¹³ How foolish it is to say, Today or tomorrow we will go into this town, and be there for a year and do business there and get wealth:

¹ Do not make a noise about tomorrow, for you are not certain what a day's outcome may be.

¹⁷ And he said to himself, What is to be done? for I have no place in which to put all my fruit.

¹⁸ And he said, This I will do: I will take down my store-houses and make greater ones, and there I will put all my grain and my goods.

¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy.

²⁰ But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together?

³ And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks, burning them well. And they had bricks for stone, putting them together with sticky earth.

⁴ And they said, Come, let us make a town, and a tower whose top will go up as high as heaven; and let us make a great name for ourselves, so that we may not be wanderers over the face of the earth.

¹¹ Yes, the dogs are for ever looking for food; while these, the keepers of the sheep, are without wisdom: they have all gone after their pleasure, every one looking for profit; they are all the same.

¹² Come, they say, I will get wine, and we will take strong drink in full measure; and tomorrow will be like today, full of pleasure.

¹² The time has come, the day is near: let not him who gives a price for goods be glad, or him who gets the price have sorrow:

¹ Come now, you men of wealth, give yourselves to weeping and crying because of the bitter troubles which are coming to you.

¹ I said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure--but it was to no purpose.

⁵ And now, this is what I will do to my vine-garden: I will take away the circle of thorns round it, and it will be burned up; its wall will be broken down and the beasts of the field will go through it;

² And it will be the same for the people as for the priest; for the servant as for his master; and for the woman-servant as for her owner; the same for the one offering goods for a price as for him who takes them; the same for him who gives money at interest and for him who takes it; the same for him who lets others have the use of his property as for those who make use of it.

⁷ Come, let us go down and take away the sense of their language, so that they will not be able to make themselves clear to one another.

³⁰ And for those who are in sorrow, to give no signs of it; and for those who are glad, to give no signs of joy; and for those who are getting property, to be as if they had nothing;