1-2 Listen, everyone, listen—earth-dwellers, don’t miss this.All you havesand have-nots,All together now: listen.
3-4 I set plainspoken wisdom before you,my heart-seasoned understandings of life.I fine-tuned my ear to the sayings of the wise,I solve life’s riddle with the help of a harp.
5-6 So why should I fear in bad times,hemmed in by enemy malice,Shoved around by bullies,demeaned by the arrogant rich?
7-9 Really! There’s no such thing as self-rescue,pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.The cost of rescue is beyond our means,and even then it doesn’t guaranteeLife forever, or insuranceagainst the Black Hole.