Ecclesiastes 5
5
Don’t Daydream or Speak Carelessly When You Worship
1 # 5:1
Ecclesiastes 5:1–20
in English Bibles is Ecclesiastes 4:17–5:19 in the Hebrew Bible. Watch your step when you go to the house of God. It is better to go there and listen than to bring the sacrifices fools bring. Fools are unaware that they are doing ⌞something⌟ evil.
2Don’t be in a hurry to talk. Don’t be eager to speak in the presence of God. Since God is in heaven and you are on earth, limit the number of your words.
3Daydreaming comes when there are too many worries.
Careless speaking comes when there are too many words.
4When you make a promise to God, don’t be slow to keep it because God doesn’t like fools. Keep your promise. 5It is better not to make a promise than to make one and not keep it. 6Don’t let your mouth talk you into committing a sin. Don’t say in the presence of a ⌞temple⌟ messenger, “My promise was a mistake!” Why should God become angry at your excuse and destroy what you’ve accomplished?
7In spite of many daydreams, pointless actions, and empty words, you should still fear God.
Corrupt Officials Have Corrupt Officials over Them
8Don’t be surprised if you see poor people being oppressed, denied justice, or denied their rights in any district. One authority is watching over another, and they both have authorities watching over them. 9Yet, a king is an advantage for a country with cultivated fields.
The Value of Money
10Whoever loves money will never be satisfied with money. Whoever loves wealth will never be satisfied with more income. Even this is pointless. 11As the number of goods increase, so do the number of people who consume them. What do owners gain ⌞from all their goods⌟ except ⌞the opportunity⌟ to look at them?
12The sleep of working people is sweet, whether they eat a little or a lot. But the full stomachs that rich people have will not allow them to sleep.
Economic Ruin
13There is a painful tragedy that I have seen under the sun: Riches lead to the downfall of those who hoard them. 14These hoarded riches were then lost in bad business deals. The owners had children, but now they have nothing to give them. 15They came from their mother’s womb naked. They will leave as naked as they came. They won’t even be able to take a handful of their earnings with them from all their hard work.
16This also is a painful tragedy: They leave exactly as they came. What advantage do they gain from working so hard for the wind? 17They spend their entire lives in darkness, in constant frustration, sickness, and resentment.
Conclusion: God Alone Gives Contentment
18At last I have seen what is good and beautiful: It is to eat and drink and to enjoy the good in all our hard work under the sun during the brief lives God gives us. That is our lot ⌞in life⌟. 19It is a gift from God when God gives some people wealth and possessions, the power to enjoy them, ⌞the ability⌟ to accept their lot in life, and ⌞the ability⌟ to rejoice in their own hard work. 20These people won’t give much thought to their brief lives because God keeps them occupied with the joy in their hearts.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
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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