I said of partying, ¹  “It is folly,” and of self-indulgent pleasure, ²  “It accomplishes nothing!” ³ 

“Woe to you, experts in the law ¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

I thought to myself, ¹  “Come now, ²  I will try ³  self-indulgent pleasure ⁴  to see ⁵  if it is worthwhile.” ⁶  But I found ⁷  that it also is futile. ⁸ 

But the one who lives for pleasure is dead even ¹  while she lives.

You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ¹ 

One who has isolated himself ¹  seeks his own desires; ²  he rejects ³  all sound judgment.

The sluggard plunges ¹  his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. ² 

The one who keeps the law ¹  is a discerning child, ²  but a companion of gluttons brings shame ³  to his parents. ⁴ 

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ¹  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ²  but through love serve one another. ³ 

Does it make you any more of a king that you outstrip everyone else in ¹  building with cedar? Just think about your father. He was content that he had food and drink. ²  He did what was just and right. ³  So things went well with him.

“But be on your guard ¹  so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day close down upon you suddenly like a trap. ² 

Even though they have the appearance of wisdom ¹  with their self-imposed worship and false humility ²  achieved by an ³  unsparing treatment of the body – a wisdom with no true value – they in reality result in fleshly indulgence. ⁴