he followed the advice of the young men and said,“ My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”

照着少年人所出的主意对民说：“我父亲使你们负重轭，我必使你们负更重的轭！我父亲用鞭子责打你们，我要用蝎子鞭责打你们！”

他照着年轻人所出的主意对他们说：“我父亲使你们负重轭，我必使你们负更重的轭！我父亲用鞭子惩罚你们，我却要用蝎子惩罚你们！”

他照着年轻人所出的主意对他们说：“我父亲使你们负重轭，我必使你们负更重的轭！我父亲用鞭子惩罚你们，我却要用蝎子惩罚你们！”

却照着年轻人给他所出的主意，对他们说：“我父亲加重你们所负的重担，我要使你们负更重的重担；我父亲用鞭子责打你们，我要用蝎子鞭责打你们。”

照着少年人所出的主意對民說：「我父親使你們負重軛，我必使你們負更重的軛！我父親用鞭子責打你們，我要用蠍子鞭責打你們！」

他照着年輕人所出的主意對他們說：「我父親使你們負重軛，我必使你們負更重的軛！我父親用鞭子懲罰你們，我卻要用蠍子懲罰你們！」

他照着年輕人所出的主意對他們說：「我父親使你們負重軛，我必使你們負更重的軛！我父親用鞭子懲罰你們，我卻要用蠍子懲罰你們！」

卻照著年輕人給他所出的主意，對他們說：“我父親加重你們所負的重擔，我要使你們負更重的重擔；我父親用鞭子責打你們，我要用蠍子鞭責打你們。”

反而照少年人出的主意對眾民說：『我父親使你們負的軛很重，我卻要加重你們的軛呢；我父親用鞭子責打你們，我卻要用蠍子鞭責打你們呢。』

依少者之謀、告之曰、我父使爾負重軛、我必益之、我父責爾以鞭、我則責爾以蠍、

乃循少者之謀、謂民曰、我父使爾負重軛、我必使爾負尤重之軛、我父以鞭責爾、我必以蠍責爾、

Instead, he followed the advice of the young men. He said,“ My father put a heavy load on your shoulders. But I’ll make it even heavier. My father beat you with whips. But I’ll beat you with bigger whips.”

he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying,“ My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”

and followed the counsel of his younger advisers. He told the people,“ My father laid heavy burdens on you, but I’m going to make them even heavier! My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions!”

and spoke to them according to the young men’s advice:“ My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips.”

and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying,“ My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions!”

and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying,“ My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!”

and spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

and spoke to them according to the young men’s advice:“ My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips.”

And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father[ also] chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

and followed the advice of the younger ones. He said,“ My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.”

and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying,“ My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”

Then Pharaoh said,“ Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people:“ You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw.But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out,‘ Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told,‘ Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”Pharaoh said,“ Lazy, that’s what you are— lazy! That is why you keep saying,‘ Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

The young men who had grown up with him replied,“ These people have said to you,‘ Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them,‘ My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.Such“ wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisers, to his undoing.He also followed their counsel when he went with Joram son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram;

The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.

They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles,“ Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes.For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say,‘ King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.“ Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she.Then when the king’s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest.”The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memukan proposed.

Then the king’s personal attendants proposed,“ Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them.Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.

The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh,“ I am one of the wise men, a disciple of the ancient kings”?Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt.The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray.

The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.