Ecclesiastes 10:15

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

The toil of a stupid fool wears him out, because he does not even know the way to the city.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Ps 107:4 : 4 They wandered through the wilderness, in a wasteland; they found no road to a city in which to live.
  • Ps 107:7 : 7 He led them on a level road, that they might find a city in which to live.
  • Eccl 10:3 : 3 Even when a fool walks along the road he lacks sense, and shows everyone what a fool he is.
  • Eccl 10:10 : 10 If an iron axhead is blunt and a workman does not sharpen its edge, he must exert a great deal of effort; so wisdom has the advantage of giving success.
  • Isa 35:8-9 : 8 A thoroughfare will be there– it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it; it is reserved for those authorized to use it– fools will not stray into it. 9 No lions will be there, no ferocious wild animals will be on it– they will not be found there. Those delivered from bondage will travel on it, 10 those whom the LORD has ransomed will return that way. They will enter Zion with a happy shout. Unending joy will crown them, happiness and joy will overwhelm them; grief and suffering will disappear.
  • Isa 44:12-17 : 12 A blacksmith works with his tool and forges metal over the coals. He forms it with hammers; he makes it with his strong arm. He gets hungry and loses his energy; he drinks no water and gets tired. 13 A carpenter takes measurements; he marks out an outline of its form; he scrapes it with chisels, and marks it with a compass. He patterns it after the human form, like a well-built human being, and puts it in a shrine. 14 He cuts down cedars and acquires a cypress or an oak. He gets trees from the forest; he plants a cedar and the rain makes it grow. 15 A man uses it to make a fire; he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire– over that half he cooks meat; he roasts a meal and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says,‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’ 17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying,‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
  • Isa 47:12-13 : 12 Persist in trusting your amulets and your many incantations, which you have faithfully recited since your youth! Maybe you will be successful– maybe you will scare away disaster. 13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. Let them take their stand– the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions– let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you!
  • Isa 55:2 : 2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? Why spend your hard-earned money on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is nourishing! Enjoy fine food!
  • Isa 57:1 : 1 The godly perish, but no one cares. Honest people disappear, when no one minds that the godly disappear because of evil.
  • Jer 50:4-5 : 4 “When that time comes,” says the LORD,“the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together. They will come back with tears of repentance as they seek the LORD their God. 5 They will ask the way to Zion; they will turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
  • Hab 2:6 : 6 The Proud Babylonians Are as Good as Dead“But all these nations will someday taunt him and ridicule him with proverbial sayings:‘Woe to the one who accumulates what does not belong to him(How long will this go on?)– he who gets rich by extortion!’
  • Matt 11:28-30 : 28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Eccl 10:3
    80%

    3Even when a fool walks along the road he lacks sense, and shows everyone what a fool he is.

  • Eccl 10:13-14
    2 verses
    80%

    13At the beginning his words are foolish and at the end his talk is wicked madness,

    14yet a fool keeps on babbling. No one knows what will happen; who can tell him what will happen in the future?

  • Prov 14:7-8
    2 verses
    77%

    7Walk abreast with a foolish person, and you do not understand wise counsel.

    8The wisdom of the shrewd person is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deception.

  • Prov 13:16
    76%

    16Every shrewd person acts with knowledge, but a fool displays his folly.

  • Prov 15:21
    76%

    21Folly is a joy to one who lacks sense, but one who has understanding follows an upright course.

  • Prov 12:15
    75%

    15The way of a fool is right in his own opinion, but the one who listens to advice is wise.

  • Prov 19:2-3
    2 verses
    75%

    2It is dangerous to have zeal without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily makes poor choices.

    3A person’s folly subverts his way, and his heart rages against the LORD.

  • Ps 92:6
    74%

    6The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this; the fool does not understand this.

  • Prov 17:16
    74%

    16What’s the point of a fool having money in hand to buy wisdom, when his head is empty?

  • Prov 14:24
    74%

    24The crown of the wise is their riches, but the folly of fools is folly.

  • Eccl 6:8
    74%

    8So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive?

  • Prov 24:7
    74%

    7Wisdom is unattainable for a fool; in court he does not open his mouth.

  • Prov 10:23
    74%

    23Carrying out a wicked scheme is enjoyable to a fool, and so is wisdom for the one who has discernment.

  • Prov 15:14
    74%

    14The discerning mind seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on folly.

  • Prov 18:2
    73%

    2A fool takes no pleasure in understanding but only in disclosing what is on his mind.

  • Eccl 2:14-16
    3 verses
    73%

    14The wise man can see where he is going, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that the same fate happens to them both.

    15So I thought to myself,“The fate of the fool will happen even to me! Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively wise?” So I lamented to myself,“The benefits of wisdom are ultimately meaningless!”

    16For the wise man, like the fool, will not be remembered for very long, because in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies– just like the fool!

  • Prov 10:14
    73%

    14Those who are wise store up knowledge, but foolish speech leads to imminent destruction.

  • Prov 17:24-25
    2 verses
    73%

    24Wisdom is directly in front of the discerning person, but the eyes of a fool run to the ends of the earth.

    25A foolish child is a grief to his father, and bitterness to the mother who bore him.

  • Prov 14:16
    72%

    16A wise person is cautious and turns from evil, but a fool throws off restraint and is overconfident.

  • Prov 23:9
    72%

    9Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

  • Prov 11:29
    72%

    29The one who troubles his family will inherit nothing, and the fool will be a servant to the wise person.

  • Prov 14:33
    72%

    33Wisdom rests in the heart of the discerning; it is not known in the inner parts of fools.

  • Prov 29:9
    72%

    9When a wise person goes to court with a foolish person, there is no peace whether he is angry or laughs.

  • Prov 12:23
    72%

    23The shrewd person conceals knowledge, but foolish people proclaim folly.

  • Eccl 4:5
    72%

    5The fool folds his hands and does no work, so he has nothing to eat but his own flesh.

  • Prov 26:9
    72%

    9Like a thorn has gone up into the hand of a drunkard, so a proverb has gone up into the mouth of a fool.

  • Eccl 2:19
    72%

    19Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so wisely on earth! This also is futile!

  • Prov 26:5
    72%

    5Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own opinion.

  • Job 17:10
    71%

    10Anticipation of Death“But turn, all of you, and come now! I will not find a wise man among you.

  • Eccl 2:21
    71%

    21For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; however, he must hand over the fruit of his labor as an inheritance to someone else who did not work for it. This also is futile, and an awful injustice!

  • Prov 10:8
    71%

    8The wise person accepts instructions, but the one who speaks foolishness will come to ruin.

  • Prov 17:21
    71%

    21Whoever brings a fool into the world does so to his grief, and the father of a fool has no joy.

  • Prov 29:11
    71%

    11A fool lets fly with all his temper, but a wise person keeps it back.

  • Jer 5:4
    71%

    4I thought,“Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. They act like fools because they do not know what the LORD demands. They do not know what their God requires of them.

  • Prov 14:18
    71%

    18The naive have inherited folly, but the shrewd will be crowned with knowledge.

  • Prov 27:22
    71%

    22If you should pound the fool in the mortar among the grain with the pestle, his foolishness would not depart from him.

  • Prov 9:13
    71%

    13The woman called Folly is brash, she is naive and does not know anything.

  • Ps 94:8
    71%

    8Take notice of this, you ignorant people! You fools, when will you ever understand?

  • Prov 19:10
    71%

    10Luxury is not appropriate for a fool; how much less for a servant to rule over princes!

  • Prov 24:30
    71%

    30I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of one who lacks sense.

  • Eccl 7:6
    71%

    6For like the crackling of quick-burning thorns under a cooking pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This kind of folly also is useless.

  • Prov 5:23
    71%

    23He will die because there was no discipline; because of the greatness of his folly he will reel.

  • Prov 20:3
    71%

    3It is an honor for a person to cease from strife, but every fool quarrels.

  • Prov 15:5
    70%

    5A fool rejects his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds reproof shows good sense.