Ecclesiastes 10:11–13

11 If a snake bites before it is charmed,

the charmer receives no fee.

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—

11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. 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.

11 If a snake bites before you charm it,

what’s the use of being a snake charmer?

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;

11 A serpent may bite when it is not charmed;

The babbler is no different.

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.

11 If a snake bites the tamer before it is tamed,

what good is the tamer?

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.

11 If the serpent bite before it is charmed, then is there no advantage in the charmer.

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.

11 If the serpent bite before enchantment, then the charmer hath no advantage.

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.

11 If a snake bites before it has been charmed, then there is no advantage in being a snake charmer. 

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.

11 If the snake bites before it is charmed,

then there is no advantage for the charmer.

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.

11 If the snake bites before it is charmed,

there is no advantage in a charmer.

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,

11 If the snake bites before the charming,

the snake charmer will not succeed.

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.

11 Suppose a snake bites before it is charmed.

Then there isn’t any benefit in being a snake charmer.

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.

11 If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.

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.