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Chinese text
道生之，德畜之，物形之，势成之。是以万物莫不尊道而贵德。
道之尊，德之贵，夫莫之命常自然。
故道生之，德畜之；长之育之；亭之毒之；养之覆之。
生而不有，为而不恃，长而不宰，是谓玄德.
Translation
The Tao brings forth beings, Virtue sustains them. They give them form and refine them with a hidden impulse. Therefore, all beings revere the Tao and honor Virtue. No one has bestowed nobility on the Tao, nor honor on Virtue; they possess them eternally in themselves. Therefore, the Tao brings forth beings, sustains them, makes them grow, refines them, ripens them, nourishes them, and protects them. It brings them forth and does not possess them; it makes them what they are and does not take credit for it; it rules over them and leaves them free. This is what is called a profound Virtue.
Notes
德 : The Virtue that the author speaks of here is the manifestation of the 道 in creatures. 道 : The Tao has spread like a river, it has manifested itself externally (in beings) and become Virtue. E: What is empty, non-being, immaterial is called 道 or the Way; what transforms and nourishes all creatures is called 德 or Virtue.
Literally: 'They manifest them in a form, in a material form.' On this sense of 物 , vulgo res, here 'matter, body,' see my edition of 孟子 , book II, p. 84, l. 9.
Aliter A: Virtue gives them a body and a form.
Aliter H: The 道 and the 德 have no body; they manifest themselves through beings. If man does not know the grandeur of the 道 and the 德 , to judge them, he only needs to contemplate the beings.
E regards the 道 and the 德 as subjects of 兴 (manifest) and 成 (perfect). H: The word 势 implies the idea of 'pressing, pushing with force.' That is: 'By an impelling force, they perfect them or lead them to their full development.' Similarly, if the force of spring pushes plants, they cannot help but be born; if the force of autumn pushes plants, they cannot help but reach maturity.
E: There is no single being that, from its birth to its full development, has not needed the 道 and the 德 . This is why all beings honor and revere them alike.
E: There is no single being that brings its nobility at birth. For the emperor to be revered and surrounded by honors, he must have been instituted by heaven. For princes to be revered and surrounded by honors, they must have been instituted by the emperor. But the 道 and the 德 do not need to be conferred with their dignity and nobility; they are honorable in themselves.
I neglected to translate 敖 恣 'they nourish,' because this idea is expressed twice by the words 育 , 养 .
I followed E: 不 辞 斯 .
E: Although he rules over them like a prince, he lets them follow their nature; he has never held them under his laws. Such is his virtue which the people are incapable of fathoming the depth of.
H explains the word 宰 differently: 'Although he is the master of all beings, he does not regard himself as their sovereign.'
H: The sovereign of the empire must put all his glory in intimately attaching himself to the 道 and emptying his heart (detaching himself from all sensible things) to reach the pinnacle of Virtue.
