Keep Your Promise to God
1Be careful what you say when you go to God’s house. Go there to listen. Don’t be like foolish people when you offer your sacrifice. They do what is wrong and don’t even know it.
2Don’t be too quick to speak.
Don’t be in a hurry to say anything to God.
God is in heaven. You are on earth.
So use only a few words when you speak.
3Many worries result in dreams.
Many words result in foolish talk.
4When you make a promise to God, don’t wait too long to carry it out. He isn’t pleased with foolish people. So do what you have promised. 5It is not good to make a promise and not keep it. It is better to make no promise at all. 6Don’t let your mouth cause you to sin. Don’t say to the temple messenger, “My promise was a mistake.” Why should God be angry with what you say? Why should he destroy what you have done? 7Dreaming too much and talking too much are meaningless. So have respect for God.
Riches Are Meaningless
8Suppose you see poor people being mistreated somewhere. And what is being done to them isn’t right or fair. Don’t be surprised by that. One official is watched by a higher one. Officials who are even higher are watching both of them. 9All of them take what the land produces. And the king himself takes his share from the fields.
10Anyone who loves money never has enough.
Anyone who loves wealth is never satisfied with what they get.
That doesn’t have any meaning either.
11As more and more goods are made,
more and more people use them up.
So how can those goods benefit their owners?
All they can do is look at them with desire.
12The sleep of a worker is sweet.
It doesn’t matter whether they eat a little or a lot.
But the wealth of rich people
keeps them awake at night.
13I’ve seen something very evil on earth.
It’s when wealth is stored up
and then brings harm to its owners.
14It’s also when wealth is lost
because of an unwise business deal.
Then there won’t be anything left
for the owners’ children.
15Everyone is born naked.
They come into the world with nothing.
And they go out of it with nothing.
They don’t get anything from their work
that they can take with them.
16Here’s something else that is very evil.
Everyone is born, and everyone dies.
And what do they get for their work?
Nothing. It’s like working for the wind.
17All their lives they eat in darkness.
Their lives are full of trouble, suffering and anger.
18I have seen what is good. It is good for a person to eat and drink. It’s good for them to be satisfied with their hard work on this earth. That’s what they should do during the short life God has given them. That’s what God made them for. 19Sometimes God gives a person wealth and possessions. God makes it possible for that person to enjoy them. God helps them accept the life he has given them. God helps them to be happy in their work. All these things are gifts from God. 20A person like that doesn’t have to think about how their life is going. That’s because God fills their heart with joy.
Fulfill Your Vow to God
In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:17, and 5:2-20 is numbered 5:1-19. 1Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
2Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
3A dream comes when there are many cares,
and many words mark the speech of a fool.
4When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. 6Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.
Riches Are Meaningless
8If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
10Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.
11As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
except to feast their eyes on them?
12The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
permits them no sleep.
13I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
14or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
there is nothing left for them to inherit.
15Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toil
that they can carry in their hands.
16This too is a grievous evil:
As everyone comes, so they depart,
and what do they gain,
since they toil for the wind?
17All their days they eat in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.
18This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
