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- ¶ HEAR this, all people;
give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
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- Children of earth and sons of men, rich and poor together.
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- My mouth shall speak of wisdom;
and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
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- I will incline my ear to parables;
I will chant my proverbs upon the harp.
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- I will fear not in days of evil, when the iniquity of my enemies shall surround me,
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- ¶ They who trust in their own strength and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches.
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- A brother cannot save a brother, nor can a man give to God a ransom for himself;
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- For the redemption of their souls is precious:
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- Do good for ever and you shall live for ever, and not see corruption.
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- But you will see wise men die;
likewise the fool and the weak minded shall perish and leave their wealth to others.
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- Their graves shall be their only habitations for ever, and their dwelling places throughout generations;
their marked graves will be their only remembrance on earth.
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- Nevertheless, such a man is not sustained by his honour;
his end will be as the beasts, and he will perish.
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- This their way is their folly;
in the end, demented, they will graze like cattle.
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- Like sheep they are consigned to the grave;
death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; the grave shall consume their beauty, and they shall be cast out from their glory.
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- ¶ But God will redeem my soul;
from the power of the grave he will raise me up.
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- Be not afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
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- For when he dies he shall carry nothing away;
neither shall his glory descend after him.
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- For while he lived, he lived comfortably;
he praised you when you favored him.
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- His end shall be as his father’s was before him;
they shall never see light.
- 20
- Man cannot depend upon his honor for consolation, for if he does, he resembles the wild beasts.
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