Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, ^(A)“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—

¹⁷ and he thought to himself, ^(A)‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my ^(B)barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up ^(C)for many years; relax, ^(D)eat, drink, be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ^(E)‘Fool! ^(F)This night ^(G)your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, ^(H)whose will they be?’

³ And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, ^(A)and bitumen for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower ^(B)with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

The Vanity of Self-Indulgence

2 I ^(A)said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.^[a]

^12 (A)The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not ^(B)the buyer rejoice, nor ^(C)the seller mourn, ^(D)for wrath is upon all their multitude.^[a]

Warning to the Rich

5 Come now, ^(A)you rich, weep and howl for the ^(B)miseries that are coming upon you.