⁷ Surely oppression makes a fool of the wise,
    and a bribe corrupts the heart.
⁸ The end of a matter is better than its beginning;
    better to be slow to anger than hot-headed.^[a]
9 Do not be quick in your spirit to anger,
    for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.
¹⁰ Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?”
    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
¹¹ Wisdom is good with an inheritance;
    it benefits the living.^[b]
12 For wisdom offers protection like money offers protection.^[c]
    But knowledge has an advantage—wisdom restores life to its possessor.

¹⁹ Wisdom gives more strength to the wise
    than ten rulers who are in the city.
²⁰ Surely there is no one righteous on the earth
    who continually does good and never sins.
²¹ Do not pay attention to everything people say,
    lest you hear your own servant curse you.
²² For your heart knows
    that you also have cursed others many times.

⁸ Whoever digs a pit will fall into it.
    Whoever breaks through a wall, a snake will bite him.
⁹ Whoever quarries^[b] stones will be wounded by them.
    Whoever splits logs will be endangered by them.

¹⁰ If the ax is blunt but one does not sharpen its edge,
    he must exert more effort,^[c]
but the advantage of wisdom is it brings success.
¹¹ If the snake bites before the charming,
    the snake charmer will not succeed.^[d]

¹² The wise man wins favor by the words of his mouth,
    but the fool is devoured by his own lips.
¹³ He begins by saying what is foolish
    and ends by uttering what is wicked delusion.
¹⁴ The fool talks too much,^[e]
    for no one knows what will be.
        Who can tell anyone what will happen in the future?^[f]
15 The fool is so worn out by a hard day’s work
    he cannot even find his way home at night.^[g]
16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a youth
    and your princes feast in the morning.
¹⁷ Blessed are you, O land, when your king is a son of nobility
    and your princes feast at the proper time—
        to gain strength and not to get drunk.
¹⁸ Through sloth the roof sinks in,
    and through idleness of hands the house leaks.
¹⁹ Feasts are held for celebration,^[h]
    wine cheers the living,
        and money answers everything.
²⁰ Do not curse the king even in your thoughts,
    and do not curse the rich even in your own bedroom,
for a bird of the sky may carry your voice;
    a winged messenger may repeat your words.

11 Send out your bread on the water,
    for in many days you will find it.
² Divide your share in seven or in eight,
    for you do not know what disaster will happen on the earth.
³ When the clouds are full,
    they empty rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or whether it falls to the north,
    the place where the tree falls—there it will be.
⁴ Whoever watches the wind will not sow;
    whoever watches the clouds will not reap.
⁵ Just as you do not know how the path of the wind^[i] goes,
    nor how the bones of a fetus form in a mother’s womb,
so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
⁶ Sow your seed in the morning,
    and do not let your hands rest in the evening,
for you do not know what will prosper—
    whether this or that, or whether both of them alike will succeed.