Ecclesiastes 5
1 Put your feet down with care when you go to the house of God, for it is better to give ear than to make the burned offerings of the foolish, whose knowledge is only of doing evil.
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
2 Be not unwise with your mouth, and let not your heart be quick to say anything before God, because God is in heaven and you are on the earth — so let not the number of your words be great.
Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.
3 As a dream comes from much business, so the voice of a foolish man comes with words in great number.
As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.
4 When you take an oath before God, put it quickly into effect, because he has no pleasure in the foolish; keep the oath you have taken.
When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.
5 It is better not to take an oath than to take an oath and not keep it.
It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.
6 Let not your mouth make your flesh do evil. And say not before the angel, It was an error. So that God may not be angry with your words and put an end to the work of your hands.
Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?
7 Because much talk comes from dreams and things of no purpose. But let the fear of God be in you.
For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.
8 If you see the poor under a cruel yoke, and law and right being violently overturned in a country, be not surprised, because one authority is keeping watch on another and there are higher than they.
If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.
9 It is good generally for a country where the land is worked to have a king.
The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
10 He who has a love for silver never has enough silver, or he who has love for wealth, enough profit. This again is to no purpose.
He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.
11 When goods are increased, the number of those who take of them is increased; and what profit has the owner but to see them?
When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?
12 The sleep of a working man is sweet, if he has little food or much; but to him who is full, sleep will not come.
The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.
13 There is a great evil which I have seen under the sun — wealth kept by the owner to be his downfall.
There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
14 And I saw the destruction of his wealth by an evil chance; and when he became the father of a son he had nothing in his hand.
or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.
15 As he came from his mother at birth, so does he go again; he gets from his work no reward which he may take away in his hand.
As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.
16 And this again is a great evil, that in all points as he came so will he go; and what profit has he in working for the wind?
This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?
17 All his days are in the dark, and he has much sorrow, pain, disease, and trouble.
Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.
18 This is what I have seen: it is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink and to have joy in all his work under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; that is his reward.
Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.
19 Every man to whom God has given money and wealth and the power to have pleasure in it and to do his part and have joy in his work: this is given by God.
Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.
20 He will not give much thought to the days of his life; because God lets him be taken up with the joy of his heart.
For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.
