Ecclesiastes 5-8

Ecclesiastes 5

¹Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

²Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.

³As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.

⁴When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.

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

⁶Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

⁷For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.

⁸If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.

⁹The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

¹⁰He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

¹¹When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?

¹²The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.

¹³There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,

¹⁴or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.

¹⁵As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.

¹⁶This too is a grievous affliction: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?

¹⁷Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

¹⁸Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.

¹⁹Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.

²⁰For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

Ecclesiastes 6

¹There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind:

²God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous affliction.

³A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

⁴For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.

⁵The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man,

⁶even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

⁷All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.

⁸What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others?

⁹Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁰Whatever exists was named long ago, and it is known what man is; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.

¹¹For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone?

¹²For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 7

¹A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.

²It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.

³Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.

⁴The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

⁵It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.

⁶For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

⁷Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

⁸The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.

⁹Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.

¹⁰Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this.

¹¹Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.

¹²For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

¹³Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?

¹⁴In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.

¹⁵In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

¹⁶Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

¹⁷Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

¹⁸It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.

¹⁹Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.

²⁰Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

²¹Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.

²²For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

²³All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.

²⁴What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?

²⁵I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

²⁶And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

²⁷“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.

²⁸While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.

²⁹Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

Ecclesiastes 8

¹Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.

²Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.

³Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.

⁴For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

⁵Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.

⁶For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.

⁷Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?

⁸As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

⁹All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.

¹⁰Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.

¹¹When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

¹²Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.

¹³Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

¹⁴There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

¹⁵So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

¹⁶When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—

¹⁷I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.