More desirable, than gold, yea than much fine gold, Sweeter, also than honey, or than droppings from the comb.

Surely as a shadow, doth every man wander, Surely in vain, do they bustle about, he heapeth things up, and knoweth not who shall gather them in.

Grant us help out of distress, For, vain, is the deliverance of man:

Do not trust in extortion, Nor, with robbery, become vain, As for wealth, when it beareth fruit, Do not set thereon your heart.

Altogether in vain, Have I cleansed my heart, And bathed in pureness, my hands;

He killed, with hail, their vine, And their sycomores, with frost:

A vine out of Egypt, thou didst remove, Thou didst cast out nations, and plant it;

O God of hosts, return, we pray thee, - Look down out of the heavens, and see, And inspect this vine:

Remember how short-lived, I, am, Wherefore, in vain, hast thou created all the sons of Adam?

For this cause, do I love thy commandments, More than gold, yea than fine gold!

If, Yahweh, build not the house, in vain, have the builders of it toiled thereon, If, Yahweh, watch not the city, in vain, hath the watchman kept awake:

Thy wife, like a fruitful vine, within the recesses of thy house, - Thy children, like plantings of olive-trees, round about thy table.