He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. | One who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor one who loves abundance with its income. This too is futility. |
Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. | So remove sorrow from your heart and keep pain away from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting. |
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Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. | I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a person and his neighbor. This too is futility and striving after wind. |
For the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. | For the customs of the peoples are futile; For it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. They decorate the idol with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not totter. They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good. |
Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. | Wealth obtained from nothing dwindles, But one who gathers by labor increases it. |
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. | Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves. |
Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me. | Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion. |