1  ^hA good name is better than precious ointment,

and ⁱthe day of death than the day of birth.

2  It is better to go to the house of mourning

than to go to the house of feasting,

for this is the end of all mankind,

and the living will ^jlay it to heart.

3  Sorrow is better than laughter,

^kfor by sadness of face the heart is made glad.

4  The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

5  It is ^lbetter for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise

than to hear the song of fools.

6  ^mFor as the crackling of ⁿthorns under a pot,

so is the laughter of the fools;

this also is vanity.¹

7  Surely ^ooppression drives the wise into madness,

and ^pa bribe corrupts the heart.

8  Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,

and ^qthe patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

9  ^rBe not quick in your spirit to become angry,

^sfor anger lodges in the heart² of fools.

10  Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”

For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

11  Wisdom is good with an inheritance,

an advantage to those who ^tsee the sun.

12  For the protection of wisdom is like ^uthe protection of money,

and the advantage of knowledge is that ^vwisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

13  Consider ^wthe work of God:

^xwho can make straight what he has made crooked?