Ecclesiastes 7:23 (GNV)

Passage

Giue not thine heart also to all ye wordes that men speake, lest thou doe heare thy seruant cursing thee.

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 7:21 Wisedome shall strengthen the wise man more then ten mightie princes that are in ye citie.

Ecclesiastes 7:22 Surely there is no man iust in the earth, that doeth good and sinneth not.

Ecclesiastes 7:23 Giue not thine heart also to all ye wordes that men speake, lest thou doe heare thy seruant cursing thee.

Ecclesiastes 7:24 For often times also thine heart knoweth that thou likewise hast cursed others.

Ecclesiastes 7:25 All this haue I prooued by wisedome: I thought I will be wise, but it went farre from me.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "giue", "thine", "heart", "wordes", "speake", "lest", "thou", and "heare". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "giue" and "thine", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "Surely there is no man iust in..." into verse 24's "For often times also thine heart knoweth...", so "giue" and "thine" belong inside that flow. In Ecclesiastes context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "giue" and "thine" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.