15. In my short life, I have seen everything. I have seen good people die young, and I have seen evil people live long lives.
16-17. So why ruin your life? Don’t be too good or too bad, and don’t be too wise or too foolish. Why should you die before your time?
18. Try to be a little of this and a little of that. Even God’s followers will do some good things and some bad things.
19-20. Surely there is no one on earth who always does good and never sins. But wisdom can make one person stronger than ten leaders in a city.
21. Don’t listen to everything people say. You might hear your own servant saying bad things about you.
22. And you know that many times you too have said bad things about other people.
23. I used my wisdom and thought about all these things. I wanted to be wise, but I couldn’t do it.
24. I cannot understand why things are as they are. It is too hard for anyone to understand.
25. I studied and I tried very hard to find true wisdom. I tried to find a reason for everything. I did learn that it is foolish to be evil, and it is crazy to act like a fool.
26. I also found that some women are dangerous like traps. Their hearts are like nets, and their arms are like chains. It is worse than death to be caught by these women. God’s followers should run away from them. Let the sinners be caught by them.
27-28. The Teacher says, “I added all this together to see what answer I could find. I am still looking for answers, but I did find this: I found one good man in a thousand. But I did not find even one good woman.
29. “There is one other thing I have learned. God made people good, but they have found many ways to be bad.”