• 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 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.