19. Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.
20. There isn't anyone on earth who does only what is right and never sins.
21. Don't pay attention to everything people say. If you do, you might hear your servant calling down a curse on you.
22. Many times you yourself have called down curses on others. Deep down inside, you know that's true.
23. I used wisdom to put all of those things to the test. I said, "I've made up my mind to be wise." But it was more than I could accomplish.
24. No matter what else wisdom may be, it's far away and very deep. Who can find it?
25. So I tried to understand wisdom more completely. I wanted to study it and figure it out. I tried to find out everything I could about it. I tried to understand why it's foolish to be evil. I wanted to see why choosing foolishness is so unwise.
26. A woman who hunts a man down is more painful than death. Her heart is like a trap. Her hands are like chains. A man who pleases God will try to get away from her. But she will trap a sinner.
27. "Look," says the Teacher. "Here's what I've discovered. "I added one thing to another to find out everything I could about wisdom.
28. I searched and searched but found very little. I did find one honest man among a thousand. But I didn't find one honest woman among a thousand.