Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.

²When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan.

³The man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but if he hangs around with prostitutes, his wealth is wasted.

⁴A just king gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it.

⁵To flatter friends is to lay a trap for their feet.

⁶Evil people are trapped by sin, but the righteous escape, shouting for joy.

⁷The godly care about the rights of the poor; the wicked don’t care at all.

⁸Mockers can get a whole town agitated, but the wise will calm anger.

⁹If a wise person takes a fool to court, there will be ranting and ridicule but no satisfaction.

¹⁰The bloodthirsty hate blameless people, but the upright seek to help them.

¹¹Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.

¹²If a ruler pays attention to liars, all his advisers will be wicked.

¹³The poor and the oppressor have this in common — the LORD gives sight to the eyes of both.

¹⁴If a king judges the poor fairly, his throne will last forever.

¹⁵To discipline a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.

¹⁶When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes, but the godly will live to see their downfall.

¹⁷Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad.

¹⁸When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.

¹⁹Words alone will not discipline a servant; the words may be understood, but they are not heeded.

²⁰There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.

²¹A servant pampered from childhood will become a rebel.

²²An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin.

²³Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.

²⁴If you assist a thief, you only hurt yourself. You are sworn to tell the truth, but you dare not testify.

²⁵Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the LORD means safety.

²⁶Many seek the ruler’s favor, but justice comes from the LORD.

²⁷The righteous despise the unjust; the wicked despise the godly.

¹The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh contain this message. I am weary, O God; I am weary and worn out, O God.

²I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense.

³I have not mastered human wisdom, nor do I know the Holy One.

⁴Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down? Who holds the wind in his fists? Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who has created the whole wide world? What is his name — and his son’s name? Tell me if you know!

⁵Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.

⁶Do not add to his words, or he may rebuke you and expose you as a liar.

⁷O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die.

⁸First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.

⁹For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

¹⁰Never slander a worker to the employer, or the person will curse you, and you will pay for it.

¹¹Some people curse their father and do not thank their mother.

¹²They are pure in their own eyes, but they are filthy and unwashed.

¹³They look proudly around, casting disdainful glances.

¹⁴They have teeth like swords and fangs like knives. They devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among humanity.

¹⁵The leech has two suckers that cry out, “More, more!” There are three things that are never satisfied — no, four that never say, “Enough!”:

¹⁶the grave, the barren womb, the thirsty desert, the blazing fire.

¹⁷The eye that mocks a father and despises a mother’s instructions will be plucked out by ravens of the valley and eaten by vultures.

¹⁸There are three things that amaze me — no, four things that I don’t understand:

¹⁹how an eagle glides through the sky, how a snake slithers on a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, how a man loves a woman.

²⁰An adulterous woman consumes a man, then wipes her mouth and says, “What’s wrong with that?”

²¹There are three things that make the earth tremble — no, four it cannot endure:

²²a slave who becomes a king, an overbearing fool who prospers,

²³a bitter woman who finally gets a husband, a servant girl who supplants her mistress.

²⁴There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise:

²⁵Ants — they aren’t strong, but they store up food all summer.

²⁶Hyraxes — they aren’t powerful, but they make their homes among the rocks.

²⁷Locusts — they have no king, but they march in formation.

²⁸Lizards — they are easy to catch, but they are found even in kings’ palaces.

²⁹There are three things that walk with stately stride — no, four that strut about:

³⁰the lion, king of animals, who won’t turn aside for anything,

³¹the strutting rooster, the male goat, a king as he leads his army.

³²If you have been a fool by being proud or plotting evil, cover your mouth in shame.

³³As the beating of cream yields butter and striking the nose causes bleeding, so stirring up anger causes quarrels.

¹The sayings of King Lemuel contain this message, which his mother taught him.

²O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows,

³do not waste your strength on women, on those who ruin kings.

⁴It is not for kings, O Lemuel, to guzzle wine. Rulers should not crave alcohol.

⁵For if they drink, they may forget the law and not give justice to the oppressed.

⁶Alcohol is for the dying, and wine for those in bitter distress.

⁷Let them drink to forget their poverty and remember their troubles no more.

⁸Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.

⁹Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

¹⁰Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies.

¹¹Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.

¹²She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

¹³She finds wool and flax and busily spins it.

¹⁴She is like a merchant’s ship, bringing her food from afar.

¹⁵She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.

¹⁶She goes to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She is energetic and strong, a hard worker.

¹⁸She makes sure her dealings are profitable; her lamp burns late into the night.

¹⁹Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber.

²⁰She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy.

²¹She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm clothes.

²²She makes her own bedspreads. She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.

²³Her husband is well known at the city gates, where he sits with the other civic leaders.

²⁴She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants.

²⁵She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.

²⁶When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.

²⁷She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness.

²⁸Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her:

²⁹“There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”

³⁰Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised.

³¹Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

¹These are the words of the Teacher, King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.

²“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

³What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?

⁴Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.

⁵The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.

⁶The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.

⁷Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.

⁸Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

⁹History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.

¹⁰Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.

¹¹We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

¹²I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem.

¹³I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.

¹⁴I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless — like chasing the wind.

¹⁵What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered.

¹⁶I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.”

¹⁷So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

¹⁸The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.

¹I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.

²So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?”

³After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.

⁴I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards.

⁵I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees.

⁶I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves.

⁷I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me.

⁸I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!

⁹So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me.

¹⁰Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors.

¹¹But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless — like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.

¹²So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and madness (for who can do this better than I, the king? ).

¹³I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.

¹⁴For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate.

¹⁵Both will die. So I said to myself, “Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!”

¹⁶For the wise and the foolish both die. The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will be forgotten.

¹⁷So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless — like chasing the wind.

¹⁸I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned.

¹⁹And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless!

²⁰So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.

²¹Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy.

²²So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?

²³Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.

²⁴So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.

²⁵For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?

²⁶God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless — like chasing the wind.

¹For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.

²A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.

³A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up.

⁴A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.

⁵A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

⁶A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away.

⁷A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

⁸A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.

⁹What do people really get for all their hard work?

¹⁰I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.

¹¹Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

¹²So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.

¹³And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

¹⁴And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him.

¹⁵What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.

¹⁶I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt!

¹⁷I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds.”

¹⁸I also thought about the human condition — how God proves to people that they are like animals.

¹⁹For people and animals share the same fate — both breathe and both must die. So people have no real advantage over the animals. How meaningless!

²⁰Both go to the same place — they came from dust and they return to dust.

²¹For who can prove that the human spirit goes up and the spirit of animals goes down into the earth?

²²So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is our lot in life. And no one can bring us back to see what happens after we die.

¹Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless.

²So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.

³But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.

⁴Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless — like chasing the wind.

⁵“Fools fold their idle hands, leading them to ruin.”

⁶And yet, “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”

⁷I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun.

⁸This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.

⁹Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.

¹⁰If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.

¹¹Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?

¹²A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

¹³It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice.

¹⁴Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed. He might even become king, though he has been in prison.

¹⁵But then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth who replaces him.

¹⁶Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless — like chasing the wind.

¹As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God.

²Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.

³Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.

⁴When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him.

⁵It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.

⁶Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.

⁷Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.

⁸Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land. For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy.

⁹Even the king milks the land for his own profit!

¹⁰Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!

¹¹The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth — except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!

¹²People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep.

¹³There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver.

¹⁴Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children.

¹⁵We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.

¹⁶And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing — like working for the wind.

¹⁷Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud — frustrated, discouraged, and angry.

¹⁸Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life.

¹⁹And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life — this is indeed a gift from God.

²⁰God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.

¹There is another serious tragedy I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity.

²God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn’t give them the chance to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth! This is meaningless — a sickening tragedy.

³A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead.

⁴His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a name,

⁵and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man.

⁶He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else — well, what’s the use?

⁷All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough.

⁸So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?

⁹Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless — like chasing the wind.

¹⁰Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.

¹¹The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?

¹²In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?

¹A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume. And the day you die is better than the day you are born.

²Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies — so the living should take this to heart.

³Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.

⁴A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.

⁵Better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool.

⁶A fool’s laughter is quickly gone, like thorns crackling in a fire. This also is meaningless.

⁷Extortion turns wise people into fools, and bribes corrupt the heart.

⁸Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride.

⁹Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.

¹⁰Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise.

¹¹Wisdom is even better when you have money. Both are a benefit as you go through life.

¹²Wisdom and money can get you almost anything, but only wisdom can save your life.

¹³Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what he has made crooked?

¹⁴Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

¹⁵I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people.

¹⁶So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself?

¹⁷On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time?

¹⁸Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes.

¹⁹One wise person is stronger than ten leading citizens of a town!

²⁰Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.

²¹Don’t eavesdrop on others — you may hear your servant curse you.

²²For you know how often you yourself have cursed others.

²³I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work.

²⁴Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find.

²⁵I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness.

²⁶I discovered that a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare.

²⁷“This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle.

²⁸Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman!

²⁹But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”

¹How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness.

²Obey the king since you vowed to God that you would.

³Don’t try to avoid doing your duty, and don’t stand with those who plot evil, for the king can do whatever he wants.

⁴His command is backed by great power. No one can resist or question it.

⁵Those who obey him will not be punished. Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right,

⁶for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble.

⁷Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen?

⁸None of us can hold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death. There is no escaping that obligation, that dark battle. And in the face of death, wickedness will certainly not rescue the wicked.

⁹I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other.

¹⁰I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless.

¹¹When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.

¹²But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off.

¹³The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.

¹⁴And this is not all that is meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless!

¹⁵So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.

¹⁶In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night.

¹⁷I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.

¹This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor.

²The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.

³It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.

⁴There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”

⁵The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered.

⁶Whatever they did in their lifetime — loving, hating, envying — is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth.

⁷So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this!

⁸Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne!

⁹Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil.

¹⁰Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

¹¹I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.

¹²People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.

¹³Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works.

¹⁴There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it.

¹⁵A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him.

¹⁶So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.

¹⁷Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person than the shouts of a foolish king.

¹⁸Better to have wisdom than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much that is good.

¹As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink, so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor.

²A wise person chooses the right road; a fool takes the wrong one.

³You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street!

⁴If your boss is angry at you, don’t quit! A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes.

⁵There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake

⁶when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth.

⁷I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes — and princes walking like servants!

⁸When you dig a well, you might fall in. When you demolish an old wall, you could be bitten by a snake.

⁹When you work in a quarry, stones might fall and crush you. When you chop wood, there is danger with each stroke of your ax.

¹⁰Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That’s the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed.

¹¹If a snake bites before you charm it, what’s the use of being a snake charmer?

¹²Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words.

¹³Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions, so their conclusions will be wicked madness;

¹⁴they chatter on and on. No one really knows what is going to happen; no one can predict the future.

¹⁵Fools are so exhausted by a little work that they can’t even find their way home.

¹⁶What sorrow for the land ruled by a servant, the land whose leaders feast in the morning.

¹⁷Happy is the land whose king is a noble leader and whose leaders feast at the proper time to gain strength for their work, not to get drunk.

¹⁸Laziness leads to a sagging roof; idleness leads to a leaky house.

¹⁹A party gives laughter, wine gives happiness, and money gives everything!

²⁰Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts. And don’t make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom. For a little bird might deliver your message and tell them what you said.