Ecclesiastes 5

1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and draw near to hear, rather than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil.

Be careful when you go into God's house. It's better to listen and respond rather than offer meaningless sacrifices. People who do that don't even know they are doing wrong.

2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in the heavens, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few.

Don't say rash things, and think before you speak to God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so keep it short.

3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool's voice through a multitude of words.

When you worry too much, you get nightmares; when you talk too much, you say foolish things.

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.

When you make a vow to God, with a curse on you if you don't keep it, don't be slow in keeping it, for he is not happy with foolish behavior. So do what you promised!

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

Better not to make any vows at all than to make vow you don't keep.

6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an inadvertence. Wherefore should God be wroth at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?

Don't let your mouth cause you to sin. And don't tell the priest that your vow was a mistake, for why would you antagonize God by breaking your promise? He could bring your own curse down on you.

7 For in the multitude of dreams are vanities; so with many words: but fear God.

There are certainly many dreams, questions of meaning, and lots of different ideas, but you are to follow 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 a higher than the high is watching, and there are higher than they.

If you see poor people somewhere being oppressed, or truth and justice violated, don't be shocked at it, for every official is responsible to others higher up, and there are officials over them as well.

9 Moreover the earth is every way profitable: the king [himself] is dependent upon the field.

However, what the land produces is for everyone—even the king benefits from what is grown.

10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This also is vanity.

People who love money never have enough money; those who love wealth never have enough income. This too is so temporary and makes little sense.

11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what profit is there to the owner thereof, except the beholding [of them] with his eyes?

The more you earn, the more you have eating into your income. It only looks like you have more!

12 The sleep of the labourer is sweet, whether he have eaten little or much; but the fulness of the rich doth not suffer him to sleep.

Those who work hard sleep well, whether they have a little to eat or plenty, but the rich own so much they don't get any rest.

13 There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt;

I observed something here that is really sickening: people who hoard money damage themselves.

14 or those riches perish by some evil circumstance, and if he have begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.

They put their money into bad investments and lose everything. Now when we're born, we don't bring anything into the world.

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

When we die, we leave just as naked as when we were born, taking nothing with us from all we've worked for.

16 And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came so doth he go away, and what profit hath he, in having laboured for the wind?

This also makes me sick! What do people gain, working for the wind?

17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and hath much vexation, and sickness, and irritation.

They live their lives in darkness, very frustrated, sick, and resentful.

18 Behold what I have seen good and comely: [it is] to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour wherewith [man] laboureth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for that is his portion.

But I observed that what is good and right is to eat, drink, and to find enjoyment in the work God gives us here in this life. This is God's gift to us.

19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and power to eat thereof, and to take his portion and to rejoice in his labour: that is a gift of God.

In addition, everyone to whom God gives wealth and possessions he also gives the ability to enjoy these gifts, to be grateful for what they are given, and to enjoy the work they do. This is also God's gift to us.

20 For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God answereth [him] with the joy of his heart.

In fact such people have little time to think about life because God keeps them busy with all that makes them happy.