19Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful

than ten rulers in a city.

20There is not a righteous man on earth

who does what is right and never sins.

21Do not pay attention to every word people say,

or you may hear your servant cursing you—

22for you know in your heart

that many times you yourself have cursed others.

23All this I tested by wisdom and I said,

“I am determined to be wise”—

but this was beyond me.

24Whatever wisdom may be,

it is far off and most profound—

who can discover it?

25So I turned my mind to understand,

to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things

and to understand the stupidity of wickedness

and the madness of folly.

26I find more bitter than death

the woman who is a snare,

whose heart is a trap

and whose hands are chains.

The man who pleases God will escape her,

but the sinner she will ensnare.

27“Look,” says the Teacher,^b “this is what I have discovered:

“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—

28while I was still searching

but not finding—

I found one [upright] man among a thousand,

but not one [upright] woman among them all.

29This only have I found:

God made mankind upright,

but men have gone in search of many schemes.”