Ecclesiastes 5

¹ Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

² Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

³ For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.

⁴ When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

⁵ Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

⁶ Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

⁷ For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.

⁸ If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

⁹ Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.

¹⁰ He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

¹¹ When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

¹² The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

¹³ There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

¹⁴ But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

¹⁵ As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

¹⁶ And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?

¹⁷ All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

¹⁸ Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.

¹⁹ Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.

²⁰ For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

World Behind This Chapter

Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Ecclesiastes 5.

QUESTIONS WORTH EXPLORING

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What social practice lies behind vows at the temple?

Vows were formal promises that could accompany prayer, sacrifice, or requests. Ecclesiastes warns against careless speech in a setting where words before God could create real obligations.

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Why does Ecclesiastes place bureaucracy beside wealth?

The chapter moves from temple speech to layers of officials and then to land, silver, consumption, and inheritance. The sequence situates private wealth inside wider systems of administration and taxation.

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How early is the Hebrew text of Ecclesiastes attested?

4Q109 from Qumran preserves portions of Ecclesiastes 5–7 and is commonly dated to the Hasmonean period, giving the book a Hebrew manuscript witness centuries earlier than the medieval Masoretic codices.

WORTH A CLOSER LOOK

Manuscripts

Open an early Hebrew manuscript of Ecclesiastes

4Q109 (4QQohᵃ) from Qumran Cave 4 preserves portions of Ecclesiastes 5–7 in Hebrew. The surviving fragments show that Ecclesiastes was already circulating in manuscript form in the Second Temple period.

Examine the manuscript →

⌘ Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter 3

History & Daily Life1

• The Temple in JerusalemWorld History Encyclopedia

  Illustrated overview of the Jerusalem temple as a center of sacrifice, vows, prayer, priesthood, festivals, and public life. It helps readers picture the setting behind Ecclesiastes 5’s command to guard one’s steps when entering the house of God and to avoid careless religious speech.

Language & Literature2

• Ecclesiastes 5: NET Bible Translation NotesNET Bible

  Scholarly notes clarify guarding one’s steps, the sacrifice of fools, rash vows, dreams produced by excessive activity, layers of officials overseeing one another, the instability of wealth, and the repeated conclusion that enjoyment is a gift rather than a possession people can secure.

• Why Ecclesiastes Says It Is Better Not to Make a VowTranslation Insights and Perspectives

  Chapter-specific commentary on Ecclesiastes 5:5 explaining the proverb-like statement that it is better not to make a vow than to promise something and fail to fulfill it. It shows how Qoheleth uses a “better than” saying to teach restraint, integrity, and caution in temple worship rather than encouraging impressive religious promises.