Reading Ecclesiastes 10:1-20
Insights on: folly; heart of fool versus heart of wise; calmness can lay great errors to rest (vs 4, NIV); words from a wise man’s mouth are gracious (vs 12); careful with your thoughts and what you say because a bird of the air may carry your words..(vs 20)
Ecclesiastes 10:1-20, GNB
[1]Dead flies can make a whole bottle of perfume stink, and a little stupidity can cancel out the greatest wisdom.
[2]It is natural for the wise to do the right thing and for fools to do the wrong thing.
[3]Their stupidity will be evident even to strangers they meet along the way; they let everyone know that they are fools.
[4]If your ruler becomes angry with you, do not hand in your resignation; serious wrongs may be pardoned if you keep calm.
[5]Here is an injustice I have seen in the world — an injustice caused by rulers.
[6]Stupid people are given positions of authority while the rich are ignored.
[7]I have seen slaves on horseback while noblemen go on foot like slaves.
[8]If you dig a pit, you fall in it; if you break through a wall, a snake bites you.
[9]If you work in a stone quarry, you get hurt by stones. If you split wood, you get hurt doing it.
[10]If your axe is blunt and you don’t sharpen it, you have to work harder to use it. It is more sensible to plan ahead.
[11]Knowing how to charm a snake is of no use if you let the snake bite first.
[12]What the wise say brings them honour, but fools are destroyed by their own words.
[13]They start out with silly talk and end up with pure madness.
[14]A fool talks on and on.No one knows what is going to happen next, and no one can tell us what will happen after we die.
[15]Only someone too stupid to find his way home would wear himself out with work.
[16]A country is in trouble when its king is a youth and its leaders feast all night long.
[17]But a country is fortunate to have a king who makes his own decisions and leaders who eat at the proper time, who control themselves and don’t get drunk.
[18]When someone is too lazy to repair his roof, it will leak, and the house will fall in.
[19]Feasting makes you happy and wine cheers you up, but you can’t have either without money.
[20]Don’t criticize the king, even silently, and don’t criticize the rich, even in the privacy of your bedroom. A bird might carry the message and tell them what you said.