One who is covetous will never be satisfied with money, nor will the lover of wealth be content with gain. This too is vanity. | The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity. |
Then I came to realize that all toil and skill in work derive from one person’s envy of another. This also is vanity and a chase after the wind. | Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from one person's envy of another. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind. |
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Banish grief from your heart and ignore the sufferings of your body, for youth and the prime of life are fleeting. | Banish anxiety from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. |
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vanity, but humbly regard others as better than yourselves. | Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. |
Wealth hastily acquired will dwindle away, but when amassed little by little, it will increase. | Wealth hastily gotten will dwindle, but those who gather little by little will increase it. |
Keep falsehood and lying far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but simply provide me with the food that I need. | Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need. |
For the carved images of the nations are powerless; they are nothing more than wood cut from a forest, fashioned with a knife by craftsmen and embellished with silver and gold. Then they are fastened with hammers and nails to prevent them from toppling. Like scarecrows in a cucumber field they are unable to speak, and they must be carried from place to place since they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they can do no harm, nor do they have any power to do good. | For the customs of the peoples are false: a tree from the forest is cut down, and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan; people deck 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, nor is it in them to do good. |