8 These are but worthless baubles of the day; they rise and sink, like empty bottles on a stream; they are illusions and will pass away;
9 They are the indices to what the thoughtless think; they are the noise that people make; and shallow men judge merit by the noise.
10 God and all master men judge men by what they are and not by what they seem to be; not by their reputation and their fame.
11 These courtesans and thieves are children of my Father-God; their souls are just as precious in his sight as yours, or of the Brahmic priests.
12 And they are working out the same life sums that you, who pride yourselves on your respectability and moral worth, are working out.
13 And some of them have solved much harder sums than you have solved, you men who look at them with scorn.
14 Yes, they are sinners, and confess their guilt, while you are guilty, but are shrewd enough to have a polished coat to cover up your guilt.
15 Suppose you men who scorn these courtesans, these drunkards and these thieves, who know that you are pure in heart and life, that you are better far than they, stand forth that men may know just who you are.
16 The sin lies in the wish, in the desire, not in the act.
17 You covet other people’s wealth; you look at charming forms, and deep within your hearts you lust for them.