Ecclesiastes 5

1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and draw near to hear, rather than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do 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 rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in the heavens, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few.

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 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool's voice through a multitude of words.

As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.

4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.

5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.

6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an inadvertence. Wherefore should God be wroth at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy 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 For in the multitude of dreams are vanities; so with many words: but fear God.

For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.

8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter; for a higher than the high is watching, 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 Moreover the earth is every way profitable: the king [himself] is dependent upon the field.

The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This also is vanity.

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 increase, they are increased that eat them; and what profit is there to the owner thereof, except the beholding [of them] with his eyes?

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 the labourer is sweet, whether he have eaten little or much; but the fulness of the rich doth not suffer him to sleep.

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 grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt;

There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,

14 or those riches perish by some evil circumstance, and if he have begotten a son, there is 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 forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he go away again as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry 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 also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came so doth he go away, and what profit hath he, in having laboured 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 also he eateth in darkness, and hath much vexation, and sickness, and irritation.

Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

18 Behold what I have seen good and comely: [it is] to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour wherewith [man] laboureth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for that is his portion.

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 also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and power to eat thereof, and to take his portion and to rejoice in his labour: that is a gift of 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 For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God answereth [him] 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.