Ecclesiastes 5

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

² Do not be hasty 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.

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

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

⁵ It is better not to vow
than to vow and not fulfill it.

⁶ Do not let your mouth
bring guilt upon your body,
and do not say before the messenger
that it was a mistake.
Why should God be angry at your voice
and destroy the work of your hands?

⁷ For in many dreams
and in many words there is futility.
Rather, fear God.

⁸ If you see the oppression of the poor
and the denial of justice and right
in a province,
do not be astonished at the matter.
For one high official watches over another,
and there are yet higher ones over them.

⁹ But the profit of the land
is for all:
a king is served by a field.

¹⁰ Whoever loves money
will never be satisfied with money,
nor whoever loves wealth
with their income.
This too is fleeting.

¹¹ When goods increase,
those who consume them increase.
What advantage have their owners
except to look at them with their eyes?

¹² Sweet is the sleep of the laborer,
whether they eat little or much,
but the abundance of the rich
will not let them sleep.

¹³ There is a grievous evil
I have seen under the sun:
wealth hoarded by its owner
to their own harm.

¹⁴ That wealth was lost
through a bad venture,
and the owner has a child
but nothing in hand.

¹⁵ As they came from their mother's womb,
naked they shall go again,
just as they came.
They can carry nothing from their toil
that they can take in their hand.

¹⁶ This too is a grievous evil:
exactly as they came, so shall they go.
What gain is there for those
who toil for the wind?

¹⁷ Moreover, all their days they eat in darkness
with much vexation and sickness and anger.

¹⁸ Look, what I have seen to be good and fitting
is to eat and drink
and find enjoyment in all the toil
at which one labors under the sun
during the few days of their life
that God has given them—
for this is their lot.

¹⁹ Moreover, when God gives anyone
wealth and possessions
and the ability to enjoy them,
and to accept their lot
and rejoice in their toil—
this is the gift of God.

²⁰ For they will not brood much
over the days of their life,
because God keeps them occupied
with the joy of their heart.