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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Ecclesiastes 10 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ecclesiastes/10.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/ecclesiastes/10-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">GNT</a> > Ecclesiastes 10</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ecclesiastes/9.htm" title="Ecclesiastes 9">◄</a> Ecclesiastes 10 <a href="../ecclesiastes/11.htm" title="Ecclesiastes 11">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><p class="par"><span class="v21_10_1"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.1" class="v21_10_1">1</span>Dead flies can make a whole bottle of perfume stink, and a little stupidity can cancel out the greatest wisdom.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v21_10_2"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.2" class="v21_10_2">2</span>It is natural for the wise to do the right thing and for fools to do the wrong thing. </span><span class="v21_10_3"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.3" class="v21_10_3">3</span>Their stupidity will be evident even to strangers they meet along the way; they let everyone know that they are fools.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v21_10_4"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.4" class="v21_10_4">4</span>If your ruler becomes angry with you, do not hand in your resignation; serious wrongs may be pardoned if you keep calm.<a href="#fn" id="link_Eccl.10.4!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v21_10_5"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.5" class="v21_10_5">5</span>Here is an injustice I have seen in the world—an injustice caused by rulers. </span><span class="v21_10_6"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.6" class="v21_10_6">6</span>Stupid people are given positions of authority while the rich are ignored. </span><span class="v21_10_7"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.7" class="v21_10_7">7</span>I have seen slaves on horseback while noblemen go on foot like slaves.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v21_10_8"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.8" class="v21_10_8">8</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Eccl.10.8!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> If you dig a pit, you fall in it; if you break through a wall, a snake bites you. </span><span class="v21_10_9"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.9" class="v21_10_9">9</span>If you work in a stone quarry, you get hurt by stones. If you split wood, you get hurt doing it. </span><span class="v21_10_10"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.10" class="v21_10_10">10</span>If your ax is dull and you don't sharpen it, you have to work harder to use it. It is smarter to plan ahead. </span><span class="v21_10_11"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.11" class="v21_10_11">11</span>Knowing how to charm a snake is of no use if you let the snake bite first. </span><span class="v21_10_12"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.12" class="v21_10_12">12</span>What the wise say brings them honor, but fools are destroyed by their own words. </span><span class="v21_10_13"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.13" class="v21_10_13">13</span>They start out with silly talk and end up with pure madness. </span><span class="v21_10_14"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.14" class="v21_10_14">14</span>A fool talks on and on.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v21_10_14">No one knows what is going to happen next, and no one can tell us what will happen after we die.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v21_10_15"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.15" class="v21_10_15">15</span>Only someone too stupid to find his way home would wear himself out with work.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v21_10_16"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.16" class="v21_10_16">16</span>A country is in trouble when its king is a youth and its leaders feast all night long. </span><span class="v21_10_17"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.17" class="v21_10_17">17</span>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.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v21_10_18"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.18" class="v21_10_18">18</span>When you are too lazy to repair your roof, it will leak, and the house will fall in.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v21_10_19"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.19" class="v21_10_19">19</span>Feasting makes you happy and wine cheers you up, but you can't have either without money.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v21_10_20"><span class="reftext" id="Eccl.10.20" class="v21_10_20">20</span>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.</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">10.4: </char><char style="fq" closed="false">keep calm; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">or </char><char style="fq" closed="false">submit to him.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p class="yiv9003199930MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;">Bible text from the Good News Translation (GNT) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). 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