Ecclesiastes 10:6-17

6Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones.

7I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.

8Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

9Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.

10If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.

11If a snake bites before it is charmed, the charmer receives no fee.

12Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips.

13At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness—

14and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming— who can tell someone else what will happen after them?

15The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town.

16Woe to the land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning.

17Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time— for strength and not for drunkenness.