| 1 Don’t be impulsive and hasty with words in the presence of God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. For that reason let your words be few. | |
| 2 For dreams come from over-anxiety and foolish talk from too many words. | |
| 3 When you make a vow to God, waste no time in fulfilling it, for he takes no pleasure in fools. Do what you vowed. | |
| 4 Better not to make a vow than to fail to fulfill it. | |
| 5 Don’t let your speech cause you to sin, and then tell God’s minister it was a mistake. Why anger God by what you say and destroy the work of your hands? From much dreaming and many words comes emptiness. | |
| 6 So fear God. | |
| 7 If you see the poor oppressed, right and justice denied in the province, do not be surprised, for over a high-placed official a higher one watches, and over both of these a still higher one watches. | |
| 8 The produce of the land benefits everyone and the king serves the land. | |
| 9 Whoever loves money will not be satisfied with money. Whoever loves wealth hasn’t sufficient income. This is senseless. | |
| 10 When there is abundance of good things there is abundance of consumers. What profit is there for the owner except to look on? | |
| 11 Sweet the sleep of the laborer, whether he eats little or much. But the rich man who has had his fill cannot sleep. | |
| 12 There is a great evil that I found under the sun, the rich man who kept his wealth to his own harm. | |
| 13 A mistaken investment and these riches are lost; a son is born but there is nothing to leave him. | |
| 14 Naked he came from his mother’s womb, he returns as he came – naked. Nothing of the fruit of his toil is he able to take with him. | |
| 15 That, too, is a grievous evil: As he came, so he goes. So what did he gain from chasing the wind? | |
| 16 Why did he eat in darkness all through his life, amidst great sorrow, suffering and vexation? | |
| 17 This is what I saw as most fitting for man: to eat, drink and be happy in all the work he does under the sun during the days God grants him; this is his reward. | |
| 18 And when God gives a man riches and property with the possibility of enjoying them and being happy in his work, this is a gift from God. | |
| 19 As long as God keeps him occupied in the gladness of his heart, he is not concerned about how long he will live. | |
