Ecclesiastes 10
Foolishness Often Overtakes Wisdom (Though Wisdom is Superior)
In the same way that tiny dead flies can ruin a perfume’s aroma, a tiny bit of foolishness can ruin a lot of wisdom and honor.
A wise person’s heart pulls him to the right while a fool’s heart pulls him to the left. And fools prove their own foolishness just by walking down the street and showing their lack of sense.
If your boss gets mad at you, don’t downplay the incident, because dealing with things in a healthy way can downplay your punishment.
Here’s a misery I’ve noticed beneath our sun: like a leader’s mistake trickling down to his subordinates, foolishness sits in a lot of high places while rich people sit in a lot of low places. I’ve seen slaves riding on horses while princes walk on the ground like slaves.
Hard Work is Dangerous
If you go digging a pit, you might fall in.
And if you go digging through rubble, you might get bit by a snake.
If you go moving big stones, you might get hurt by them.
And if you go splitting logs, they might injure you.
If your axe is dull and you don’t sharpen it, then you’ll have to exert more strength. (Wisdom gives you the advantage of success.)
If the snake bites before it’s charmed, there wasn’t any point in trying to charm it.
The words of the wise are graceful, but the lips of a fool swallow him up. When a fool talks, it starts as mere foolishness, but it digresses into madness that becomes harmful. Yet fools just keep on talking.
No one knows what will end up happening. Who could ever say what will take place after himself?
Laziness is Dangerous
Work exhausts fools so much that they don’t even know how to get out of their own town and travel.
The whole kingdom grieves when its king is a boy and its leaders eat just for the fun of it. But the whole kingdom is happy when its king is a noble and its leaders appropriately eat for strength instead of drunkenness.
Laziness causes the rafters sag, and inactive hands cause the house leak.
People prepare meals just so they can have something to enjoy—and while wine makes life more cheery, money is the answer to everything.
You shouldn’t belittle kings (even in your thoughts) or rich people (even in the privacy of your bedroom), because a little bird might take the sound of your words and make them known.