Study Desk

For ^(C1)oppression makes a wise person look foolish, And a ^(C2)bribe ^(F1)corrupts the heart.

The ^(C1)end of a matter is better than its beginning; ^(C2)Patience of spirit is better than arrogance of spirit.

Do not be ^(F1)(C1)eager in your spirit to be angry, For anger resides in the ^(F2)heart 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 ^(C1)advantage to those who see the sun.

For ^(C1)wisdom is ^(F1)protection just as money is ^(F1)protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that ^(C2)wisdom keeps its possessors alive.

^(C1)Wisdom strengthens a wise person more than ten rulers who are in a city.

Indeed, ^(C1)there is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin.

Also, do not ^(F1)take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant ^(C1)cursing you,

for ^(F1)you know that even you have cursed others many times as well.

I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, "I will be wise," ^(C1)but wisdom was far from me.

What has been is remote and ^(C1)very ^(F1)mysterious. ^(C2)Who can discover it?

I ^(F1)(C1)directed my ^(F2)mind to know and to investigate, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of foolishness and the foolishness of insanity.

And I discovered as more ^(C1)bitter than death the woman whose heart is ^(C2)snares and nets, whose hands are chains. ^(C3)One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but ^(C4)the sinner will be captured by her.

Dead flies turn a ^(C1)perfumer's oil rancid, so a little foolishness is more ^(F1)potent than wisdom and honor.

A wise person's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish ^(C1)person's heart directs him toward the left.

Even when the fool walks along the road, his ^(F1)sense is lacking, and he ^(F2)(C1)demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.

If the ruler's ^(F1)temper rises against you, ^(C1)do not abandon your place, because ^(C2)composure puts great offenses to rest.

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like a mistake that proceeds from the ruler:

^(C1)foolishness is set in many exalted places while the rich sit in humble places.

I have seen ^(C1)slaves riding ^(C2)on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

^(C1)One who digs a pit may fall into it, and a ^(C2)serpent may bite one who breaks through a wall.

One who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and one who splits logs may be endangered by them.

If the ^(F1)axe is dull and he does not sharpen its ^(F2)edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of bringing success.

If the serpent bites ^(F1)(C1)before being charmed, there is no benefit for the charmer.

^(C1)Words from the mouth of a wise person are gracious, while the lips of a ^(C2)fool consume him;

the beginning of ^(F1)his talking is foolishness, and the end of ^(F2)it is evil ^(C1)insanity.

Yet the ^(C1)fool multiplies words. No person knows what will happen, and who can tell him ^(C2)what will come after him?

The labor of ^(F1)a fool makes him so weary that he does not even know how to go to a city.

Woe to you, land whose ^(C1)king is a boy, and whose princes ^(F1)feast in the morning.

Blessed are you, land whose king is of nobility, and whose princes eat at the appropriate time—for strength and not for ^(C1)drunkenness.

Through ^(C1)extreme laziness the rafters sag, and through idleness the house leaks.

People prepare a meal for enjoyment, ^(C1)wine makes life joyful, and ^(C2)money ^(F1)is the answer to everything.

Furthermore, ^(C1)in your bedroom do not ^(C2)curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich person; for a bird of the sky will bring the sound, and the winged one will make your word known.

^(C1)Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you ^(C1)will find it ^(F1)after many days.

^(C1)Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what ^(C2)misfortune may occur on the earth.

If the clouds are full, they pour out rain on the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it ^(F1)lies.

One who watches the wind will not sow and one who looks at the clouds will not harvest.

Just as you do not ^(C1)know the path of the ^(F1)wind, and ^(C2)how bones are formed in the womb of the ^(F2)pregnant woman, so you do not ^(C3)know the activity of God who makes everything.

Sow your seed ^(C1)in the morning and do not ^(F1)be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether ^(F2)one or the other will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.