Ecclesiastes 5:1–6:12

Your Attitude Toward God

^11aGuard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the ^bsacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil.

²¹Do not be ^ahasty ²in word or ³impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your ^bwords be few.

³For the dream comes through much ¹effort and the voice of a ^afool through many words.

⁴When you ^amake a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. ^bPay what you vow!

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

⁶Do not let your ¹speech cause ²you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a ^amistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

⁷For in many dreams and in many words there is ¹emptiness. Rather, ^2afear God.

⁸If you see ^aoppression of the poor and ^bdenial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be ^cshocked at the ¹sight; for one ²official watches over another official, and there are higher ³officials over them.

⁹After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.

The Folly of Riches

^10aHe who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is ¹vanity.

^11aWhen good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to ¹look on?

¹²The sleep of the working man is ^apleasant, whether he eats little or much; but the ¹full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep.

¹³There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: ^ariches being ¹hoarded by their owner to his hurt.

¹⁴When those riches were lost through ¹a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing ²to support him.

^15aAs he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came. He will ^btake nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.

¹⁶This also is a grievous evil—exactly as a man ¹is born, thus will he ²die. So ^awhat is the advantage to him who ^btoils for the wind?

¹⁷Throughout his life ^ahe also eats in darkness with ^bgreat vexation, sickness and anger.

¹⁸Here is what I have seen to be ^agood and ¹fitting: to eat, to drink and ²enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few ³years of his life which God has given him; for this is his ^4breward.

¹⁹Furthermore, as for every man to whom ^aGod has given riches and wealth, He has also ^bempowered him to eat from them and to receive his ¹reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the ^cgift of God.

²⁰For he will not often ¹consider the ²years of his life, because ^aGod keeps ³him occupied with the gladness of his heart.

Chapter 6

The Futility of Life

¹There is an ^aevil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent ¹among men—

²a man to whom God has ^agiven riches and wealth and honor so that his soul ^blacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner ¹enjoys them. This is ²vanity and a severe affliction.

³If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many ¹they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper ^aburial, then I say, “Better ^bthe miscarriage than he,

⁴for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity.

⁵“It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; ¹it is better off than he.

⁶“Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not ¹enjoy good things—^ado not all go to one place?”

^7aAll a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the ¹appetite is not ²satisfied.

⁸For ^awhat advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the poor man have, knowing how to walk before the living?

⁹What the eyes ^asee is better than what the soul ¹desires. This too is ^bfutility and a striving after wind.

¹⁰Whatever ^aexists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he ^bcannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is.

¹¹For there are many words which increase futility. What then is the advantage to a man?

¹²For who knows what is good for a man during his lifetime, during the few ¹years of his futile life? He will ²spend them like a shadow. For who can tell a man ^awhat will be after him under the sun?