Ecclesiastes 5
The Preacher warns against rash words before God and urges that vows be paid promptly. He observes that the lover of money is never satisfied, that riches kept bring harm to their owner, and that a man leaves the world as naked as he entered it. He concludes that it is good and fitting to eat, drink, and enjoy one's labor, for this is God's gift.
| v | King James Version | Modern English |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. | Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Be more ready to hear than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not consider that they do evil. |
| 2 | Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. | Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be quick to utter anything before God. For God is in heaven and you on earth, therefore let your words be few. |
| 3 | For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. | For a dream comes through much business, and a fool's voice is known by many words. |
| 4 | When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. | When you vow a vow to God, do not delay to pay it, for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed. |
| 5 | Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. | It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay. |
| 6 | Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? | Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not say before the angel that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands? |
| 7 | For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God. | For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also various vanities. But fear God. |
| 8 | If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they. | If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of judgment and justice in a province, do not marvel at the matter. For he who is higher than the highest regards it, and there are higher ones over them. |
| 9 | Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. | Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king himself is served by the field. |
| 10 | He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. | He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase. This also is vanity. |
| 11 | When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? | When goods increase, those who eat them increase. And what good is there for the owners, except to behold them with their eyes? |
| 12 | The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. | The sleep of a working man is sweet, whether he eats little or much. But the abundance of the rich will not let him sleep. |
| 13 | There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. | There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept for their owners to their own hurt. |
| 14 | But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. | But those riches perish through misfortune, and he fathers a son, and there is nothing in his hand. |
| 15 | As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. | As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he return, going as he came. He shall take nothing from his labor that he can carry away in his hand. |
| 16 | And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind? | And this also is a grievous evil: in every way as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he who has labored for the wind? |
| 17 | All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness. | All his days he also eats in darkness, and he has much sorrow, sickness, and wrath. |
| 18 | Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. | This is what I have seen: it is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor at which he works under the sun all the days of his life that God gives Him. For this is His portion. |
| 19 | Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. | And every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given Him power to eat from them, to take His portion and to rejoice in His labor — this is the gift of God. |
| 20 | For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart. | For he shall not much remember the days of his life, because God keeps Him busy with the joy of His heart. |