Ecclesiastes 10:12–15
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth uwin him favor,3
but vthe lips of a fool consume him.
13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,
and the end of his talk is evil madness.
14 wA fool multiplies words,
though no man knows what is to be,
and who can tell him xwhat will be after him?
15 The toil of a fool wearies him,
for he does not know ythe way to the city.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — The New International Version (NIV)
12 Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,
but fools are consumed by their own lips.
13 At the beginning their words are folly;
at the end they are wicked madness—
14 and fools multiply words.
No one knows what is coming—
who can tell someone else what will happen after them?
15 The toil of fools wearies them;
they do not know the way to town.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — King James Version (KJV 1900)
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. 14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? 15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — New Living Translation (NLT)
12 Wise words bring approval,
but fools are destroyed by their own words.
13 Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions,
so their conclusions will be wicked madness;
14 they chatter on and on.
No one really knows what is going to happen;
no one can predict the future.
15 Fools are so exhausted by a little work
that they can’t even find their way home.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — The New King James Version (NKJV)
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
13 The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
14 A fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him what will be after him?
15 The labor of fools wearies them,
For they do not even know how to go to the city!
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — New Century Version (NCV)
12 The words of the wise bring them praise,
but the words of a fool will destroy them.
13 A fool begins by saying foolish things
and ends by saying crazy and wicked things.
14 A fool talks too much.
No one knows the future,
and no one can tell what will happen after death.
15 Work wears fools out;
they don’t even know how to get home.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — American Standard Version (ASV)
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. 14 A fool also multiplieth words: yet man knoweth not what shall be; and that which shall be after him, who can tell him? 15 The labor of fools wearieth every one of them; for he knoweth not how to go to the city.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool swallow up himself. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is folly; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. 14 And the fool multiplieth words: yet man knoweth not what shall be; and what shall be after him, who will tell him? 15 The labour of fools wearieth them, because they know not how to go to the city.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
12 A wise person’s words win favors, but a fool’s lips are self-destructive. 13 A fool starts out by talking foolishness and ends up saying crazy things that are dangerous. 14 He never stops talking. No one knows what the future will bring, or what will happen after ⸤death⸥. Who can say! 15 Fools wear themselves out with hard work, because they don’t even know the way to town.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
12 The words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious,
but the lips of a fool consume him.
13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is folly,
but the end of his speaking is evil madness.
14 Yet the fool multiplies words.
No one knows what will happen,
and who can tell anyone what will happen after him?
15 The struggles of fools weary them,
for they don’t know how to go to the city.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
12 Words spoken by the wise bring them favor,
but the lips of fools consume them.
13 The words of their mouths begin in foolishness,
and their talk ends in wicked madness;
14 yet fools talk on and on.
No one knows what is to happen,
and who can tell anyone what the future holds?
15 The toil of fools wears them out,
for they do not even know the way to town.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)
12 The wise man wins favor by the words of his mouth,
but the fool is devoured by his own lips.
13 He begins by saying what is foolish
and ends by uttering what is wicked delusion.
14 The fool talks too much,
for no one knows what will be.
Who can tell anyone what will happen in the future?
15 The fool is so worn out by a hard day’s work
he cannot even find his way home at night.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)
12 A man who is wise says gracious things.
But a foolish person is destroyed by what his own lips speak.
13 At first what he says is foolish.
In the end his words are very evil.
14 He talks too much.
No one knows what lies ahead for him.
Who can tell him what will happen after he is gone?
15 The work a foolish person does makes him tired.
He doesn’t even know the way to town.
Ecclesiastes 10:12–15 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)
12 Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him;
13 the beginning of his talking is folly and the end of it is wicked madness.
14 Yet the fool multiplies words. No man knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will come after him?
15 The toil of a fool so wearies him that he does not even know how to go to a city.