Ecclesiastes 7:26
BSB · Public Domain (CC0)“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.”
A short, plain-language explanation of Ecclesiastes 7:26 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.
“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.”
Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)“And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.”
King James Version · Public Domain“And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.”
American Standard Version · Public Domain“And I am finding more bitter than death, the woman whose heart <FI>is<Fi> nets and snares, her hands <FI>are<Fi> bands; the good before God escapeth from her, but the sinner is captured by her.”
Young's Literal Translation · Public DomainOther passages that echo Ecclesiastes 7:26 — 15 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Genesis 19:35So again that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.
- Genesis 39:9No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”
- Judges 16:18When Delilah realized that he had revealed to her all that was in his heart, she sent this message to the lords of the Philistines: “Come up once more, for he has revealed to me all that is in his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came to her, bringing the money in their hands.
- Judges 16:19And having lulled him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his head. In this way she began to subdue him, and his strength left him.
- Proverbs 2:16It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
- Proverbs 2:18For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits.
- Proverbs 2:19None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.
- Proverbs 5:3Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
- Proverbs 5:5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.
- Proverbs 7:21With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.
- Proverbs 9:18But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
- Proverbs 22:14The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
- Proverbs 23:27For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.
- Proverbs 23:28Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.
- Ecclesiastes 2:26To 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.
Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).