What Does the Bible Say?

For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

A foolish scheme is sin, and a mocker is detestable to men.

but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come upon them.

Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

A faithful man will abound with blessings, but one eager to be rich will not go unpunished.

An evil man is caught by his own sin, but a righteous one sings and rejoices.

a lion, mighty among beasts, refusing to retreat before anything;

and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.

To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”

For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.

Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.

Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.

And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?

Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.

It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

The words of the wise are like goads, and the anthologies of the masters are like firmly embedded nails driven by a single Shepherd.

The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.

Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.

The flowers have appeared in the countryside; the season of singing has come, and the cooing of turtledoves is heard in our land.