Ecclesiastes 10

CHAPTER 10

The Folly of a Simpleminded Fool

¹Dead flies make a ^aperfumer’s oil stink, so a little simpleminded folly is weightier than wisdom and honor.

²A wise man’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish ^aman’s heart directs him toward the left.

³Even when the simpleminded fool walks along the road, his heart lacks wisdom, and he ^asays to all that he is a simpleminded fool.

⁴If the ruler’s ¹temper rises against you, ^ado not abandon your position, because ^bcalmness causes great offenses to be abandoned.

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like a mistake which goes forth from the one in power—

^61afolly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places.

⁷I have seen ^aslaves riding ^bon horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

^8aHe who digs a pit may fall into it, and a ^bserpent may bite him who breaks through a wall.

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

¹⁰If the ¹axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must ²exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

¹¹If the serpent bites ^1abefore being charmed, there is no advantage for the charmer.

^12aWords from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, but the lips of a ^bfool swallow him up;

¹³the beginning of the words of his mouth is simpleminded folly, and the end of what comes from his mouth is evil ^amadness.

¹⁴Yet the ^asimpleminded fool multiplies words. No man knows what will happen, and who can tell him ^bwhat will come after him?

¹⁵The labor of ¹a fool so wearies him that he does not even know how to go to a city.

¹⁶Woe to you, O land, whose ^aking is a young man and whose princes ¹eat in the morning.

¹⁷Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time—for might and not for ^adrinking.

¹⁸Through ^aindolence the beams sag, and through slack hands the house leaks.

¹⁹Men prepare bread for laughter, and ^awine makes life glad, and ^bmoney ¹is the answer to everything.

²⁰Furthermore, ^ain your bedchamber do not ^bcurse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man, for a bird of the sky will bring the sound and the winged creature will tell the matter.