8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;

whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;

whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.

10 If the ax is dull

and its edge unsharpened,

more strength is needed,

but skill will bring success.

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—

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.

8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. 9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.

10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.

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. 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.

8 When you dig a well,

you might fall in.

When you demolish an old wall,

you could be bitten by a snake.

9 When you work in a quarry,

stones might fall and crush you.

When you chop wood,

there is danger with each stroke of your ax.

10 Using a dull ax requires great strength,

so sharpen the blade.

That’s the value of wisdom;

it helps you succeed.

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;

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.

8 He who digs a pit will fall into it,

And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent.

9 He who quarries stones may be hurt by them,

And he who splits wood may be endangered by it.

10 If the ax is dull,

And one does not sharpen the edge,

Then he must use more strength;

But wisdom brings success.

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.

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!

8 Anyone who digs a pit might fall into it;

anyone who knocks down a wall might be bitten by a snake;

9 anyone who moves boulders might be hurt by them;

and anyone who cuts logs might be harmed by them.

10 A dull ax means

harder work.

Being wise will make it easier.

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.

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.

8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh through a wall, a serpent shall bite him. 9 Whoso heweth out stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood is endangered thereby. 10 If the iron be blunt, and one do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct. 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. 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.

8 He that diggeth a pit falleth into it; and whoso breaketh down a hedge, a serpent biteth him. 9 Whoso removeth stones is hurt therewith; he that cleaveth wood is endangered thereby. 10 If the iron be blunt, and one do not whet the edge, then must he apply more strength; but wisdom is profitable to give success. 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. 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.

8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it. Whoever breaks through a stone wall may be bitten by a snake. 9 Whoever works in a stone quarry may get hurt. Whoever splits wood may be injured. 

10 If an ax is blunt and the edge isn’t sharpened, then one has to use more strength. But wisdom prepares the way for success. 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. 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. 

8 The one who digs a pit may fall into it,

and the one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

9 The one who quarries stones may be hurt by them;

the one who splits trees may be endangered by them.

10 If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen its edge,

then one must exert more strength;

however, the advantage of wisdom is that it brings success.

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.

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.

8 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it;

and whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a snake.

9 Whoever quarries stones will be hurt by them;

and whoever splits logs will be endangered by them.

10 If the iron is blunt, and one does not whet the edge,

then more strength must be exerted;

but wisdom helps one to succeed.

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;

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.

8 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it.

Whoever breaks through a wall, a snake will bite him.

9 Whoever quarries stones will be wounded by them.

Whoever splits logs will be endangered by them.

10 If the ax is blunt but one does not sharpen its edge,

he must exert more effort,

but the advantage of wisdom is it brings success.

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.

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.

8 Anyone who digs a pit might fall into it.

Anyone who breaks through a wall might be bitten by a snake.

9 Anyone who removes stones from rock pits might get hurt.

Anyone who cuts logs might get wounded.

10 Suppose the blade of an ax is dull.

And its edge hasn’t been sharpened.

Then more effort is needed to use it.

But skill will bring success.

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.

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.

8 He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall.

9 He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them.

10 If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

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.

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.