Ecclesiastes 10:16-18 in English

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy 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 slothfulness the roof sinketh in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh.

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O city, whose king is young, and thy princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Blessed art thou, O land, whose king is a son of nobles, and whose princes shall eat seasonably, for strength, and shall not be ashamed.

¹⁸ By slothful neglect a building will be brought low: and by idleness of the hands the house will fall to pieces.

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.

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.

¹⁶ Woe to you, O city, whose king is young, and your princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Blessed are you, O land, whose king is a son of nobles, and whose princes shall eat seasonably, for strength, and shall not be ashamed.

¹⁸ By slothful neglect a building will be brought low: and by idleness of the hands the house will fall to pieces.

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy 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 slothfulness the roof sinketh in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh.

¹⁶ Terrible things will happen to the people of a nation whose ruler is a foolish young man, and whose other leaders continually eat, all day long, every day.

¹⁷ But a nation will prosper if its ruler is from a ◄noble/well-educated► family, and if its other leaders feast only at the proper times, and if they eat and drink only to be strong, not to become drunk.

¹⁸ Some men are very lazy and do not repair the rafters, with the result that the rafters sag and collapse; and if they do not repair the roof, water will leak into the house when it rains.

¹⁶ Woe to you, O city, whose king is young, and your princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Blessed are you, O land, whose king is a son of nobles, and whose princes shall eat seasonably, for strength, and shall not be ashamed.

¹⁸ By slothful neglect a building will be brought low: and by idleness of the hands the house will fall to pieces.

¹⁶ Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸ By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

¹⁶ Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸ By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

¹⁶ Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸ By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

¹⁶ Unhappy is the land whose king is a boy, and whose rulers are feasting in the morning.

¹⁷ Happy is the land whose ruler is of noble birth, and whose chiefs take food at the right time, for strength and not for feasting.

¹⁸ When no work is done the roof goes in, and when the hands do nothing water comes into the house.

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is a son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸ By much sloth fulness the framework falleth in; and through idleness of the hands the house drippeth.

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and when the princes eat in the morning.

¹⁷ Blessed is the land, whose king is noble, and whose princes eat in due season for refreshment, and not for riotousness.

¹⁸ By slothfulness a building shall be brought down, and through the weakness of hands, the house shall drop through.

¹⁶ You're in trouble if the king of your country is young, and if your leaders are busy feasting from early morning.

¹⁷ You're fortunate if your king comes from a noble family, and your leaders feast at the proper time to give themselves energy, and not to get drunk.

¹⁸ Lazy people let their roofs collapse; idle people don't repair their leaky houses.

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O lande, when thy King is a childe, and thy princes eate in the morning.

¹⁷ Blessed art thou, O land, when thy King is the sonne of nobles, and thy princes eate in time, for strength and not for drunkennesse.

¹⁸ By slouthfulnes the roofe of the house goeth to decaie, and by the ydlenesse of the handes the house droppeth through.

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a boy, and thy princes feast in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is a free man, and thy princes eat in due season, in strength, and not in drunkenness!

¹⁸ By slothfulness the rafters sink in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh.

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.

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is lowminded, and when thy princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is noble-spirited, and thy princes eat in proper time, for strengthening, and not for gluttony!—

¹⁸ Through slothful hands the rafters will sink; and through idleness of the hands the house will become leaky.

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O city, whose king is young, And thy princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Blessed art thou, O land, whose king is a son of nobles, And whose princes shall eat seasonably, for strength, And shall not be ashamed.

¹⁸ By slothful neglect a building will be brought low: And by idleness of the hands the house will fall to pieces.

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes feast in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy thou, O land, when thy king is a noble, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸ By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and by the slackness of the hands the house leaketh.

¹⁶ Woe to you, land, if your king is a young boy, and if your leaders begin feasting in the morning!

¹⁷ But blessed are you, land, if your king is the son of nobles, and if your leaders eat at the right time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸ Because of laziness the roof sinks in, and because of idle hands the house leaks.

¹⁶ Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸ By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

¹⁶ Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸ By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

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.

¹⁶ Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸ By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

¹⁶ Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning!

¹⁷ Happy are you, land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸ By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

¹⁶ Land, woe to thee, whose king is a child, and whose princes eat early.

¹⁷ Blessed is the land, whose king is noble; and whose princes eat in their time, to sustain their kind, and not to lechery.

¹⁸ The highness of houses shall be made low in sloths; and the house shall drop rain in the feebleness of hands.

¹⁶ Land, woe to thee, whose king is a child, and whose princes eat early.

¹⁷ Blessed is the land, whose king is noble; and whose princes eat in their time, to (only) sustain the(ir) kind, and not to lechery. (Happy is the land, whose king is well born, or refined; and whose leaders eat at the proper time, only to sustain themselves, and not unto drunkenness.)

¹⁸ The highness of houses shall be made low in sloths; and the house shall drop (rain) in the feebleness of hands (or and a house shall leak due to feeble, or weak, hands).

¹⁶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a youth, And thy princes do eat in the morning.

¹⁷ Happy art thou, O land, When thy king is a son of freemen, And thy princes do eat in due season, For might, and not for drunkenness.

¹⁸ By slothfulness is the wall brought low, And by idleness of the hands doth the house drop.