Ecclesiastes 5

1 Take heede to thy foote when thou entrest into the House of God, and be more neere to heare then to giue the sacrifice of fooles: for they knowe not that they doe euil.

When you enter God’s temple, you should be sure to listen carefully. Doing that is better than offering sacrifices to God [and then not obeying him], which is foolish.

2 Be not rash with thy mouth, nor let thine heart be hastie to vtter a thing before God: for God is in the heauens, and thou art on the earth: therefore let thy wordes be fewe.

Think carefully before you speak [MTY] or before you promise God that you will do something [IDM]. [Do not forget that] God is in heaven [and he is all-powerful] and you are here on the earth, so think carefully before you [make any promises to God].

3 For as a dreame commeth by the multitude of businesse: so the voyce of a foole is in the multitude of wordes.

If you are continually thinking [and worrying] about things, you will have bad dreams about them and not rest [well]. And the more you talk, the more likely it will be that you will say things that are foolish.

4 When thou hast vowed a vowe to God, deferre not to pay it: for he deliteth not in fooles: pay therefore that thou hast vowed.

When you solemnly promise God that you will do something, do not be foolish by delaying in doing it, because God is not pleased with foolish people. Do [all] the things that you promise God that you will do.

5 It is better that thou shouldest not vowe, then that thou shouldest vow and not pay it.

It is better to not promise [anything] than to promise to do something, and [then] not doing it.

6 Suffer not thy mouth to make thy flesh to sinne: neither say before the Angel, that this is ignorance: wherefore shall God bee angry by thy voyce, and destroy the worke of thine hands?

Do not sin by promising to do something and then not doing it. And [when you promise God to do something and do not do it], do not say to God’s priest that it was a mistake for you to promise to do that. If you do that, God will certainly [RHQ] become very angry with you, and he will take from you everything that you [SYN] have worked to acquire.

7 For in the multitude of dreames, and vanities are also many wordes: but feare thou God.

Promising to do something and not doing it is like [SIM] a dream that has no value; instead, revere God [by doing what you promised him that you would do].

8 If in a countrey thou seest the oppression of the poore, and the defrauding of iudgement and iustice, be not astonied at the matter: for hee that is higher then the highest, regardeth, and there be higher then they.

Do not be surprised if you see poor [people] being (oppressed/treated cruelly) [by powerful/influential people], or if you see judges making unjust decisions throughout the land. [That happens] because the people who do that are supervised [and cheated by] more important officials [DOU],

9 And the abundance of the earth is ouer all: the King also consisteth by the fielde that is tilled.

and even the king forces the people to give him some of the crops that they harvest.

10 He that loueth siluer, shall not be satisfied with siluer, and he that loueth riches, shalbe without the fruite thereof: this also is vanitie.

Everyone who tries to [get as much] money as they can will never think that they have enough. They will never be satisfied with the money that they have. That also is senseless.

11 When goods increase, they are increased that eate them: and what good commeth to the owners thereof, but the beholding thereof with their eyes?

The more money that we have, the more people want us to spend our money to buy things for them. So people who have a lot of money do not [RHQ] benefit from it; they see [MTY] it when they get it, but it soon (disappears/is completely spent).

12 The sleepe of him that traueileth, is sweete, whether he eate litle or much: but the sacietie of the riche will not suffer him to sleepe.

Those who work hard sleep peacefully [at night], even if they do not have much food to eat. But rich [people] do not sleep well, because [they worry] about their money.

13 There is an euill sickenes that I haue seene vnder the sunne: to wit, riches reserued to the owners thereof for their euill.

I have seen [another] terrible thing that happens here on the earth [MTY]: People save [up all] their money and become rich, [but] they are not helped by saving a lot of money,

14 And these riches perish by euill trauel, and he begetteth a sonne, and in his hand is nothing.

[because] something happens that causes their money to be gone, and when they die, there is no money for their children to get/inherit.

15 As hee came foorth of his mothers belly, he shall returne naked to goe as he came, and shall beare away nothing of his labour, which hee hath caused to passe by his hand.

When we are born, we do not bring anything with us, and when we die, we take nothing with us from all that we have earned by our working hard.

16 And this also is an euill sickenes that in all pointes as he came, so shall he goe, and what profit hath he that he hath traueiled for the winde?

That also seems senseless. People bring nothing [into the world when they are born], and they leave [this world] taking nothing with them. They have worked hard, but they receive no lasting benefit [MET].

17 Also all his dayes hee eateth in darkenes with much griefe, and in his sorowe and anger.

[Furthermore, rich people] are always miserable [MET] and sad, and depressed/discouraged and often sick and (resentful/thinking that what has happened to them is unfair).

18 Beholde then, what I haue seene good, that it is comely to eate, and to drinke, and to take pleasure in all his labour, wherein he traueileth vnder the sunne, the whole nomber of the dayes of his life, which God giueth him: for this is his portion.

So, the best thing for people to do here on the earth during the few years that God allows them to be alive is to eat and drink and to enjoy their work, because those are the things that God has given to them.

19 Also to euery man to whom God hath giuen riches and treasures, and giueth him power to eate thereof, and to take his part, and to enioy his labour: this is the gift of God.

If people are rich and have a lot of possessions, and are able to (enjoy/be happy with) the things that they have and to enjoy their work, those things are [also] gifts from God.

20 Surely hee will not much remember the dayes of his life, because God answereth to the ioy of his heart.

Those people do not worry much about [everything that has happened] during the time that they have been alive, because God enables them to be happy doing everything that they do.