Ecclesiastes 10

Reading Ecclesiastes chapter 10 in the Young's Literal Translation, public-domain text from 1898.

Verses 1–10

1 Dead flies cause a perfumer's perfume To send forth a stink; The precious by reason of wisdom--By reason of honour--a little folly!

2 The heart of the wise is at his right hand, And the heart of a fool at his left.

3 And also, when he that is a fool Is walking in the way, his heart is lacking, And he hath said to every one, `He is a fool.'

4 If the spirit of the ruler go up against thee, Thy place leave not, For yielding quieteth great sinners.

5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, As an error that goeth out from the ruler,

6 He hath set the fool in many high places, And the rich in a low place do sit.

7 I have seen servants on horses, And princes walking as servants on the earth.

8 Whoso is digging a pit falleth into it, And whoso is breaking a hedge, a serpent biteth him.

9 Whoso is removing stones is grieved by them, Whoso is cleaving trees endangered by them.

10 If the iron hath been blunt, And he the face hath not sharpened, Then doth he increase strength, And wisdom is advantageous to make right.

Ecclesiastes in other translations

• KJV Ecclesiastes
• ASV Ecclesiastes
• Darby Ecclesiastes
• DRC Ecclesiastes
• WEB Ecclesiastes
• Webster Ecclesiastes

About this translation

The Young's Literal Translation (1898) is one of seven public-domain translations available in the OCC Bible Explorer. Use the full app to compare translations side by side, search across all translations, and explore Strong's Hebrew and Greek concordance entries linked to every word.