Ecclesiastes 10 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Ecc 10:1

Ecc 10:1As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink,
so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor.

Ecc 10:2

Ecc 10:2A wise person chooses the right road;
a fool takes the wrong one.

Ecc 10:3

Ecc 10:3You can identify fools
just by the way they walk down the street!

Ecc 10:4

Ecc 10:4If your boss is angry at you, don’t quit!
A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes.

The Ironies of Life

Ecc 10:5

Ecc 10:5There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake

Ecc 10:6

Ecc 10:6when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth.

Ecc 10:7

Ecc 10:7I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes—and princes walking like servants!

Ecc 10:8

Ecc 10:8When you dig a well,
you might fall in.
When you demolish an old wall,
you could be bitten by a snake.

Ecc 10:9

Ecc 10:9When you work in a quarry,
stones might fall and crush you.
When you chop wood,
there is danger with each stroke of your ax.

Ecc 10:10

Ecc 10:10Using a dull ax requires great strength,
so sharpen the blade.
That’s the value of wisdom;
it helps you succeed.

Ecc 10:11

Ecc 10:11If a snake bites before you charm it,
what’s the use of being a snake charmer?

Ecc 10:12

Ecc 10:12Wise words bring approval,
but fools are destroyed by their own words.

Ecc 10:13

Ecc 10:13Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions,
so their conclusions will be wicked madness;

Ecc 10:14

Ecc 10:14they chatter on and on.
No one really knows what is going to happen;
no one can predict the future.

Ecc 10:15

Ecc 10:15Fools are so exhausted by a little work
that they can’t even find their way home.

Ecc 10:16

Ecc 10:16What sorrow for the land ruled by a servant,[fn]
the land whose leaders feast in the morning.

Ecc 10:17

Ecc 10:17Happy is the land whose king is a noble leader
and whose leaders feast at the proper time
to gain strength for their work, not to get drunk.

Ecc 10:18

Ecc 10:18Laziness leads to a sagging roof;
idleness leads to a leaky house.

Ecc 10:19

Ecc 10:19A party gives laughter,
wine gives happiness,
and money gives everything!

Ecc 10:20

Ecc 10:20Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts.
And don’t make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom.
For a little bird might deliver your message
and tell them what you said.

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(10:16)

Or a child.

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Ecclesiastes Chapter 10 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Ecclesiastes 10 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

NLT Footnotes

Ecclesiastes Chapter 10 — Additional Translations:

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