⁷ To be sure, oppressing others^[a] turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts his heart.

⁸ It is better to finish something than to begin something. A patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.

⁹ Do not be quick to lose your temper, for outrage is embraced by fools.

¹⁰ Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” Wisdom would not lead you to ask such a question.

¹¹ Wisdom along with an inheritance^[b] is good. It is an advantage for those who see the sun, ¹² because wisdom gives shade as money gives shade, but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom keeps its owner alive.

¹⁹ Wisdom makes one wise man stronger than ten rulers who are in the city.

²⁰ There is surely not a righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin.

²¹ Furthermore, do not take to heart all the words people say, so that you do not hear your servant cursing you. ²² Yes, you know in your heart that many times you too have cursed others.

²³ All this I tested with wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was out of reach for me. ²⁴ What has already happened is out of reach, and deeper than deep. Who can find it?

²⁵ I turned my heart to know, to investigate, and to seek wisdom, and to find out how things fit together,^[a] and to know that wickedness is foolishness and stupidity is madness.

²⁶ I kept finding out that a woman whose heart is a trap is more bitter than death. Her heart is a hunter’s net. Her hands are chains. The man whom God recognizes as good will escape from her, but the sinner gets trapped by her.

10 Dead flies make perfumed oil ferment and stink, just as a little stupidity outweighs wisdom and honor.

² A wise man’s heart heads right, but a fool’s heart heads left.

³ Even when a fool is walking down the road, he does not know where he is going, and he advertises to everyone that he is a fool.

⁴ If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not abandon your post, because keeping calm puts serious sins to rest.

⁵ There is an evil I have seen under the sun. What a mistake rulers make! ⁶ Stupidity is placed in many high places, but the rich are seated in low positions. ⁷ I have seen slaves on horses, while princes walk on the ground like slaves.

⁸ A person who digs a pit might fall into it, and one who breaks through a wall might be bitten by a snake.

⁹ A person who quarries stones may be hurt by them. Someone who splits logs may be endangered by them.

¹⁰ If the ax is dull and no one sharpens its edge, the person chopping must apply more strength, but an advantage of wisdom is that it gives success.

¹¹ If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to having a charmer.^[a]

¹² Words from a wise man’s mouth bring favor, but a fool’s lips swallow him up.

¹³ The fool starts out by saying stupid things, but he ends up speaking wicked madness. ¹⁴ The fool multiplies words.

No one knows what will be in the future, and who can tell him what will come after him?

¹⁵ The hard work of fools wears them out so much that they no longer know their way to town.^[b]

¹⁶ How unfortunate you are, O land, when your king once was a servant,^[c] and your officials overeat in the morning. ¹⁷ How blessed you are, O land, when your king is a son of nobles, and your officials eat at the right time—to get stronger, not to get drunk.

¹⁸ Because of laziness, roof beams sag. Because of idle hands, the house leaks.

¹⁹ Food is made for pleasure. Wine makes life happy, but money is the answer for everything.

²⁰ Do not curse the king even in your thoughts, and do not curse a rich person in your bedroom, for a bird in the skies might carry your voice, or a bird in flight might reveal the matter.

11 Cast your bread on the surface of the water. Then, after many days you will find it again.^[d]

² Put part of your investment into seven or even into eight ventures, for you do not know what disaster might come upon the land.

³ If the clouds are full, they pour out rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, wherever it falls, there it will lie.

⁴ Whoever keeps watching the wind will never sow, and anyone who keeps looking at the clouds will never reap.

⁵ Just as you do not know the path of the wind,^[e] or how bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God, who makes everything.

⁶ In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hand rest, for you do not know which effort will succeed, this one or that, or if both of them will be equally good.