^19 (A)Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten men with power who are in a city. ²⁰ Indeed, ^(B)there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. ²¹ Also, do not give your heart to all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your slave ^(C)cursing you. ²² For your heart also knows that you likewise have many times cursed others.

²³ I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” ^(D)but it was far from me. ²⁴ What has been is far away and ^(E)exceedingly deep. ^(F)Who can find it? ²⁵ I ^(G)turned my heart to know, to explore, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the wickedness of foolishness and the simpleminded folly of madness. ²⁶ And I found more ^(H)bitter than death the woman whose heart is ^(I)snares and nets, whose hands are chains. ^(J)One who is good before God will escape from her, but ^(K)the sinner will be captured by her.

The Folly of a Simpleminded Fool

10 Dead flies make a ^(A)perfumer’s oil stink, so a little simpleminded folly is weightier than wisdom and honor. ² A wise man’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish ^(B)man’s heart directs him toward the left. ³ Even when the simpleminded fool walks along the road, his heart lacks wisdom, and he ^(C)says to all that he is a simpleminded fool. ⁴ If the ruler’s ^[a]temper rises against you, ^(D)do not abandon your position, because ^(E)calmness causes great offenses to be abandoned.

⁵ There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like a mistake which goes forth from the one in power— ^6 [b](F)folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places. ⁷ I have seen ^(G)slaves riding ^(H)on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

^8 (I)He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a ^(J)serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall. ⁹ He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them. ¹⁰ If the ^[c]axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must ^[d]exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success. ¹¹ If the serpent bites ^[e](K)before being charmed, there is no advantage for the charmer. ^12 (L)Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, but the lips of a ^(M)fool swallow him up; ¹³ the beginning of the words of his mouth is simpleminded folly, and the end of what comes from his mouth is evil ^(N)madness. ¹⁴ Yet the ^(O)simpleminded fool multiplies words. No man knows what will happen, and who can tell him ^(P)what will come after him? ¹⁵ The labor of ^[f]a fool so wearies him that he does not even know how to go to a city. ¹⁶ Woe to you, O land, whose ^(Q)king is a young man and whose princes ^[g]eat in the morning. ¹⁷ Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time—for might and not for ^(R)drinking. ¹⁸ Through ^(S)indolence the beams sag, and through slack hands the house leaks. ¹⁹ Men prepare bread for laughter, and ^(T)wine makes life glad, and ^(U)money ^[h]is the answer to everything. ²⁰ Furthermore, ^(V)in your bedchamber do not ^(W)curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man, for a bird of the sky will bring the sound and the winged creature will tell the matter.

Cast Your Bread on the Waters

11 ^(X)Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you ^(Y)will find it ^[i]after many days. ^2 (Z)Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what ^(AA)calamity may occur on the earth. ³ If the clouds are full, they empty the rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it ^[j]lies. ⁴ He who ^[k]watches the wind will not sow, and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. ⁵ Just as you do not ^(AB)know ^[l]the path of the wind and ^(AC)how bones are formed in the womb of the ^[m]pregnant woman, so you do not ^(AD)know the work of God who works all things.

⁶ Sow your seed ^(AE)in the morning and do not put your hands down in the evening, for you do not know whether ^[n]morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.