10 Whoever loves money never has enough;
    whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
    This too is meaningless.

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10 For the love of money(A) is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith(B) and pierced themselves with many griefs.(C)

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24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.(A)

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15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”(A)

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Treasures in Heaven(A)

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,(B) where moths and vermin destroy,(C) and where thieves break in and steal.

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There was a man all alone;
    he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
    yet his eyes were not content(A) with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
    “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
    a miserable business!

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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.(A)

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indeed, wine(A) betrays him;
    he is arrogant(B) and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
    and like death is never satisfied,(C)
he gathers to himself all the nations
    and takes captive(D) all the peoples.

“Will not all of them taunt(E) him with ridicule and scorn, saying,

“‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
    and makes himself wealthy by extortion!(F)
    How long must this go on?’
Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
    Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
    Then you will become their prey.(G)

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26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,(A) knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth(B) to hand it over to the one who pleases God.(C) This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

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11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
    and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;(A)
    nothing was gained under the sun.(B)

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10 Do not trust in extortion(A)
    or put vain hope in stolen goods;(B)
though your riches increase,
    do not set your heart on them.(C)

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16 There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

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19 Surely the fate of human beings(A) is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[a]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:19 Or spirit

Toil Is Meaningless

17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(A) 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.(B)

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17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,(A) and also of madness and folly,(B) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

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15 “The leech has two daughters.
    ‘Give! Give!’ they cry.

“There are three things that are never satisfied,(A)
    four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
16 the grave,(B) the barren womb,
    land, which is never satisfied with water,
    and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’

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“Here now is the man
    who did not make God his stronghold(A)
but trusted in his great wealth(B)
    and grew strong by destroying others!”

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Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,
    yet their appetite is never satisfied.(A)

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Psalm 52[a]

For the director of music. A maskil[b] of David. When Doeg the Edomite(A) had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”

Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
    Why do you boast(B) all day long,(C)
    you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 52:1 In Hebrew texts 52:1-9 is numbered 52:3-11.
  2. Psalm 52:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term

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