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
1#Further counsels on prudence and circumspection in fulfilling one’s religious obligations. It is not the multitude of words but one’s sincerity that counts in the acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty (v. 1), especially through obedience (4:17) and reverence (v. 6). Be not hasty in your utterance and let not your heart be quick to utter a promise in God’s presence. God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.#Ps 115:3, 16; Mt 6:7; Jas 1:19.
2As dreams come along with many cares,
so a fool’s voice along with a multitude of words.
3#Nm 30:3; Dt 23:22–24; Prv 20:25; Sir 18:22–23. When you make a vow to God, delay not its fulfillment. For God has no pleasure in fools; fulfill what you have vowed. 4It is better not to make a vow than make it and not fulfill it. 5Let not your utterances make you guilty, and say not before his representative, “It was a mistake.” Why should God be angered by your words and destroy the works of your hands? 6#Eccl 3:14. Despite many dreams, futilities, and a multitude of words, fear God!
Gain and Loss of Goods. 7#Eccl 3:16; 4:1. If you see oppression of the poor, and violation of rights and justice in the realm, do not be astonished by the fact, for the high official has another higher than he watching him and above these are others higher still—. 8But profitable for a land in such circumstances is a king concerned about cultivation.#A king concerned about cultivation: the Hebrew text is ambiguous and obscure. The author does not criticize the oppression he describes in v. 7. Now perhaps he expresses the hope that the king would use his power to upbuild agriculture in order to alleviate the hunger and suffering of the poor and oppressed.
9#Eccl 4:8; Prv 28:22. The covetous are never satisfied with money, nor lovers of wealth with their gain; so this too is vanity. 10Where there are great riches, there are also many to devour them. Of what use are they to the owner except as a feast for the eyes alone? 11Sleep is sweet to the laborer, whether there is little or much to eat; but the abundance of the rich allows them no sleep.
12This is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches hoarded by their owners to their own hurt. 13Should the riches be lost through some misfortune, they may have offspring when they have no means. 14#Jb 1:21; 1 Tm 6:7. As they came forth from their mother’s womb, so again shall they return, naked as they came, having nothing from their toil to bring with them. 15This too is a grievous evil, that they go just as they came. What then does it profit them to toil for the wind? 16All their days they eat in gloom with great vexation, sickness and resentment.
17#Eccl 2:24. Here is what I see as good: It is appropriate to eat and drink and prosper from all the toil one toils at under the sun during the limited days of life God gives us; for this is our lot. 18Those to whom God gives riches and property, and grants power to partake of them, so that they receive their lot and find joy in the fruits of their toil: This is a gift from God. 19For they will hardly dwell on the shortness of life, because God lets them busy themselves with the joy of their heart.#The joys of life, though temporary and never assured, keep one from dwelling on the ills which afflict humanity.
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