12 You never know when hard times will come. Like fish in a net or birds in a snare, people are often trapped by some disaster that suddenly falls on them.
13 I also saw a person doing a wise thing in this life, and it seemed very important to me.
14 There was a small town with a few people in it. A great king fought against that town and put his armies all around it.
15 But there was a wise man in that town. He was poor, but he used his wisdom to save his town. After everything was finished, the people forgot about the poor man.
16 But I still say that wisdom is better than strength. They forgot about the poor man’s wisdom, and the people stopped listening to what he said. But I still believe that wisdom is better.
17 Words spoken by the wise are heard more clearly than those shouted by a leader among fools.