1Better [is] a name than good perfume, And the day of death than the day of birth.
2Better to go unto a house of mourning, Than to go unto a house of banqueting, For that is the end of all men, And the living layeth [it] unto his heart.
3Better [is] sorrow than laughter, For by the sadness of the face the heart becometh better.
4The heart of the wise [is] in a house of mourning, And the heart of fools in a house of mirth.
5Better to hear a rebuke of a wise man, Than [for] a man to hear a song of fools,
6For as the noise of thorns under the pot, So [is] the laughter of a fool, even this [is] vanity.
7Surely oppression maketh the wise mad, And a gift destroyeth the heart.