1Having a good reputation [MTY] is better than fine perfume,
2It is better to go to a house where people are mourning about someone who has died
3It is better to be sad than to be always laughing,
4Wise people who go to where others are mourning think about the fact that some day they also will die,
5It is better to pay attention to someone who is wise rebuking you
6By listening to foolish people laughing
7When wise people say to others, “You must pay me a lot of money for me to protect you,”
8Finishing something is better than starting something,
9Do not quickly ◄lose your temper/react to things angrily►,
10Do not say, “Things were a lot better [RHQ] previously,”
11Being wise is better than inheriting valuable things;
12We are sometimes protected by being wise
13Think carefully about what God has done.
14When things are going well for you, be happy,
15During all the time that I have been alive I have seen a lot of [HYP] things that seem senseless.
16So do not think that you are very righteous
17If you do what is evil or do what is foolish,
18Continue to avoid doing what is evil and doing what is foolish;
19If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential
20There is no one in this world who always does what is right
21Do not pay attention [IDM] to everything that people say,
22You know that you have also cursed other people.
23I said to myself that I would use my wisdom to study all the things that I have written about,
24Wisdom seems to be far from me;
25But I decided to investigate things and
26One thing I learned was that ◄allowing a woman to seduce you/having sex with a woman to whom you are not married► is worse than dying.
27This is what I have learned:
28and I continued to try to learn more,
29But I did learn one thing: