Ecclesiastes 5:1–6:12

Listen to God Rather Than Uttering Rash Vows

5^a Guard your steps when you go to the house of God;

draw near to listen rather than to offer a sacrifice of fools,

for they do not know that they are doing evil.

²Do not be rash with your mouth,

and do not let your heart be quick 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 many cares,

and the voice of a fool with many words.

⁴When you make a vow to God,

do not delay in fulfilling it,

for he takes no pleasure^b in fools.

Fulfill what you vow!

⁵It is better that you not vow

than that you vow and not fulfill it.

⁶Do not let your mouth lead your flesh into sin,

and do not tell the messenger that it was a mistake.

Why anger God at your words,

so that he destroys the work of your hands?

⁷For with many dreams come vanities and numerous words.

Therefore, fear God!

Powerful Bureaucrats Exploit the Helpless Poor

⁸Do not be surprised if you see the poor being oppressed with violence

or do not see justice and righteousness in the province.

For one official is watched by a higher official,

and there are even higher officials over them!

⁹The produce of the land is exploited by everyone;

even the king profits from the field of the poor!^c

There is Never Enough Money to Satisfy

¹⁰Whoever loves money is not satisfied with money,

and whoever loves wealth is not satisfied with profit.

This also is vanity!

¹¹When prosperity increases,

those who consume it increase.

So its owner gains nothing,

except to see his wealth before it is spent.^d

¹²The sleep of the laborer is pleasant, whether he eats little or much,

but the wealth of the rich man does not allow him to rest.

Hoarding Wealth Can Backfire

¹³There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded^e by its owner to his harm. ¹⁴That wealth was lost in a bad venture. Although he has borne a child, he has nothing to leave to him.^{f 15}Just as he came from his mother’s womb naked, he will depart^g just as he came; he will take nothing with him for his toil. ¹⁶This also is a grievous illness. Exactly as he came, so he will go. What profit does he gain for all his toil for the wind? ¹⁷Also, he eats in darkness all his days; he is frustrated in much sickness and resentment.

If You Have Wealth, Enjoy It as God Enables

¹⁸Look! I have discovered what is good and fitting: to eat and to drink and to enjoy^h all the fruit of the toil with which one toils under the sun during the number of the days of his life that God gives to him—for this is his lot.^{i 19}This indeed is a gift of God: everyone to whom God gives wealth and possessions, he also empowers him to enjoy them,^j to accept his lot, and to rejoice in the fruit of his toil. ²⁰For he does not remember the brief days of his life, for God keeps his heart preoccupied with enjoyment of life.

Those Who Have Wealth but Do Not Enjoy It Are Pitiful

6Here is another misfortune that I have seen under the sun, and it is prevalent among humankind. ²God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; yet God does not enable him to enjoy it—instead someone else ends up enjoying it. This is vanity—indeed, it is a grievous ill!

³Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, if his heart^a is not satisfied with his prosperity^b and he does not receive a proper burial,^c I deem the stillborn better than him. ⁴For he comes into vanity and departs into darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness. ⁵He has neither seen nor known the sun, yet he has more rest than him. ⁶Even if a man^d lives a thousand years twice, if he^e does not enjoy prosperity,^f both suffer the same fate!^g

One Must Learn to Be Content with What One Has

⁷All of a man’s toil is for his mouth—

yet his appetite is never satisfied.

⁸So do the wise really have an advantage over fools?

Can the poor really gain anything by knowing how to act in front of others?^h

⁹Better to be content with what your eyes see

than for your soul to constantly crave more.ⁱ

This also is vanity and chasing wind!

It is Futile for Humans to Complain about God’s Irresistible Will

¹⁰Whatever is—it was already determined,

what will be—it has already been decided.^j

As for man, he cannot argue

against what is more powerful than him.

¹¹Increasing words only multiplies futility,^k

how does that profit anyone?

The Future is Inscrutable to Humans

¹²For who knows what is good for a man in his life during the few days of his fleeting life, which are fleeting as a shadow? For who can tell anyone what will happen in the future^l under the sun?