| He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity. | Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. |
| Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, And put away evil from your flesh, For childhood and youth 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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| Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the 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. |
| Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, But he who gathers by labor will increase. | Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow. |
| Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. | Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. |
| Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches— Feed me with the food allotted to me. | Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. |
| For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not topple. They are upright, like a palm tree, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, For they cannot do evil, Nor can they do any 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. |
