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.

the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
    and the wicked living long in their wickedness.^(B)
16 Do not be overrighteous,
    neither be overwise—
    why destroy yourself?
¹⁷ Do not be overwicked,
    and do not be a fool—
    why die before your time?^(C)
18 It is good to grasp the one
    and not let go of the other.
    Whoever fears God^(D) will avoid all extremes.^[a]

“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
²⁸     while I was still searching
    but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
    but not one upright woman^(B) among them all.
²⁹ This only have I found:
    God created mankind upright,
    but they have gone in search of many schemes.”

8 Who is like the wise?
    Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
    and changes its hard appearance.