4. When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because He does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow.
5. Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it.
6. Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?
7. For many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.
8. If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, don’t be astonished at the situation, because one official protects another official, and higher officials protect them.
9. The profit from the land is taken by all; the king is served by the field.
10. The one who loves money is never satisfied with money, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile.
11. When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes?
12. The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep.
13. There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.
14. That wealth was lost in a bad venture, so when he fathered a son, he was empty-handed.