin rettferdighet, og mangen ugudelig lever lenge tross sin ondskap.
- OTB
- I mitt flyktige liv har jeg sett begge deler: de rettferdige som går til grunne i sin rettferdighet, og de onde som lever lenge i sin ondskap.
- B1930
- Alt dette har jeg sett i mitt tomme liv: Mangen rettferdig går til grunne tross sin rettferdighet, og mangen ugudelig lever lenge tross sin ondskap.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Ecclesiastes 8:12–14
Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 6:12
For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
Read in contextPsalms 73:3–13
For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Read in contextMatthew 23:34–35
Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 9:1–2
So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 2:23
Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.
Read in context1 Kings 21:13
And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.
Read in contextGenesis 47:9
“My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”
Read in context