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 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 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.

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 a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool's voice through 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 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 vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.

5 Better is it 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 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?

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 in the multitude of dreams are vanities; so with many words: but fear God.

For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, as well as in many words; but you must 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 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 Moreover the earth is every way profitable: the king [himself] is dependent upon the field.

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

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

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 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 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 a labouring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to 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 which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

14 or those riches perish by some evil circumstance, and if he have begotten a son, 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 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 he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

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

17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and hath much vexation, and sickness, and irritation.

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

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.

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 labour, in which he labours under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.

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.

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 labour—this is the gift of God.

20 For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God answereth [him] with the joy 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.