Ecclesiastes 7:4-7

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

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 _l better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
⁶ _m For as the crackling of _n thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.
⁷ Surely _o oppression drives the wise into madness,
and _p a bribe corrupts the heart.

1. Cross References
   Proverbs 13:18
   Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honored.
   Proverbs 15:31 - 32
   The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
   Psalms 141:5
   Let a righteous man strike me - it is a kindness; let him rebuke me - it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it. Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
   
2. Cross References
   Joel 2:5
   As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle.
   
3. Cross References
   Psalms 58:9
   Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
   Psalms 118:12
   They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
   
4. Cross References
   Ecclesiastes 4:1
   Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.
   
5. Cross References
   Deuteronomy 16:19
   You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.
   Proverbs 17:8
   A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns he prospers.