| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Be careful what you do when you go to the temple of God; draw near to listen rather than to offer a sacrifice like fools, for they do not realize that they are doing wrong. | 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. |
| 2Do not be rash with your mouth or hasty in your heart to bring up a matter before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth! Therefore, let your words be few. | 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. |
| 3Just as dreams come when there are many cares, so the rash vow of a fool occurs when there are many words. | 3Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool. |
| 4When you make a vow to God, do not delay in paying it. For God takes no pleasure in fools: Pay what you vow! | 4When 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. |
| 5It is better for you not to vow than to vow and not pay it. | 5It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it. |
| 6Do not let your mouth cause you to sin, and do not tell the priest, "It was a mistake!" Why make God angry at you so that he would destroy the work of your hands?" | 6Don’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. |
| 7Just as there is futility in many dreams, so also in many words. Therefore, fear God! | 7Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead. The Futility of Wealth |
| 8If you see the extortion of the poor, or the perversion of justice and fairness in the government, do not be astonished by the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher official, and there are higher ones over them! | 8Don’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. |
| 9The produce of the land is seized by all of them, even the king is served by the fields. | 9Even the king milks the land for his own profit! |
| 10The one who loves money will never be satisfied with money, he who loves wealth will never be satisfied with his income. This also is futile. | 10Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! |
| 11When someone's prosperity increases, those who consume it also increase; so what does its owner gain, except that he gets to see it with his eyes? | 11The 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! |
| 12The sleep of the laborer is pleasant--whether he eats little or much--but the wealth of the rich will not allow him to sleep. | 12People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep. |
| 13Here is a misfortune on earth that I have seen: Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery. | 13There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. |
| 14Then that wealth was lost through bad luck; although he fathered a son, he has nothing left to give him. | 14Money 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. |
| 15Just as he came forth from his mother\'s womb, naked will he return as he came, and he will take nothing in his hand that he may carry away from his toil. | 15We 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. |
| 16This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind? | 16And 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. |
| 17Surely, he ate in darkness every day of his life, and he suffered greatly with sickness and anger. | 17Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry. |
| 18I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth during the few days of their life which God has given them, for this is their reward. | 18Even 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. |
| 19To every man whom God has given wealth, and possessions, he has also given him the ability to eat from them, to receive his reward and to find enjoyment in his toil; these things are the gift of God. | 19And 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. |
| 20For he does not think much about the fleeting days of his life because God keeps him preoccupied with the joy he derives from his activity. | 20God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past. |
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