Ecclesiastes 5

Fear God

1^[a] Guard
your steps
when you go
to the house
of God.
To draw near
to listen
is better than
to offer the sacrifice
of fools,
for they do not know
that they are
doing evil.

2^[b] Be not
rash with your mouth,
nor let
your heart be hasty
to utter a word
before God,
for God is
in heaven and
you are on earth.
Therefore
let your words
be few.

3For
a dream comes
with much business,
and a fool's voice
with many words.

4When
you vow a vow
to God,
do not delay
paying it,
for he has
no pleasure
in fools.
Pay what you vow.

5It is
better that
you should not vow
than that you should vow
and not pay.

6Let not
your mouth lead you
^[c] into sin,
and do not say
before the messenger
^[d] that it was
a mistake.
Why should
God be angry
at your voice and
destroy the work of your hands?

7For
when dreams increase and
words grow many,
there is vanity;
^[e] but God is
the one
you must fear.

The Vanity of Wealth and Honor

8If
you see
in a province the oppression
of the poor and the violation
of justice and righteousness,
do not be amazed
at the matter,
for the high official
is watched by a higher,
and there are yet
higher ones over them.

9But
this is gain
for a land
in every way:
a king committed
to cultivated fields.
^[f]

10He who loves money
will not be satisfied
with money,
nor he
who loves wealth
with his income;
this also is vanity.

11When goods increase,
they increase
who eat them,
and what advantage has
their owner but to see them
with his eyes?

12Sweet is the sleep
of a laborer,
whether he eats
little or much,
but the full stomach
of the rich
will not let
him sleep.

13There is
a grievous evil
that I have seen
under the sun:
riches were kept
by their owner
to his hurt,

14and those riches
were lost in a bad venture.
And he is
father of a son,
but he has
nothing
in his hand.

15As he came
from his mother's womb
he shall
go again, naked
as he came,
and shall take
nothing
for his toil
that he may carry
away in his hand.

16This also is
a grievous evil:
just as he came,
so shall he go,
and what gain is there
to him
who toils
for the wind?

17Moreover,
all his days
he eats
in darkness
in much vexation and
sickness and anger.

18Behold,
what I have seen
to be good
and fitting is
to eat and
drink and find enjoyment
^[g] in all the toil
with which one
toils under the sun
the few days
of his life
that God
has given him,
for this is
his lot.

19Everyone also
to whom
God
has given wealth
and possessions
and power
to enjoy them,
and to accept his lot
and rejoice
in his toil
--this is the gift
of God.

20For he
will not much
remember the days
of his life
because God keeps him
occupied with joy
in his heart.