Ecclesiastes 10:6-16

6 Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones.
7 I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.
8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.
10 If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.
11 If a snake bites before it is charmed, the charmer receives no fee.
12 Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips.
13 At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness—
14 and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming— who can tell someone else what will happen after them?
15 The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town.
16 Woe to the land whose king was a servant[a]and whose princes feast in the morning.

Cross References 11

  • 1. S Proverbs 29:2
  • 2. Proverbs 19:10
  • 3. S Psalms 7:15; Psalms 57:6; Proverbs 26:27
  • 4. S Esther 2:23; Psalms 9:16; Amos 5:19
  • 5. S Proverbs 26:27
  • 6. S Psalms 58:5; S Isaiah 3:3
  • 7. Proverbs 10:32
  • 8. S Proverbs 10:6; Proverbs 10:14; S Proverbs 14:3; S Proverbs 15:2; S Proverbs 18:7
  • 9. Proverbs 15:2; Ecclesiastes 5:3; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Ecclesiastes 8:7
  • 10. Ecclesiastes 9:1
  • 11. Isa 3:4-5,12

Footnotes 1

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