¹¹Surely the serpent will bite without ^zenchantment; and ^†a babbler is no ^xbetter. ¹²^aThe words of a wise man’s mouth are ^†gracious; but ^bthe lips of a fool will swallow up himself. ¹³The beginning of the words of his mouth is ^cfoolishness: and the end of ^†his talk is mischievous ^dmadness. ¹⁴^eA fool also ^†is full of words: ^fa man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, ^gwho can tell him? ¹⁵The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

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Footnotes

tSo Jer. 31:29, 30. Ezek. 18:2 in the Heb.
u Eze. 21:21 (Heb.).
xSee ch. 1:3.
ySee ch. 11:6 marg.
z Isai. 3:3. & 26:16. Jer. 8:17 in the Heb. So Ps. 58:5.
†Heb. the master of the tongue. See Gen. 37:19.
xSee ch. 1:3.
†Heb. grace. Prov. 22:11.
bSee Prov. 18:7.
cSee ch. 2:3.
†Heb. his mouth. Gen. 43:7 marg.
dSee ch. 1:17.
eSee Prov. 15:2.
†Heb. multiplieth words. As Gen 3:16, &c.
fSee ch. 3:22.
gSee ch. 8:7.

Cross references

a Prov. 10:32.

Public Domain

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,

he must use more strength,

but wisdom helps one to succeed.

If the serpent bites before it is charmed,

there is no advantage to the charmer.

The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor,

but the lips of a fool consume him.

The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,

and the end of his talk is evil madness.

A fool multiplies words,

though no man knows what is to be,

and who can tell him what will be after him?

The toil of a fool wearies him,

for he does not know the way to the city.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

If the ax is dull

and its edge unsharpened,

more strength is needed,

but skill will bring success.

If a snake bites before it is charmed,

the charmer receives no fee.

Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,

but fools are consumed by their own lips.

At the beginning their words are folly;

at the end they are wicked madness—

and fools multiply words.

No one knows what is coming—

who can tell someone else what will happen after them?

The toil of fools wearies them;

they do not know the way to town.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

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.

If the snake bites before it is charmed,

then there is no advantage for the charmer.

The words from the mouth of a wise person are gracious,

but the lips of a fool consume him.

The beginning of the words from his mouth is folly,

but the end of his speaking is evil madness;

yet the fool multiplies words.

No one knows what will happen,

and who can tell anyone what will happen after him?

The struggles of fools weary them,

for they don’t know how to go to the city.

NLTNew Living Translation

Using a dull ax requires great strength,

so sharpen the blade.

That’s the value of wisdom;

it helps you succeed.

If a snake bites before you charm it,

what’s the use of being a snake charmer?

Wise words bring approval,

but fools are destroyed by their own words.

Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions,

so their conclusions will be wicked madness;

they chatter on and on.

No one really knows what is going to happen;

no one can predict the future.

Fools are so exhausted by a little work

that they can’t even find their way home.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

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.

If the snake bites before the charming,

the snake charmer will not succeed.

The wise man wins favor by the words of his mouth,

but the fool is devoured by his own lips.

He begins by saying what is foolish

and ends by uttering what is wicked delusion.

The fool talks too much,

for no one knows what will be.

Who can tell anyone what will happen in the future?

The fool is so worn out by a hard day’s work

he cannot even find his way home at night.