| He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. | Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. |
| Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. | So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. |
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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. | And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the 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 practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; 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. | Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow. |
| Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. | Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above 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 falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. |
