King James Version

Ecclesiastes 10:12

The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

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Hebrew

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דִּבְרֵ֥יdivrecauseדָּבָרnoun, common, masculine, plural, construct — “cause”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH1697a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a causeact, advice, affair, answer, [idiom] any such (thing), because of, book, business, care, case, cause, certain rate, [phrase] chronicles, commandment, [idiom] commune(-ication), [phrase] concern(-ing), [phrase] confer, counsel, [phrase] dea…פִיfiedgeפֶּהnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “edge”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH6310the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech); specifically edge, portion or side; adverbially (with preposition) according toaccord(-ing as, -ing to), after, appointment, assent, collar, command(-ment), [idiom] eat, edge, end, entry, [phrase] file, hole, [idiom] in, mind, mouth, part, portion, [idiom] (should) say(-ing), sentence, skirt, sound, speech, [idiom] s…חָכָ֖םchakhamwise , manחָכָםadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “wise , man”, the ordinary formH2450wise, (i.e. intelligent, skilful or artful)cunning (man), subtil, (un-), wise((hearted), man).חֵ֑ןchenfavourחֵןnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “favour”, the ordinary formH2580graciousness, i.e. subjective (kindness, favor) or objective (beauty)favour, grace(-ious), pleasant, precious, (well-) favoured.וְשִׂפְת֥וֹתvesiftotand languageשָׂפָהconjunction, noun, common, feminine, plural, construct — “and language”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH8193the lip (as a natural boundary); by implication, language; by analogy, a margin (of a vessel, water, cloth, etc.)band, bank, binding, border, brim, brink, edge, language, lip, prating, (sea-)shore, side, speech, talk, (vain) words.כְּסִ֖ילkesilfoolכְּסִילadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “fool”, the ordinary formH3684properly, fat, i.e. (figuratively) stupid or sillyfool(-ish).תְּבַלְּעֶֽנּוּtevalenvdestroyבָּלַעverb, piel, imperfect, 3rd person, feminine, singular, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “destroy”, an unfinished actionH1104to make away with (specifically by swallowing); generally, to destroycover, destroy, devour, eat up, be at end, spend up, swallow down (up).

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

Young’s Literal Translation

Words of the mouth of the wise [are] gracious, And the lips of a fool swallow him up.

World English Bible

The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but a fool is swallowed by his own lips.

Darby Translation

The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool swallow up himself.

Douay-Rheims

The words of the mouth of a wise man are grace: but the lips of a fool shall throw him down headlong.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

The words of a wise mouth are gracious: but the lips of a fool will swallow him up.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Λόγοι στόματος σοφοῦ χάρις, καὶ χείλη ἄφρονος καταποντιοῦσιν αὐτόν.