Ecclesiastes 5-8 - NASB - New American Standard Bible

Ecclesiastes 5-8

Your Attitude Toward God

¹^aGuard 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. 2 ¹Do 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. 3 For the dream comes through much ¹effort and the voice of a ^afool through many words.
4 When you ^amake a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. ^bPay what you vow! 5 It is ^abetter that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Do 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? 7 For in many dreams and in many words there is ¹emptiness. Rather, ²^afear God.
8 If 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 ²official, and there are higher ³officials over them. 9 After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.

The Folly of Riches

10 ^aHe who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is ¹vanity. 11 ^aWhen good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to ¹look on? 12 The 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.
13 There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: ^ariches being ¹hoarded by their owner to his hurt. 14 When those riches were lost through ¹a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing ²to support him. 15 ^aAs 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. 16 This 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? 17 Throughout his life ^ahe also eats in darkness with ^bgreat vexation, sickness and anger.
18 Here 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 ⁴^breward. 19 Furthermore, 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. 20 For he will not often ¹consider the ²years of his life, because ^aGod keeps ³him occupied with the gladness of his heart.

The Futility of Life

There is an ^aevil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent ¹among men⁠— 2 a 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. 3 If 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, 4 for 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?”
7 ^aAll a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the ¹appetite is not ²satisfied. 8 For ^awhat advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the poor man have, knowing how to walk before the living? 9 What the eyes ^asee is better than what the soul ¹desires. This too is ^bfutility and a striving after wind.
10 Whatever ^aexists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he ^bcannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is. 11 For there are many words which increase futility. What then is the advantage to a man? 12 For 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?

Wisdom and Folly Contrasted

A ^agood name is better than a good ointment,

And the ^bday of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.

It is better to go to a house of mourning

Than to go to a house of feasting,

Because ¹that is the ^aend of every man,

And the living ²^btakes it to ³heart.

^aSorrow is better than laughter,

For ^bwhen a face is sad a heart may be happy.

The ¹mind of the wise is in the house of mourning,

While the ¹mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.

It is better to ^alisten to the rebuke of a wise man

Than for one to listen to the song of fools.

For as the ¹crackling of ^athorn bushes under a pot,

So is the ^blaughter of the fool;

And this too is futility.

For ^aoppression makes a wise man mad,

And a ^bbribe ¹corrupts the heart.

The ^aend of a matter is better than its beginning;

^bPatience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.

Do not be ¹^aeager in your heart to be angry,

For anger resides in the bosom of fools.

Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?”

For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

Wisdom along with an inheritance is good

And an ^aadvantage to those who see the sun.

For ^awisdom is ¹protection just as money is ¹protection,

But the advantage of knowledge is that ^bwisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.

Consider the ^awork of God,

For who is ^bable to straighten what He has bent?

^aIn the day of prosperity be happy,

But ^bin the day of adversity consider⁠—

God has made the one as well as the other

So that man will ^cnot discover anything that will be after him.

15 I have seen everything during my ¹^alifetime of futility; there is ^ba righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is ^ca wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness. 16 Do not be excessively ^arighteous and do not ^bbe overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? 17 Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you ^adie before your time? 18 It is good that you grasp one thing and also not ¹let go of the other; for the one who ^afears God comes forth with ²both of them.
19 ^aWisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Indeed, ^athere is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. 21 Also, do not ¹take seriously all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your servant ^acursing you. 22 For ¹you also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others.
23 I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” ^abut it was far from me. 24 What has been is remote and ^aexceedingly ¹mysterious. ^bWho can discover it? 25 I ¹^adirected my ²mind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness. 26 And I discovered more ^abitter than death the woman whose heart is ^bsnares and nets, whose hands are chains. ^cOne who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but ^dthe sinner will be captured by her.
27 “Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “adding one thing to another to find an explanation, 28 which ¹I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a ^awoman among all these. 29 Behold, I have found only this, that ^aGod made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”

Obey Rulers

Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom ^aillumines ¹him and causes his ^bstern face to ²beam.
2 I say, “Keep the ¹command of the king because of the ^aoath ²before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry ¹^ato leave him. Do not join in an evil matter, for he will do whatever he pleases.” 4 Since the word of the king is authoritative, ^awho will say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 He who ^akeeps a royal command ^bexperiences no ¹trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. 6 For ^athere is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man’s trouble is heavy upon him. 7 If no one ^aknows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen? 8 ^aNo man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and ^bevil will not deliver ¹those who practice it. 9 All this I have seen and applied my ¹mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised ^aauthority over another man to his hurt.
10 So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are ^asoon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility. 11 Because the ^asentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore ^bthe hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil. 12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may ^alengthen his life, still I know that it will be ^bwell for those who fear God, who fear ¹Him openly. 13 But it will ^anot be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a ^bshadow, because he does not fear God.
14 There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are ^arighteous men to whom it ¹happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are ^bevil men to whom it ¹happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility. 15 So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for ^aa man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his ¹toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
16 When I ^agave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on the earth (even though one should ¹^bnever sleep day or night), 17 and I saw every work of God, I concluded that ^aman cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and ^bthough the wise man should say, “I know,” he cannot discover.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
For Permission to Quote information visit lockman.org by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved.