21 Don't pay attention to everything people say. If you do, you might hear your servant calling down a curse on you.
22 Many times you yourself have called down curses on others. Deep down inside, you know that's true.
23 I used wisdom to put all of those things to the test. I said, "I've made up my mind to be wise." But it was more than I could accomplish.
24 No matter what else wisdom may be, it's far away and very deep. Who can find it?
25 So I tried to understand wisdom more completely. I wanted to study it and figure it out. I tried to find out everything I could about it. I tried to understand why it's foolish to be evil. I wanted to see why choosing foolishness is so unwise.
26 A woman who hunts a man down is more painful than death. Her heart is like a trap. Her hands are like chains. A man who pleases God will try to get away from her. But she will trap a sinner.
27 "Look," says the Teacher. "Here's what I've discovered. "I added one thing to another to find out everything I could about wisdom.