Skip to the text

Ecclesiastes · King James Version (with Apocrypha)

Ecclesiastes 10 King James Version (with Apocrypha)

Leer en español
About KJV
  • Protestant
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew
  • NT: Textus Receptus
  • Protestant, with the Apocrypha
  • Formal (word for word)
  • 1611
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: [so doth] a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom [and] honour. 2 A wise man’s heart [is] at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left. 3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth [him], and he saith to every one [that] he [is] a fool. 4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences. 5 There is an evil [which] I have seen under the sun, as an error [which] proceedeth from the ruler: 6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. 7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. 8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. 9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; [and] he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. 10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom [is] profitable to direct. 11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. 12 The words of a wise man’s mouth [are] gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth [is] foolishness: and the end of his talk [is] mischievous madness. 14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? 15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

16 ¶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king [is] a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! 17 Blessed [art] thou, O land, when thy king [is] the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

18 ¶ By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.

19 ¶ A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all [things].

20 ¶ Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

Cross references (19)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Matthew 5:13–16; Galatians 2:12–14; Nehemiah 13:26; Exodus 30:25; 2 Chronicles 19:2
  2. 2 Luke 12:18–20; Ecclesiastes 10:14; Luke 14:28–32; Ecclesiastes 10:10; Proverbs 17:16
  3. 3 Proverbs 18:2; Proverbs 13:16; Proverbs 18:6; 1 Peter 4:4; Ecclesiastes 5:3
  4. 4 Proverbs 25:15; Ecclesiastes 8:3; 1 Samuel 25:24–44
  5. 5 Ecclesiastes 5:13; Ecclesiastes 6:1; Ecclesiastes 9:3; Ecclesiastes 4:7; Ecclesiastes 3:16
  6. 6 Proverbs 28:12; Proverbs 29:2; Esther 3:1; Psalm 12:8; 1 Kings 12:13–14
  7. 7 Proverbs 19:10; Esther 6:8; Proverbs 30:22
  8. 8 Proverbs 26:27; Psalm 7:15–16; Esther 7:10; Amos 5:19; Psalm 9:15–16
  9. 10 James 1:5; Colossians 4:5; Ecclesiastes 10:15; 1 Corinthians 14:20; Ephesians 5:15–17
  10. 11 Jeremiah 8:17; Psalm 58:4–5; Psalm 52:2; Psalm 64:3; Proverbs 18:21
  11. 12 Colossians 4:6; Luke 4:22; Proverbs 15:2; Proverbs 22:11; Ephesians 4:29
  12. 13 1 Samuel 25:10–11; Proverbs 29:9; 1 Samuel 20:26–33; 1 Samuel 22:7–8; 2 Kings 6:27
  13. 14 Proverbs 15:2; Ecclesiastes 5:3; James 4:13–14; Ecclesiastes 8:7; Ecclesiastes 3:22
  14. 15 Isaiah 57:1; Jeremiah 50:4–5; Ecclesiastes 10:3; Psalm 107:7; Psalm 107:4
  15. 16 Isaiah 3:12; Isaiah 5:11–12; Isaiah 3:4–5; Proverbs 20:1–2; Jeremiah 21:12
  16. 17 Proverbs 31:4–5; Deuteronomy 14:26; Isaiah 5:11; Ecclesiastes 10:6–7; Jeremiah 30:21
  17. 18 Proverbs 14:1; Proverbs 24:30–34; Proverbs 20:4; Proverbs 21:25; Hebrews 6:11
  18. 19 Psalm 104:15; Philippians 4:15–19; Isaiah 24:11; Ecclesiastes 2:1–2; Luke 12:19
  19. 20 Acts 23:5; Luke 12:2–3; 2 Kings 6:12; Exodus 22:28; Ecclesiastes 7:21–22

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Quotes verse 10:16 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book XVII, Chapter 19)

    Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in season, in fortitude, and not in confusion!" He has called the devil a youth, because of the folly and pride, and rashness and unruliness, and other vices which are wont to abound at that age; but Christ is the Son of nobles, …

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)

  2. Quotes verse 10:4 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture II)

    Therefore saith the Preacher, If the spirit of him that hath power rise up against thee, quit not thy place.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)