⁹ Surely the lowborn^(A) are but a breath,^(B)
    the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance,^(C) they are nothing;
    together they are only a breath.

⁶ Some pour out gold from their bags
    and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith^(A) to make it into a god,
    and they bow down and worship it.^(B)

²³ All hard work brings a profit,
    but mere talk leads only to poverty.

²⁶ Do you mean to correct what I say,
    and treat my desperate words as wind?^(A)