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For ^(j)oppression makes a wise man mad, And a ^(k)bribe ^[g]corrupts the heart.

The ^(l)end of a matter is better than its beginning; ^(m)Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.

Do not be ^[h](n)eager in your heart to be angry, For anger resides in the bosom of fools.

Do not say, "Why is it that the former days were better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

Wisdom along with an inheritance is good And an ^(o)advantage to those who see the sun.

For ^(p)wisdom is ^[i]protection just as money is ^[j]protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that ^(q)wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.

^(ad)Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

Indeed, ^(ae)there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

Also, do not ^[n]take seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant ^(af)cursing you.

For ^[o]you also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others.

I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, "I will be wise," ^(ag)but it was far from me.

What has been is remote and ^(ah)exceedingly ^[p]mysterious. ^(ai)Who can discover it?

I ^[q](aj)directed my ^[r]mind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness.

And I discovered more ^(ak)bitter than death the woman whose heart is ^(al)snares and nets, whose hands are chains. ^(am)One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but ^(an)the sinner will be captured by her.

Dead flies make a ^(a)perfumer's oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.

A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish ^(b)man's heart directs him toward the left.

Even when the fool walks along the road, his ^[a]sense is lacking and he ^[b](c)demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.

If the ruler's ^[c]temper rises against you, ^(d)do not abandon your position, because ^(e)composure allays great offenses.

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which goes forth from the ruler—

^(f)folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places.

I have seen ^(g)slaves riding ^(h)on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

⁽ⁱ⁾He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a ^(j)serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall.

He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them.

If the ^[d]axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must ^[e]exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

If the serpent bites ^[f](k)before being charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.

^(l)Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a ^(m)fool consume him;

the beginning of ^[g]his talking is folly and the end of ^[h]it is wicked ⁽ⁿ⁾madness.

Yet the ^(o)fool multiplies words. No man knows what will happen, and who can tell him ^(p)what will come after him?

The toil of ^[i]a fool so wearies him that he does not even know how to go to a city.

Woe to you, O land, whose ^(q)king is a lad and whose princes ^[j]feast in the morning.

Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time—for strength and not for ^(r)drunkenness.

Through ^(s)indolence the rafters sag, and through slackness the house leaks.

Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and ^(t)wine makes life merry, and ^(u)money ^[k]is the answer to everything.

Furthermore, ^(v)in your bedchamber do not ^(w)curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man, for a bird of the heavens will carry the sound and the winged creature will make the matter known.

^(a)Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you ^(b)will find it ^[a]after many days.

^(c)Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what ^(d)misfortune may occur on the earth.

If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it ^[b]lies.

He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.

Just as you do not ^(e)know ^[c]the path of the wind and ^(f)how bones are formed in the womb of the ^[d]pregnant woman, so you do not ^(g)know the activity of God who makes all things.

Sow your seed ^(h)in the morning and do not ^[e]be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether ^[f]morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.