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Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing,
    but justice saves from death.[a](A)
The Lord does not let the just go hungry,
    but the craving of the wicked he thwarts.[b]
The slack hand impoverishes,
    but the busy hand brings riches.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 10:2 Death: untimely, premature, or sorrowful. The word “death” can have other overtones (see Wis 1:15).
  2. 10:3 The last of the three introductory sayings in the collection, which emphasize, respectively, the sapiential (v. 1), ethical (v. 2), and religious (v. 3) dimensions of wisdom. In this saying, God will not allow the appetite of the righteous to go unfulfilled. The appetite of hunger is singled out; it stands for all the appetites.

Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value,(A)
    but righteousness delivers from death.(B)

The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,(C)
    but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.(D)

Lazy hands make for poverty,(E)
    but diligent hands bring wealth.(F)

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