Ecclesiastes 5
5
1Guard 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. 2Don’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. 3For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool’s speech with a multitude of words. 4When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow. 5It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay. 6Don’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? 7For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, as well as in many words; but you must fear God.
8 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. 9Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from the field.
10 He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity. 11When 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 a labouring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
13There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm. 14Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand. 15As 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. 16This 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? 17All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath.
18Behold, 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. 19Every 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. 20For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life, because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
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Ecclesiastes 5
5
1Be careful#5:1. Literally, “guard your footsteps.” when you go into God's house. It's better to listen and respond rather than offer meaningless sacrifices.#5:1. “Meaningless sacrifices”: literally, “the sacrifices of fools.” People who do that don't even know they are doing wrong. 2Don't say rash things, and think before you speak to God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so keep it short. 3When you worry too much, you get nightmares; when you talk too much, you say foolish things.
4When you make a vow to God, with a curse on you if you don't keep it,#5:4. “With a curse on you if you don't keep it,” implied. Frequently vows to God included a curse for failing to keep the vow. don't be slow in keeping it, for he is not happy with foolish behavior. So do what you promised! 5Better not to make any vows at all than to make vow you don't keep. 6Don't let your mouth cause you to sin. And don't tell the priest#5:6. Literally, “messenger.” In Malachi 2:7 priests are identified as messengers. In any case, the situation is one of informing someone at the Temple that the promise (vow) you made was a mistake. that your vow was a mistake, for why would you antagonize God by breaking your promise?#5:6. Many such promises (vows) included a self-pronounced curse if it was not kept—so by failing to keep the promise, the individual would be subject to the curse they had pronounced on themselves. He could bring your own curse down on you. 7There are certainly many dreams, questions of meaning, and lots of different ideas, but you are to follow God.
8If you see poor people somewhere#5:8. “Somewhere”: literally, “in the province”—a general term. being oppressed, or truth and justice violated, don't be shocked at it, for every official is responsible to others higher up, and there are officials over them as well.#5:8. The Hebrew meaning is unclear. It probably is saying that corruption and injustice are endemic. 9However, what the land produces is for everyone—even the king benefits from what is grown.#5:9. Again the meaning is unclear in this verse.
10People who love money never have enough money; those who love wealth never have enough income. This too is so temporary and makes little sense. 11The more you earn, the more you have eating into your income. It only looks like you have more! 12Those who work hard sleep well, whether they have a little to eat or plenty, but the rich own so much they don't get any rest. 13I observed something here that is really sickening:#5:13. The two words often translated as “grievous evil” really refer to “miserable illness,” or something that makes you “really sick.” Also in verse 16. people who hoard money damage themselves. 14They put their money into bad investments and lose everything.
Now when we're born, we don't bring anything into the world. 15When we die, we leave just as naked as when we were born, taking nothing with us from all we've worked for. 16This also makes me sick! What do people gain, working for the wind?#5:16. As noted in footnote for 1:14, the word here can mean “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit.” So it could just as easily be translated as “What do you gain, working for a breath of air?” etc. 17They live their lives in darkness, very frustrated, sick, and resentful.
18But I observed that what is good and right is to eat, drink, and to find enjoyment in the work God gives us here in this life. This is God's gift to us. 19In addition, everyone to whom God gives wealth and possessions he also gives the ability to enjoy these gifts, to be grateful for what they are given, and to enjoy the work they do. This is also God's gift to us. 20In fact such people have little time to think about life because God keeps them busy with all that makes them happy.#5:20. Whether this is a good thing or not is not indicated.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com