Ecclesiastes 7:7

¶ Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad: and a gift destroyeth the heart.
- King James Version (1611) - View 1611 Bible Scan

For oppression makes a wise man mad, And a bribe corrupts the heart.
- New American Standard Version (1995)

Surely extortion maketh the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroyeth the understanding.
- American Standard Version (1901)

The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.
- Basic English Bible

Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
- Berean Standard Bible Bible

Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad, and a gift destroyeth the heart.
- Darby Bible

For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.
- Douay-Rheims Bible

Surely extortion maketh a wise man foolish; and a gift destroyeth the understanding.
- English Revised Version

Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding.
- World English Bible

Wesley's Notes for Ecclesiastes 7:7

7:7 A gift - A bribe given to a wise man, deprives him of the use of his understanding. So this verse discovers two ways whereby a wise man may be made mad, by suffering oppression from others, or by receiving bribes to oppress others. And this also is an argument of the vanity of worldly wisdom that is so easily corrupted and lost.