The Tao gives birth to all things.
Goodness/Virtue (“De”) raises them.
Matter shapes them.
Conditions complete them.

Yes, according to the Ten Thousand Things,
there is none who doesn’t honor the Tao
as well as precious De.

Tao’s honor, De’s presciousness,
there is none who in life,
plan to exhault or worship,
but it frequently happens naturally.

Thus, Tao gives birth to it,
De raised it;
always nourishing it;
maturing and completing it;
giving birth even to the point of overflow.

To give birth without needing to exist,
To be without needing to rely upon,
To live forever without needing to slaughter,
This is to speak of mysterious De.