Ecclesiastes 5
1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider 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 thine heart be hasty to utter [any] thing before God: for God [is] in heaven, 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 [is known] by 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 error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine 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 and many words [there are] also [divers] vanities: but fear thou 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 [he that is] higher than the highest regardeth; and [there be] 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 profit of the earth is for all: the king [himself] is served by 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 [is] also 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 good [is there] to the owners thereof, saving the beholding [of them] with their 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 a labouring man [is] sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will 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 sore evil [which] I have seen under the sun, [namely], 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 But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and [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 of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go 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 sore evil, [that] in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath 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 [he hath] much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.
18 Behold [that] which I have seen: [it is] good and comely [for one] to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it [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 hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this [is] the 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 shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth [him] in 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.
