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- ¶ LIKE dead flies which make the container of precious ointment stink, so does a great folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
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- A wise man’s heart thinks rightly;
but a fool’s heart thinks wrongly.
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- Yea also, when the fool walks by the way, he lacks wisdom, and whatever he reasons is folly.
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- ¶ If the temper of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your country;
because healing forgives many sins.
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- There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, like an error which proceeds from before a ruler:
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- The fool is set in high and powerful places, and the rich shall sit in a low place.
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- I have seen servants riding upon horses, and princes walking like servants on the ground.
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- He who digs a pit shall fall into it;
and he who breaks a hedge will be bitten by a serpent.
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- He who removes landmarks shall suffer pain by them;
and he who cuts trees shall be wounded by them.
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- Just as the edge of a weapon may be blunt, and not sharpened, and yet may cause many to be slain, so wisdom is more advantageous to those who are diligent.
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- If the serpent bites without being charmed;
then in vain is a charmer.
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- ¶ The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious;
but the lips of a fool will ruin him.
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- The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness;
and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
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- A fool multiplies words;
a man cannot tell what has been; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
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- The labor of fools wears them out because they do not know how to buy and sell in the city.
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- ¶ Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning!
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- Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of a noble and your princes eat in due time, for strength and not for drunkenness!
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- By slothfulness a roof shall be brought down;
and through idleness of hands water drips through.
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- Bread and wine are made for joy, and oil makes life merry;
but money brings one low and causes him to go astray in all things.
- 20
- Do not curse the king, no not even in your thought;
and do not curse the rich in your bedchamber; for a bird of the air shall carry your voice, and that which has wings shall tell the matter.
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