A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty awaits him.

The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:

and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.

To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.

A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.

Their land is full of silver and gold, with no limit to their treasures; their land is full of horses, with no limit to their chariots.

Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.

You who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut.

By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, but your heart has grown proud because of it.

And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become! I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they can find in me no iniquity that is sinful.”