Ecclesiastes 10 :: Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

The Folly of a Simpleminded Fool

Dead^H4194 flies^H2070 make a perfumer’s^H7543 oil^H8081 stink^H887, so a little^H4592 simpleminded^H5531 folly^H5531 is weightier^H3368 than^H4480 wisdom^H2451 and honor^H3519.

Ecc 10:2

Ecc 10:2A wise man’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man’s heart directs him toward the left.

Ecc 10:3

Ecc 10:3Even when the simpleminded fool walks along the road, his heart lacks wisdom, and he says to all that he is a simpleminded fool.

Ecc 10:4

Ecc 10:4If the ruler’s [fn]temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because calmness causes great offenses to be abandoned.

Ecc 10:5

There^H3426 is^H3426 an evil^H7451 I have seen^H7200 under^H8478 the sun^H8121, like a mistake^H7684 which^H7945 goes^H3318 forth^H3318 from the one in power^H7989—

Ecc 10:6

Ecc 10:6 [fn]folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places.

Ecc 10:7

Ecc 10:7I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

Ecc 10:8

He who digs^H2658 a pit^H1475 may fall^H5307 into it, and a serpent^H5175 may bite^H5391 him who breaks^H6555 through^H6555 a wall^H1447.

Ecc 10:9

Ecc 10:9He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them.

Ecc 10:10

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

Ecc 10:11

Ecc 10:11If the serpent bites [fn]before being charmed, there is no advantage for the charmer.

Ecc 10:12

Ecc 10:12Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, but the lips of a fool swallow him up;

Ecc 10:13

Ecc 10:13the beginning of the words of his mouth is simpleminded folly, and the end of what comes from his mouth is evil madness.

Ecc 10:14

Ecc 10:14Yet the simpleminded fool multiplies words. No man knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will come after him?

Ecc 10:15

Ecc 10:15The labor of [fn]a fool so wearies him that he does not even know how to go to a city.

Ecc 10:16

Ecc 10:16Woe to you, O land, whose king is a young man and whose princes [fn]eat in the morning.

Ecc 10:17

Ecc 10:17Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time—for might and not for drinking.

Ecc 10:18

Ecc 10:18Through indolence the beams sag, and through slack hands the house leaks.

Ecc 10:19

Ecc 10:19Men prepare bread for laughter, and wine makes life glad, and money [fn]is the answer to everything.

Ecc 10:20

Ecc 10:20Furthermore, in your bedchamber do not curse 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.