Font Size
Ecclesiastes 10:16-20
English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 10:16-20
English Standard Version
16 (A)Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
and your princes feast in the morning!
17 Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,
and your princes feast at the proper time,
for strength, and not for (B)drunkenness!
18 Through sloth the roof sinks in,
and through indolence the house leaks.
19 Bread is made for laughter,
and (C)wine gladdens life,
and (D)money answers everything.
20 Even in your thoughts, (E)do not curse the king,
nor in your (F)bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will carry your voice,
or some winged creature tell the matter.
Ecclesiastes 10:16-20
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 10:16-20
New International Version
16 Woe to the land whose king was a servant[a](A)
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.(B)
18 Through laziness, the rafters sag;
because of idle hands, the house leaks.(C)
19 A feast is made for laughter,
wine(D) makes life merry,
and money is the answer for everything.
20 Do not revile the king(E) 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.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 10:16 Or king is a child
Ecclesiastes 10:16-20
King James Version
Ecclesiastes 10:16-20
King James Version
16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.
20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
Read full chapter
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.