1You will be happiest

if you keep from sinning

and saying stupid things,

2and if you have no reason

to feel guilty

and have not given up hope.

* 3What's the use of being rich

if you don't enjoy

spending money on yourself?

4Are you just saving it

so others can live in luxury

after you are dead and gone?

5Those who refuse to enjoy

a few things money can buy,

probably won't give much

to someone in need.

6They spend nothing,

and punish themselves

with the greatest misery.

* 7If they do a good deed,

it is only by accident,

and the end of their life

shows how evil they were:

8they pretended not to notice

others in need;

9they were never happy

with their own fair share;

and by taking

what belonged to others,

their souls shriveled away.

10They wouldn't even give

their families enough to eat!

11Be good to yourself

according to what you have

and be generous in your giving

to the Lord.

12You cannot know the time

for you to die,

and when it arrives,

death will not wait,

13so now is the time

to help your friends

with generous gifts.

14Every day, you should enjoy

the good things you want,

15because after you are gone,

others will divide up everything

you worked so hard to get.

16Give and accept gifts,

and treat yourself well,

because there is nothing good

in the world of the dead.

17Every living creature wears out

like old clothes

and obeys the ancient law

that says, "You will die."

18Generations pass away,

and others are born

to take their place,

just as new leaves

on a tall tree

replace those that fall.

19Everything you ever made

will someday turn to dust,

then even the memory of you

will disappear.

Search for Wisdom

20 Wisdom always blesses those

who learn how to reason

by thinking about her.

21They consider

what Wisdom has done

and the secrets she knows.

22They wait for her

like hunters along a path,

then they follow her 23home,

where they peek

through the windows

and listen at the door.

* 24They set up camp

so close to her house,

that their tent pegs

are hammered into its walls.

25There is no better place to live

than in her home--

26like a shade tree, she protects

the children of her followers

27from the heat,

and they live in a place

of great beauty.