| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Keep 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. | 1Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to draw near in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong. |
| 2Be 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. | 2Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. |
| 3For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. | 3For dreams result from much work and a fool's voice from many words. |
| 4When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. | 4When you make a vow to God, don't delay fulfilling it, because He does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow. |
| 5Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. | 5Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it. |
| 6Suffer 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? | 6Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands? |
| 7For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God. | 7For many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God. |
| 8If 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. | 8If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, don't be astonished at the situation, because one official protects another official, and higher officials protect them. |
| 9Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. | 9The profit from the land is taken by all; the king is served by the field. |
| 10He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. | 10The one who loves money is never satisfied with money, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile. |
| 11When 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? | 11When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes? |
| 12The 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. | 12The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep. |
| 13There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. | 13There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm. |
| 14But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. | 14That wealth was lost in a bad venture, so when he fathered a son, he was empty-handed. |
| 15As 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. | 15As he came from his mother's womb, so he will go again, naked as he came; he will take nothing for his efforts that he can carry in his hands. |
| 16And 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? | 16This too is a sickening tragedy: exactly as he comes, so he will go. What does the one gain who struggles for the wind? |
| 17All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness. | 17What is more, he eats in darkness all his days, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger. |
| 18Behold 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. | 18Here is what I have seen to be good: it is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward. |
| 19Every 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. | 19God has also given riches and wealth to every man, and He has allowed him to enjoy them, take his reward, and rejoice in his labor. This is a gift of God, |
| 20For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart. | 20for he does not often consider the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart. |
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