²³ A poor person’s farm may produce much food,
    but injustice sweeps it all away.

¹¹ A hard worker has plenty of food,
    but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.

¹⁹ A hard worker has plenty of food,
    but a person who chases fantasies ends up in poverty.

⁵ Good comes to those who lend money generously
    and conduct their business fairly.

⁷ Even the stork that flies across the sky
    knows the time of her migration,
as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane.^[a]
    They all return at the proper time each year.
But not my people!
    They do not know the Lord’s laws.

⁸ “‘How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the Lord,”
    when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies?
⁹ These wise teachers will fall
    into the trap of their own foolishness,
for they have rejected the word of the Lord.
    Are they so wise after all?
¹⁰ I will give their wives to others
    and their farms to strangers.
From the least to the greatest,
    their lives are ruled by greed.
Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that.
    They are all frauds.

²³ Know the state of your flocks,
    and put your heart into caring for your herds,
²⁴ for riches don’t last forever,
    and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.
²⁵ After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears
    and the mountain grasses are gathered in,
²⁶ your sheep will provide wool for clothing,
    and your goats will provide the price of a field.
²⁷ And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself,
    your family, and your servant girls.

¹⁸ As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit,
    so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded.

¹⁴ Wise words bring many benefits,
    and hard work brings rewards.