Ecclesiastes 5

1 Keep thy foot, whensoever thou goest to the house of God; and [when thou art] near to hear, let thy sacrifice [be] better than the gift of fools: for they know not that they are doing evil.

Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know that they do evil.

2 Be not hasty with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be swift to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven above, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

3 For through the multitude of trial a dream comes; and a fool's voice is with a multitude of words.

For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool’s speech with a multitude of words.

4 Whenever thou shalt vow a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for [he has] no pleasure in fools: pay thou therefore whatsoever thou shalt have vowed.

When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.

5 [It is] better that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay.

6 Suffer not thy mouth to lead thy flesh to sin; and say not in the presence of God, It was an error: lest God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the works of thy hands.

Don’t allow your mouth to lead you into sin. Don’t protest before the messenger that this was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?

7 For [there is evil] in a multitude of dreams and vanities and many words: but fear thou God.

For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, as well as in many words; but you must fear God.

8 If thou shouldest see the oppression of the poor, and the wresting of judgment and of justice in the land, wonder not at the matter: for [there is] a high one to watch over him that is high, and high ones over them.

If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, don’t marvel at the matter, for one official is eyed by a higher one, and there are officials over them.

9 Also the abundance of the earth is for every one: the king [is dependent on] the tilled field.

Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from the field.

10 He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver: and who has loved gain, in the abundance thereof? this is also vanity.

He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.

11 In the multitude of good they are increased that eat it: and what virtue has the owner, but the right of beholding [it] with his eyes?

When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?

12 The sleep of a servant is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but to one who is satiated with wealth, there is none that suffers him to sleep.

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

13 There is an infirmity which I have seen under the sun, [namely], wealth kept for its owner to his hurt.

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

14 And that wealth shall perish in an evil trouble: and [the man] begets a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand.

15 As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, he shall return back as he came, and he shall receive nothing for his labour, that it should go [with him] in his hand.

As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.

16 And this is also an evil infirmity: for as he came, so also shall he return: and what is his gain, for which he vainly labours?

This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?

17 Yea, all his days are in darkness, and in mourning, and much sorrow, and infirmity, and wrath.

All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath.

18 Behold, I have seen good, that it is a fine thing [for a man] to eat and to drink, and to see good in all his labour in which he may labour under the sun, [all] the number of the days of his life which God has given to him: for it is his portion.

Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.

19 Yea, and [as for] every man to whom God has given wealth and possessions, and has given him power to eat thereof, and to receive his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.

Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.

20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life; for God troubles him in the mirth of his heart.

For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life, because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.