8 Sovereignty is transferred from one people to anotherbecause of the lawlessness of the proud.
9 Why are dust and ashes proud?Even during life the body decays.
10 A slight illness—the doctor jests;a king today—tomorrow he is dead.
11 When a people die,they inherit corruption and worms, gnats and maggots.
12 The beginning of pride is stubbornnessin withdrawing the heart from one’s Maker.
13 For sin is a reservoir of insolence,a source which runs over with vice;Because of it God sends unheard-of afflictionsand strikes people with utter ruin.
14 God overturns the thrones of the proudand enthrones the lowly in their place.