Wealth [gotten] by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.
Ver. 11. Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished.] De male quaesitis vix gaudet tertius haeres, a Ill-gotten goods fly away without taking leave of the owner; leaving nothing but the print of talons to torment him. Pro 23:5 Many when they have a loss in their riches, it is as it were raked out of their bellies. Job 20:15 A piece of their very heart goes with it.
But he that gathereth by labour shall increase.] Howbeit sometimes it is otherwise: "Master, we have laboured all night and taken nothing." Luk 5:5 "Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?" Hab 2:13 There is a curse upon unlawful practices, though men be industrious, as in Jehoiakim. Jer 22:24-30
a Horat.