Ecclesiastes 5
1 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.
Keep thy foot, when thou goest unto the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than dullards to offer sacrifice, —for they make no acknowledgment of doing wrong.
2 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].
Be not rash with thy mouth, and, with thy heart, be not in haste to bring forth a word, before God, —for, God, is in the heavens, and, thou, upon the earth, for this cause, let thy words be few.
3 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.
For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, —and, the voice of a dullard, is with a multitude of words.
4 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.
When thou vowest a vow unto God, do not defer to pay it, for there is no pleasure in dullards, —what thou vowest, pay!
5 It is better to not promise [anything] than to promise to do something, and [then] not doing it.
Better that thou shouldest not vow, —than vow, and not pay.
6 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.
Do not let thy mouth cause thy flesh to sin, —neither say thou, before the messenger, that it was, a mistake, —wherefore should God be indignant at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?
7 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].
For [it was done] amidst a multitude of dreams, and vanities, and many words, —but, towards God, be thou reverent.
8 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],
If, the oppression of the poor, and the wresting of justice and righteousness, thou see in the province, do not be astonished over the matter, —for, one high above the highest, is watching, yea, the Most High, is over them.
9 and even the king forces the people to give him some of the crops that they harvest.
And, the profit of the earth, is, for all, —a king, by the field, is served.
10 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.
He that loveth silver, shall not be satisfied with silver nor, he that loveth abundance, with revenue, —even this, was vanity.
11 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).
When blessings are increased, increased are the eaters thereof, —what profit, then, to the owner of them saving the sight of his eyes?
12 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.
Sweet the sleep of the labourer, whether, little or much, he eat, —but, the surfeit of the rich man, will not suffer him to sleep.
13 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,
Here was an incurable evil, I had seen under the sun, riches kept by the owner thereof, to his hurt;
14 [because] something happens that causes their money to be gone, and when they die, there is no money for their children to get/inherit.
and those riches perish, by being ill employed, —and though he begetteth a son, yet is there in his hand nothing at all.
15 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.
As he came from his mother’s womb, naked, he again departeth, as he came, —and, nothing, can he take of his toil, which he can carry in his hand.
16 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].
Even this, moreover, is an incurable evil, altogether as he came, so, shall he depart, —what profit then shall he have who toileth for the wind?
17 [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).
Even all his days, [are spent] in darkness and mourning, —and he is very morose, and is sad and angry.
18 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.
Lo! what, I myself, have seen—Better that it should be excellent to eat and to drink and to see blessedness, in all one’s toil wherein one toileth under the sun, for the number of the days of his life, in that God hath given it him, for, that, is his portion:
19 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.
yet, as regardeth every man, to whom God hath given wealth and goods, and granted him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to find gladness in his toil, this, is, the gift of God.
20 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.
Though it be not much, let him remember the days of his life, —for, God, beareth witness, by the gladness of his heart.
