⁸ The end of a thing is better than its beginning;
^(B)The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
^9 (C)Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
¹⁰ Do not say,
“Why were the former days better than these?”
For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

¹¹ Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
And profitable ^(D)to those who see the sun.
¹² For wisdom is ^[b]a ^(E)defense as money is a defense,
But the ^[c]excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives ^(F)life to those who have it.

^19 (A)Wisdom strengthens the wise
More than ten rulers of the city.

^20 (B)For there is not a just man on earth who does good
And does not sin.

²¹ Also do not take to heart everything people say,
Lest you hear your servant cursing you.
²² For many times, also, your own heart has known
That even you have cursed others.

²³ All this I have ^[a]proved by wisdom.
^(C)I said, “I will be wise”;
But it was far from me.
^24 (D)As for that which is far off and ^(E)exceedingly deep,
Who can find it out?
^25 (F)I applied my heart to know,
To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things,
To know the wickedness of folly,
Even of foolishness and madness.
^26 (G)And I find more bitter than death
The woman whose heart is snares and nets,
Whose hands are fetters.
^[b]He who pleases God shall escape from her,
But the sinner shall be trapped by her.

⁵ There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
As an error proceeding from the ruler:
^6 (D)Folly is set in ^[d]great dignity,
While the rich sit in a lowly place.
⁷ I have seen servants ^(E)on horses,
While princes walk on the ground like servants.

^8 (F)He who digs a pit will fall into it,
And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent.
⁹ He who quarries stones may be hurt by them,
And he who splits wood may be endangered by it.
¹⁰ If the ax is dull,
And one does not sharpen the edge,
Then he must use more strength;
But wisdom ^[e]brings success.

¹¹ A serpent may bite ^(G)when it is not charmed;
The ^[f]babbler is no different.
^12 (H)The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But ^(I)the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
¹³ The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
^14 (J)A fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him ^(K)what will be after him?
¹⁵ The labor of fools wearies them,
For they do not even know how to go to the city!

^16 (L)Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
And your princes feast in the morning!
¹⁷ Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles,
And your ^(M)princes feast at the proper time—
For strength and not for drunkenness!
¹⁸ Because of laziness the ^[g]building decays,
And ^(N)through idleness of hands the house leaks.
¹⁹ A feast is made for laughter,
And ^(O)wine makes merry;
But money answers everything.

^20 (P)Do not curse the king, even in your thought;
Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom;
For a bird of the air may carry your voice,
And a bird in flight may tell the matter.

³ If the clouds are full of rain,
They empty themselves upon the earth;
And if a tree falls to the south or the north,
In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.
⁴ He who observes the wind will not sow,
And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

⁵ As ^(V)you do not know what is the way of the ^[h]wind,
^(W)Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child,
So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.
⁶ In the morning sow your seed,
And in the evening do not withhold your hand;
For you do not know which will prosper,
Either this or that,
Or whether both alike will be good.