New International Reader's Version

Ecclesiastes 10:9-19 New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

9. Anyone who removes stones from rock pits might get hurt. Anyone who cuts logs might get wounded.

10. Suppose the blade of an ax is dull. And its edge hasn't been sharpened. Then more effort is needed to use it. But skill will bring success.

11. Suppose a snake bites before it is charmed. Then there isn't any benefit in being a snake charmer.

12. A man who is wise says gracious things. But a foolish person is destroyed by what his own lips speak.

13. At first what he says is foolish. In the end his words are very evil.

14. He talks too much. No one knows what lies ahead for him. Who can tell him what will happen after he is gone?

15. The work a foolish person does makes him tired. He doesn't even know the way to town.

16. How terrible it is for a land whose king used to be a servant! How terrible if its princes get drunk in the morning!

17. How blessed is the land whose king was born into the royal family! How blessed if its princes eat and drink at the proper time! How blessed if they eat and drink to become strong and not to get drunk!

18. When a man won't work, the roof falls down. When his hands aren't busy, the house leaks.

19. People laugh at a dinner party. And wine makes life happy. People think money can buy everything.