The Vanity and Peril of Riches

Ecclesiastes 5:10-17

He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?

The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.

There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,

or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.

As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.

This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?

Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.