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
Don't Make Rash Promises
1Be careful about going to the Temple. It is better to go there to learn than to offer sacrifices as foolish people do, people who don't know right from wrong. 2Think before you speak, and don't make any rash promises to God. He is in heaven and you are on earth, so don't say any more than you have to. 3The more you worry, the more likely you are to have bad dreams, and the more you talk, the more likely you are to say something foolish. 4#Ps 66.13–14So when you make a promise to God, keep it as quickly as possible. He has no use for a fool. Do what you promise to do. 5Better not to promise at all than to make a promise and not keep it. 6Don't let your own words lead you into sin, so that you have to tell God's priest that you didn't mean it. Why make God angry with you? Why let him destroy what you have worked for? 7No matter how much you dream, how much useless work you do, or how much you talk, you must still stand in awe of God.
Life is Useless
8Don't be surprised when you see that the government oppresses the poor and denies them justice and their rights. Every official is protected by the one over him, and both are protected by still higher officials.
9Even a king depends on the harvest.#5.9 Verse 9 in Hebrew is unclear.
10If you love money, you will never be satisfied; if you long to be rich, you will never get all you want. It is useless. 11The richer you are, the more mouths you must feed. All you gain is the knowledge that you are rich. 12Workers may or may not have enough to eat, but at least they can get a good night's sleep. The rich, however, have so much that they stay awake worrying.
13Here is a terrible thing that I have seen in this world: people save up their money for a time when they may need it,#5.13 for… it; or to their own hurt. 14and then lose it all in some unlucky deal and end up with nothing left to pass on to their children. 15#Job 1.21; Ps 49.17; 1 Tim 6.7We leave this world just as we entered it — with nothing. In spite of all our work there is nothing we can take with us. 16It isn't right! We go just as we came. We labour, trying to catch the wind, and what do we get? 17We have to live our lives in darkness and grief,#5.17 Some ancient translations in darkness and grief; Hebrew eating in darkness. worried, angry, and sick.
18This is what I have found out: the best thing anyone can do is to eat and drink and enjoy what he has worked for during the short life that God has given him; this is man's fate. 19If God gives a man wealth and property and lets him enjoy them, he should be grateful and enjoy what he has worked for. It is a gift from God. 20Since God has allowed him to be happy, he will not worry too much about how short life is.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.