16Then I said, |Wisdom is better than strength.| Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.


In Context

13 I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.

15 Now a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

16 Then I said, |Wisdom is better than strength.| Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

Ecclesiastes 9:16 in Other Translations

The King James Version of the Holy Bible

9:16Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard.

The New International Version of the Holy Bible

9:16So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

The Douay-Rheims Version of the Holy Bible

9:16And I said that wisdom is better than strength: how then is the wisdom of the poor man slighted, and his words not heard?

The American Standard Version of the Holy Bible

9:16Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

The Darby Bible Translation of the Holy Bible

9:16Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength; but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

The English Revised Version of the Holy Bible

9:16Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

The Webster Bible Translation of the Holy Bible

9:16Then said I, wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

The Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible

9:16And I said, 'Better is wisdom than might, and the wisdom of the poor is despised, and his words are not heard.' —

The American King James Version of the Holy Bible

9:16Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.