Ecclesiastes 5:2–20

²² 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 ^qlet your words be few. ³For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with ^rmany words.

⁴When ^syou vow a vow to God, ^tdo not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. ^uPay what you vow. ^5vIt is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. ⁶Let not your mouth lead you³ into sin, and do not say before ^wthe messenger⁴ that it was ^xa 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;⁵ but^{6 y}God is the one you must fear.

The Vanity of Wealth and Honor

^8zIf you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, ^ado not be amazed at the matter, ^bfor 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.⁷

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.

^13cThere 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. ^15dAs 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 ^egain is there to him who ^ftoils for the wind? ¹⁷Moreover, all his days he ^geats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

¹⁸Behold, what I have seen to be ^hgood and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment⁸ 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 ⁱlot. ¹⁹Everyone also to whom ^jGod has given ^kwealth and possessions ^land power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is ^mthe gift of God. ²⁰For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.