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10:1  Dead flies corrupt and spoil the perfumer’s oil; more weighty than wisdom or wealth is a little folly!
10:2  The wise heart turns to the right; the foolish heart to the left.
10:3  Even when walking in the street the fool, lacking understanding, calls everyone a fool.
10:4  Should the anger of a ruler burst upon you, do not yield your place; for calmness abates great offenses.
10:5  I have seen under the sun another evil, like a mistake that proceeds from a tyrant:
10:6  a fool put in high position, while the great and the rich sit in lowly places.
10:7  I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes went on foot like slaves.
10:8  Whoever digs a pit may fall into it, and whoever breaks through a wall, a snake may bite.
10:9  Whoever quarries stones may be hurt by them, and whoever chops wood is in danger from it.
10:10  If the ax becomes dull, and the blade is not sharpened, then effort must be increased. But the advantage of wisdom is success.
10:11  If the snake bites before it is charmed, then there is no advantage in a charmer.
10:12  Words from the mouth of the wise win favor, but the lips of fools consume them.
10:13  The beginning of their words is folly, and the end of their talk is utter madness;
10:14  yet fools multiply words. No one knows what is to come, for who can tell anyone what will be?
10:15  The toil of fools wearies them, so they do not know even the way to town.
10:16  Woe to you, O land, whose king is a youth, and whose princes feast in the morning!
10:17  Happy are you, O land, whose king is of noble birth, and whose princes dine at the right time— for vigor and not in drinking bouts.
10:18  Because of laziness, the rafters sag; when hands are slack, the house leaks.
10:19  A feast is made for merriment and wine gives joy to the living, but money answers for everything.
10:20  Even in your thoughts do not curse the king, nor in the privacy of your bedroom curse the rich; For the birds of the air may carry your voice, a winged creature may tell what you say.