10 Dead flies can make a whole bottle of perfume stink, and a little stupidity can cancel out the greatest wisdom.

² It is natural for the wise to do the right thing and for fools to do the wrong thing. ³ Their stupidity will be evident even to strangers they meet along the way; they let everyone know that they are fools.

⁴ If your ruler becomes angry with you, do not hand in your resignation; serious wrongs may be pardoned if you keep calm.^[a]

⁵ Here is an injustice I have seen in the world—an injustice caused by rulers. ⁶ Stupid people are given positions of authority while the rich are ignored. ⁷ I have seen slaves on horseback while noblemen go on foot like slaves.

^8 (A)If you dig a pit, you fall in it; if you break through a wall, a snake bites you. ⁹ If you work in a stone quarry, you get hurt by stones. If you split wood, you get hurt doing it. ¹⁰ If your ax is dull and you don't sharpen it, you have to work harder to use it. It is smarter to plan ahead. ¹¹ Knowing how to charm a snake is of no use if you let the snake bite first. ¹² What the wise say brings them honor, but fools are destroyed by their own words. ¹³ They start out with silly talk and end up with pure madness. ¹⁴ A fool talks on and on.

No one knows what is going to happen next, and no one can tell us what will happen after we die.

¹⁵ Only someone too stupid to find his way home would wear himself out with work.

¹⁶ A country is in trouble when its king is a youth and its leaders feast all night long. ¹⁷ But a country is fortunate to have a king who makes his own decisions and leaders who eat at the proper time, who control themselves and don't get drunk.

¹⁸ When you are too lazy to repair your roof, it will leak, and the house will fall in.

¹⁹ Feasting makes you happy and wine cheers you up, but you can't have either without money.

²⁰ Don't criticize the king, even silently, and don't criticize the rich, even in the privacy of your bedroom. A bird might carry the message and tell them what you said.