11. Everyone who lives ought to be wise; it is as good as receiving an inheritance
12. and will give you as much security as money can. Wisdom keeps you safe — this is the advantage of knowledge.
13. Think about what God has done. How can anyone straighten out what God has made crooked?
14. When things are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next.
15. My life has been useless, but in it I have seen everything. Some good people may die while others live on, even though they are evil.
16. So don't be too good or too wise — why kill yourself?
17. But don't be too wicked or too foolish, either — why die before you have to?
18. Avoid both extremes. If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway.
19. Wisdom does more for a person than ten rulers can do for a city.
20. There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake.
21. Don't pay attention to everything people say — you may hear your servant insulting you,
22. and you know yourself that you have insulted other people many times.
23. I used my wisdom to test all of this. I was determined to be wise, but it was beyond me.
24. How can anyone discover what life means? It is too deep for us, too hard to understand.
25. But I devoted myself to knowledge and study; I was determined to find wisdom and the answers to my questions, and to learn how wicked and foolish stupidity is.