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10. Wisdom Better Than Folly

¹ As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
   so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
² The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
   but the heart of the fool to the left.
³ Even as fools walk along the road,
   they lack sense
   and show everyone how stupid they are.
⁴ If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
   do not leave your post;
   calmness can lay great offenses to rest.

    ⁵ There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
   the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
⁶ Fools are put in many high positions,
   while the rich occupy the low ones.
⁷ I have seen slaves on horseback,
   while princes go on foot like slaves.

    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.

    ¹⁶ Woe to the land whose king was a servant Or king is a child
   and whose princes feast in the morning.
¹⁷ Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
   and whose princes eat at a proper time—
   for strength and not for drunkenness.

¹⁸ Through laziness, the rafters sag;
because of idle hands, the house leaks.

    ¹⁹ A feast is made for laughter,
   wine makes life merry,
   and money is the answer for everything.

    ²⁰ Do not revile the king even in your thoughts,
   or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
   and a bird on the wing may report what you say.