Ecclesiastes 10:16-18
New International Reader's Version
16 How terrible it is for a land whose king used to be a servant!
How terrible if its princes get drunk in the morning!
17 How blessed is the land whose king was born into the royal family!
How blessed if its princes eat and drink at the proper time!
How blessed if they eat and drink to become strong and not to get drunk!
18 When a person won’t work, the roof falls down.
Because of hands that aren’t busy, the house leaks.
Ecclesiastes 10:16-18
New International Version
16 Woe to the land whose king was a servant[a](A)
and whose princes feast in the morning.
17 Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth
and whose princes eat at a proper time—
for strength and not for drunkenness.(B)
18 Through laziness, the rafters sag;
because of idle hands, the house leaks.(C)
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 10:16 Or king is a child
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