⁷ Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
    and a bribe^(A) corrupts the heart.

⁸ The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
    and patience^(B) is better than pride.
⁹ Do not be quickly provoked^(C) in your spirit,
    for anger resides in the lap of fools.^(D)

¹⁰ Do not say, “Why were the old days^(E) better than these?”
    For it is not wise to ask such questions.

¹¹ Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing^(F)
    and benefits those who see the sun.^(G)
12 Wisdom is a shelter
    as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
    Wisdom preserves those who have it.

¹⁹ Wisdom^(A) makes one wise person more powerful^(B)
    than ten rulers in a city.

²⁰ Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,^(C)
    no one who does what is right and never sins.^(D)

²¹ Do not pay attention to every word people say,
    or you^(E) may hear your servant cursing you—
²² for you know in your heart
    that many times you yourself have cursed others.

“I am determined to be wise”^(F)—
    but this was beyond me.
²⁴ Whatever exists is far off and most profound—
    who can discover it?^(G)
25 So I turned my mind to understand,
    to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things^(H)
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
    and the madness of folly.^(I)

²⁶ I find more bitter than death
    the woman who is a snare,^(J)
whose heart is a trap
    and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
    but the sinner she will ensnare.^(K)

10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
    so a little folly^(A) outweighs wisdom and honor.
² The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left.
³ Even as fools walk along the road,
    they lack sense
    and show everyone^(B) how stupid they are.
⁴ If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
    do not leave your post;^(C)
    calmness can lay great offenses to rest.^(D)

⁵ There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
    the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
⁶ Fools are put in many high positions,^(E)
    while the rich occupy the low ones.
⁷ I have seen slaves on horseback,
    while princes go on foot like slaves.^(F)

⁸ Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;^(G)
    whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.^(H)
9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
    whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.^(I)

¹⁰ If the ax is dull
    and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed,
    but skill will bring success.

¹¹ If a snake bites before it is charmed,
    the charmer receives no fee.^(J)

¹² Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,^(K)
    but fools are consumed by their own lips.^(L)
13 At the beginning their words are folly;
    at the end they are wicked madness—
¹⁴     and fools multiply words.^(M)

No one knows what is coming—
    who can tell someone else what will happen after them?^(N)

¹⁵ The toil of fools wearies them;
    they do not know the way to town.

¹⁶ Woe to the land whose king was a servant^[a](O)
    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.^(P)

¹⁸ Through laziness, the rafters sag;
    because of idle hands, the house leaks.^(Q)

¹⁹ A feast is made for laughter,
    wine^(R) makes life merry,
    and money is the answer for everything.

²⁰ Do not revile the king^(S) 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.

³ If clouds are full of water,
    they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
⁴ Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵ As you do not know the path of the wind,^(V)
    or how the body is formed^[b] in a mother’s womb,^(W)
so you cannot understand the work of God,
    the Maker of all things.

⁶ Sow your seed in the morning,
    and at evening let your hands not be idle,^(X)
for you do not know which will succeed,
    whether this or that,
    or whether both will do equally well.