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Wealth brings many friends,
    but the poor are left friendless.(A)

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Riches increase one’s friends,
    but the poor lose their friends.

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Many seek the favor of the generous,
    and everyone is a friend to a giver of gifts.(A)
If the poor are hated even by their kin,
    how much more are they shunned by their friends!
When they call after them, they are not there.[a](B)

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Footnotes

  1. 19.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain

Many seek favor from rulers;
    everyone befriends a gift giver.
All the relatives of the poor hate them;
    even more, their friends stay far from them.
    When they pursue them with words, they aren’t there.

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The rich and the poor have this in common:
    the Lord is the maker of them all.

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The rich and the poor have this in common:
    the Lord made them both.

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The rich rule over the poor,
    and the borrower is the slave of the lender.(A)

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The wealthy rule over the poor;
    a borrower is a slave to a lender.

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Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
    be wise enough to desist.(A)
When your eyes light upon it, it is gone,
    for suddenly it takes wings to itself,
    flying like an eagle toward heaven.

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Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich;
    be smart enough to stop.
When your eyes fly to wealth
    it is gone; it grows wings
    like an eagle and flies heavenward.

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The sated appetite spurns honey,
    but to a ravenous appetite even the bitter is sweet.(A)

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Someone who is full refuses honey,
    but anything bitter tastes sweet to a hungry person.

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Better to be poor and walk in integrity
    than to be crooked in one’s ways even though rich.(A)

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Better to be poor and walk in innocence
    than to be on crooked paths and wealthy.

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One who augments wealth by exorbitant interest
    gathers it for another who is kind to the poor.(A)

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Those who become rich through high interest rates
    gather money for those who are generous to the poor.

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11 The rich is wise in self-esteem,
    but an intelligent poor person sees through the pose.(A)

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11 Rich people think they are wise,
    but an insightful poor person sees through them.

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20 The faithful will abound with blessings,
    but one who is in a hurry to be rich will not go unpunished.(A)
21 To show partiality is not good,
    yet for a piece of bread a person may do wrong.
22 The miser is in a hurry to get rich
    and does not know that loss is sure to come.

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20 Reliable people will have abundant blessings,
    but those with get-rich-quick schemes won’t go unpunished.
21 Those who show favoritism aren’t good;
    people do wrong for a crust of bread.
22 The stingy try to get rich fast,
    unaware that loss will come to them.

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