⁸Suppose you see poor people being mistreated somewhere. And what is being done to them isn’t right or fair. Don’t be surprised by that. One official is watched by a higher one. Others who are even higher are watching both of them. ⁹All of them take what the land produces. And the king himself takes his share from the fields.

¹⁰Anyone who loves money never has enough.

Anyone who loves wealth is never satisfied with what he gets.

That doesn’t have any meaning either.

¹¹As more and more goods are made,

more and more people use them up.

So how can those goods benefit their owner?

All he can do is look at them with longing.

¹²The sleep of a worker is sweet.

It doesn’t matter whether he eats a little or a lot.

But the wealth of a rich man

keeps him awake at night.

¹³I’ve seen something very evil on earth.

It’s when wealth is stored up

and then brings harm to its owner.

¹⁴It’s also when wealth is lost

because of an unwise business deal.

Then there won’t be anything left

for the owner’s son.

¹⁵A man is born naked.

He comes into the world with nothing.

And he goes out of it with nothing.

He doesn’t get anything from his work

that he can take with him.

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