Parallel Bible results for "ecclesiastes 5"

Ecclesiastes 5

New Living Translation NLT

1 As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God.

2 Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.

3 Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.

4 When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him.

5 It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.

6 Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.

7 Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.

8 Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land. For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy.

9 Even the king milks the land for his own profit!

10 Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!

11 The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!

12 People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep.

13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver.

14 Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children.

15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.

16 And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind.

17 Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.

18 Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life.

19 And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God.

20 God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.

Common English Bible CEB

1 Watch your steps when you go to God's house. It's more acceptable to listen than to offer the fools' sacrifice—they have no idea that they're acting wrongly.

2 Don't be quick with your mouth or say anything hastily before God, because God is in heaven, but you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few.

3 Remember: Dreams come with many cares, and the voice of fools with many words.

4 When you make a promise to God, fulfill it without delay because God has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you promise.

5 Better not to make a promise than to make a promise without fulfilling it.

6 Don't let your mouth make a sinner of you, and don't say to the messenger: "It was a mistake!" Otherwise, God may become angry at such talk and destroy what you have accomplished.

7 Remember: When dreams multiply, so do pointless thoughts and excessive speech. Therefore, fear God.

8 If you witness the poor being oppressed or the violation of what is just and right in some territory, don't be surprised because a high official watches over another, and yet others stand over them.

9 But the land's yield should be for everyone if the field is cultivated.

10 The money lover isn't satisfied with money; neither is the lover of wealth satisfied with income. This too is pointless.

11 When good things flow, so do those who consume them. But what do owners benefit from such goods, except to feast their eyes on them?

12 Sweet is the worker's sleep, whether there's a lot or little to eat; but the excess of the wealthy won't let them sleep.

13 I have seen a sickening tragedy under the sun: people hoard their wealth to their own detriment.

14 Then that wealth is lost in a bad business venture so that when they have children, they are left with nothing.

15 Just as they came from their mother's womb naked, naked they'll return, ending up just like they started. All their hard work produces nothing—nothing they can take with them.

16 This too is a sickening tragedy: they must pass on just as they arrived. What then do they gain from working so hard for wind?

17 What's more, they constantly eat in darkness, with much aggravation, grief, and anger.

18 This is the one good thing I've seen: it's appropriate for people to eat, drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work under the sun during the brief lifetime that God gives them because that's their lot in life.

19 Also, whenever God gives people wealth and riches and enables them to enjoy it, to accept their place in the world and to find pleasure in their hard work—all this is God's gift.

20 Indeed, people shouldn't brood too much over the days of their lives because God gives an answer in their hearts' joy.