12 You never know when your time is coming. Like birds suddenly caught in a trap, like fish caught in a net, we are trapped at some evil moment when we least expect it.
13 There is something else I saw, a good example of how wisdom is regarded in this world.
14 There was a little town without many people in it. A powerful king attacked it. He surrounded it and prepared to break through the walls.
15 Someone lived there who was poor, but so clever that he could have saved the town. But no one thought about him.
16 I have always said that wisdom is better than strength, but no one thinks of the poor as wise or pays any attention to what they say.
17 It is better to listen to the quiet words of a wise person than to the shouts of a ruler at a council of fools.
18 Wisdom does more good than weapons, but one sinner can undo a lot of good.