קֹהֶלֶת 5

1 שמר רגליך כאשר תלך אל בית האלהים וקרוב לשמע מתת הכסילים זבח כי אינם יודעים לעשות רע׃

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 אל תבהל על פיך ולבך אל ימהר להוציא דבר לפני האלהים כי האלהים בשמים ואתה על הארץ על כן יהיו דבריך מעטים׃

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 כי בא החלום ברב ענין וקול כסיל ברב דברים׃

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 כאשר תדר נדר לאלהים אל תאחר לשלמו כי אין חפץ בכסילים את אשר תדר שלם׃

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 טוב אשר לא תדר משתדור ולא תשלם׃

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

6 אל תתן את פיך לחטיא את בשרך ואל תאמר לפני המלאך כי שגגה היא למה יקצף האלהים על קולך וחבל את מעשה ידיך׃

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 כי ברב חלמות והבלים ודברים הרבה כי את האלהים ירא׃

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 אם עשק רש וגזל משפט וצדק תראה במדינה אל תתמה על החפץ כי גבה מעל גבה שמר וגבהים עליהם׃

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 ויתרון ארץ בכל היא מלך לשדה נעבד׃

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

10 אהב כסף לא ישבע כסף ומי אהב בהמון לא תבואה גם זה הבל׃

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 ברבות הטובה רבו אוכליה ומה כשרון לבעליה כי אם ראית עיניו׃

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 מתוקה שנת העבד אם מעט ואם הרבה יאכל והשבע לעשיר איננו מניח לו לישון׃

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 יש רעה חולה ראיתי תחת השמש עשר שמור לבעליו לרעתו׃

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 ואבד העשר ההוא בענין רע והוליד בן ואין בידו מאומה׃

[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 כאשר יצא מבטן אמו ערום ישוב ללכת כשבא ומאומה לא ישא בעמלו שילך בידו׃

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 וגם זה רעה חולה כל עמת שבא כן ילך ומה יתרון לו שיעמל לרוח׃

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 גם כל ימיו בחשך יאכל וכעס הרבה וחליו וקצף׃

[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 הנה אשר ראיתי אני טוב אשר יפה לאכול ולשתות ולראות טובה בכל עמלו שיעמל תחת השמש מספר ימי חיו אשר נתן לו האלהים כי הוא חלקו׃

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 גם כל האדם אשר נתן לו האלהים עשר ונכסים והשליטו לאכל ממנו ולשאת את חלקו ולשמח בעמלו זה מתת אלהים היא׃

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 כי לא הרבה יזכר את ימי חייו כי האלהים מענה בשמחת לבו׃

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.