Ecc 7:1-6 | ESV | STEP | A good name is better than precious ointment , and the day of death than the day of birth .

Ecclesiastes 7:1-6

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

1 ^aA good name is better than precious ointment,
and ^bthe 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 ^clay it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
^dfor 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 ^ebetter for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
6 ^fFor as the crackling of ^gthorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity. ^{▼▼The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)}