Ecclesiastes 10-12

New King James Version

Wisdom and Folly

10 Dead^[a] flies ^[b]putrefy the perfumer’s ointment,
And cause it to give off a foul odor;
So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.
²A wise man’s heart is at his right hand,
But a fool’s heart at his left.
³Even when a fool walks along the way,
He lacks wisdom,
^(A)And he shows everyone that he is a fool.
⁴If the spirit of the ruler rises against you,
^(B)Do not leave your post;
For ^(C)conciliation^[c] pacifies great offenses.

⁵There 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.
⁷I 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.
⁹He who quarries stones may be hurt by them,
And he who splits wood may be endangered by it.
¹⁰If the ax is dull,
And one does not sharpen the edge,
Then he must use more strength;
But wisdom ^[e]brings success.

¹¹A 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;
¹³The 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?
¹⁵The 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!
¹⁷Blessed 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!
¹⁸Because of laziness the ^[g]building decays,
And ^(N)through idleness of hands the house leaks.
¹⁹A 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.

The Value of Diligence

11 Cast your bread ^(Q)upon the waters,
^(R)For you will find it after many days.
²^(S)Give a serving ^(T)to seven, and also to eight,
^(U)For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

³If 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.
⁴He who observes the wind will not sow,
And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

⁵As ^(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.
⁶In 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.

⁷Truly the light is sweet,
And it is pleasant for the eyes ^(X)to behold the sun;
⁸But if a man lives many years
And ^(Y)rejoices in them all,
Yet let him ^(Z)remember the days of darkness,
For they will be many.
All that is coming is vanity.

Seek God in Early Life

⁹Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
^(AA)Walk in the ^[i]ways of your heart,
And ^[j]in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these
^(AB)God will bring you into judgment.
¹⁰Therefore remove ^[k]sorrow from your heart,
And ^(AC)put away evil from your flesh,
^(AD)For childhood and ^[l]youth are vanity.

Seek God in Early Life

12 Remember^(AE) now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the ^[m]difficult days come,
And the years draw near ^(AF)when you say,
“I have no pleasure in them”:
²While the sun and the light,
The moon and the stars,
Are not darkened,
And the clouds do not return after the rain;
³In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
And the strong men bow down;
When the grinders cease because they are few,
And those that look through the windows grow dim;
⁴When the doors are shut in the streets,
And the sound of grinding is low;
When one rises up at the sound of a bird,
And all ^(AG)the daughters of music are brought low.
⁵Also they are afraid of height,
And of terrors in the way;
When the almond tree blossoms,
The grasshopper is a burden,
And desire fails.
For man goes to ^(AH)his eternal home,
And ^(AI)the mourners go about the streets.

⁶Remember your Creator before the silver cord is ^[n]loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
⁷^(AJ)Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
^(AK)And the spirit will return to God ^(AL)who gave it.

⁸“Vanity^(AM) of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“All is vanity.”

The Whole Duty of Man

⁹And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and ^(AN)set^[o] in order many proverbs. ¹⁰The Preacher sought to find ^[p]acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth. ¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of ^[q]scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. ¹²And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and ^(AO)much study is wearisome to the flesh.

¹³Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

^(AP)Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
¹⁴For ^(AQ)God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.