Ecclesiastes 5 NIV NLT Parallel

◄ Ecclesiastes 5 ►

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New International Version

New Living Translation

1Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do 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 quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so 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.

3A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool.

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

4When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your 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 not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.

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

6Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say and 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.

7Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.

7Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead. The Futility of Wealth

8If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still.

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 increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

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

10Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.

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

11As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?

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 a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.

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

13I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,

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

14or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit.

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.

15Everyone comes naked from their mother's womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.

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 too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil 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.

17All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.

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

18This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them--for this is their lot.

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.

19Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil--this is a 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.

20They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.

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

New International Version (NIV)

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