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UST by section ECC 10:1

⌂ ← ECC 10:1–10:20 → ║ ═ ©

Ecclesiastes 10

10 If only a few little flies die in a vat of expensive perfume,

the entire batch can become rancid and stinking.

Similarly, one foolish decision can have a disastrous effect

on a lifetime of wise and honorable decisions.

2 A person's wise thinking and behavior can protect them,

like the capable right hand of a warrior that grips his sword.

Conversely, people who think and live foolishly are constantly vulnerable

to the disastrous outcomes of their own poor decision-making.

3 Whenever foolish people travel on public roads,

they lack any common sense.

They themselves make their stupidity obvious

to everyone who sees them.

4 Should someone powerful become enraged with you,

do not abandon your responsibilities with him.

Remember! Calm and composed responses can mitigate

another's fury at serious offenses.

5 I have also observed another lamentable situation in my life:

Sometimes people in authority unintentionally make public mistakes.

6 They mistakenly promote many foolish people to important positions of authority,

while, at the same time, they assign wealthy people to unimportant positions.

7 I have witnessed these powerful people promote slaves so that they have the public honor of riding on horses,

like rich people usually do.

And yet, they force important officials to walk in the dirt,

like slaves usually do.

8 If someone digs a hole in the ground, he might fall into it.

If someone tears down a wall, a snake living inside the wall might bite him.

9 If someone quarries rocks, the loosened rocks might fall and injure him.

If someone chops wood, the split logs might wound him.

10 If a person's axehead is dull,

and he has not sharpened its edges,

then, in order to successfully chop something with the axe,

he will have to exert more force.

This all demonstrates that being wise is the secret

to succeeding in using one's tools for their intended purpose.

11 If a snake bites someone before he can calm it,

then an ability to calm snakes is of no use to him.

12 People will favorably honor wise people

because of the wise way in which they speak.

However, the things that foolish people say

will inevitably harm them,

as if their own lips were to swallow them.

13 When foolish people begin to talk,

they merely say stupid things;

but by the time they are finished,

they have said things that are insanely and disasterously ridiculous.

14 Nonetheless, the foolish person will continue talking more and more.

Nobody knows what might happen in the future.

After all, there is no human being who can inform someone

about what will happen to them tomorrow!

15 Foolish people become very exhausted by the work that they do,

with the result that they are even unable to find the road to their town.

16 It is terrible for the people of a nation

when their ruler acts like a naive boy,

and when their leaders use their power

to eat exceptionally large, celebratory meals at inappropriate times.

17 But it is wonderful for a nation

when its ruler comes from the proper family,

and when its leaders host large, celebratory meals

only at the appropriate moments—

eating and drinking in a dignified manner and not in drunken revelry.

18 It is like people say:

“Lazy homeowners will neglect their roofs

to the point that they sag and collapse;

the idle lifestyle of house owners

will eventually cause rainwater to leak into the house.“

19 Eating food can make people so happy that they laugh,

and drinking wine can make a moment of one's life joyful.

However, it seems as if people who have wealth can solve all of their problems.

20 So, you should never disparage the king.

Do not even think about it!

Neither should you speak ill of wealthy people,

even when you are alone in your bedroom.

After all, even in these private spaces, it is always possible that a little winged bird

will overhear what you are saying and tell everyone what you said to yourself.

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