Ecclesiastes 7:2

People Generally Do Not Know What Is Best For Them

¹ A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.
² It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
since that is the end of all mankind,
and the living should take it to heart.
³ Grief is better than laughter,
for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.

Take It to Heart

Psalm 90:12

Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

Genesis 48:1-22

Some time after this, Joseph was told, “Your father is weaker.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Genesis 49:2-33

Come together and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to your father Israel:

Genesis 50:15-17

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said to one another, “If Joseph is holding a grudge against us, he will certainly repay us for all the suffering we caused him.”

Numbers 23:10

Who has counted the dust of Jacob
or numbered the dust clouds of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright;
let the end of my life be like theirs.

Deuteronomy 32:29

If only they were wise, they would figure it out;
they would understand their fate.

Deuteronomy 32:46

he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I am giving as a warning to you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.

Job 1:4-5

His sons used to take turns having banquets at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

Isaiah 5:11-12

Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of beer,
who linger into the evening,
inflamed by wine.

Isaiah 22:12-14

On that day the Lord God of Hosts
called for weeping, for wailing, for shaven heads,
and for the wearing of sackcloth.

Isaiah 47:7

You said, ‘I will be the mistress forever.’
You did not take these things to heart
or think about their outcome.

Amos 6:3-6

You dismiss any thought of the evil day
and bring in a reign of violence.

Haggai 1:5

Now, the Lord of Hosts says this: “Think carefully about your ways:

Malachi 2:2

If you don’t listen, and if you don’t take it to heart to honor My name,” says Yahweh of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. In fact, I have already begun to curse them because you are not taking it to heart.

Matthew 5:4

Those who mourn are blessed,
for they will be comforted.

Matthew 14:6-12

But when Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before them and pleased Herod.

Romans 6:21-22

So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.

Philippians 3:19

Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things,

Hebrews 9:27

And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—

1 Peter 4:3-4

For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the pagans choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry.