14 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded

than the shouts of a ruler of fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

but one sinner destroys much good.

14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. 16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. 17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

14 There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. 15 A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him. 16 So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.

17 Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person

than the shouts of a foolish king.

18 Better to have wisdom than weapons of war,

but one sinner can destroy much that is good.

14 There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

16 Then I said:

“Wisdom is better than strength.

Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised,

And his words are not heard.

17 Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard

Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war;

But one sinner destroys much good.”

14 There was a small town with only a few people in it. A great king fought against it and put his armies all around it. 15 Now there was a poor but wise man in the town who used his wisdom to save his town. But later on, everyone forgot about him. 16 I still think wisdom is better than strength. But those people forgot about the poor man’s wisdom and stopped listening to what he said.

17 The quiet words of a wise person are better

than the shouts of a foolish ruler.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

but one sinner can destroy much good.

14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. 16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroyeth much good.

14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and encompassed it, and built great bulwarks against it: 15 and there was found in it a poor wise man, who by his wisdom delivered the city; but no man remembered that poor man. 16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength; but the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. 17 The words of the wise are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroyeth much good.

14 There was a small town with a few soldiers in it, and a powerful king came to attack it. He surrounded it and blockaded it. 15 A poor, wise person was found in that town. He saved the town using his wisdom. But no one remembered that poor person. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength,” even though that poor person’s wisdom was despised, and no one listened to what he said. 

17 One should pay more attention to calm words from wise people than shouting from a ruler of fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much that is good. 

14 There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it. 15 Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”

17 The calm words of the wise are heeded

more than the shouts of a ruler over fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

but one sinner can destroy much good.

14 There was a little city with few people in it. A great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than might; yet the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heeded.”

17 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded

than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

but one bungler destroys much good.

14 There was a small city with few people in it. A great king came and besieged it, building great siege works against it. 15 Now, a poor wise man was found in it, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. But no one remembered that poor man. 16 So I concluded that wisdom is better than might, yet the wisdom of the poor is despised, and his words are not heard.

17 The words of the wise are heard in peace

more than the shouting of a ruler is heard among the fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

but one sinner destroys much good.

14 There was once a small city. Only a few people lived there. A powerful king attacked it. He brought in war machines all around it.

15 A certain man lived in that city. He was poor but wise. He used his wisdom to save the city. But no one remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “It’s better to be wise than to be powerful.” But people looked down on the poor man’s wisdom. No one paid any attention to what he said.

17 People should listen to the quiet words

of those who are wise.

That’s better than paying attention to the shouts

of a ruler of foolish people.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war.

But one sinner destroys a lot of good.

14 There was a small city with few men in it and a great king came to it, surrounded it and constructed large siegeworks against it.

15 But there was found in it a poor wise man and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

16 So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded.

17 The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.