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16 Woe to you, O country, when your king is a servant
    and your princes start feasting in the morning.
17 Blessed are you, O land,
    when your king is a nobleman
and your princes feast at the proper time
    for strength and not for drunkenness.
18 Because of your negligence the roof begins to collapse,
    and when hands remain idle, the house leaks.

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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)

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 10:16 Or king is a child