New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Ecclesiastes 5
1
Be careful what you say when you go to God's house. Go there to listen. Don't be like foolish people when you offer your sacrifice. They do what is wrong and don't even know it.
Reference
Parallel theme
James 1:19
Exodus 3:5
Joshua 5:15
Leviticus 10:3
References God
Psalm 89:7
1 Corinthians 11:22
Sacrifice
Proverbs 15:8
Proverbs 21:27
Hebrews 10:26
Isaiah 66:3
2
Don't be too quick to speak. Don't be in a hurry to say anything to God. He is in heaven. You are on earth. So use only a few words when you speak.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 6:7
Isaiah 55:9
Matthew 6:9
Proverbs 20:25
Genesis 18:27
References God
Genesis 28:20
Word
Proverbs 10:19
Ecclesiastes 5:7
Ecclesiastes 5:3
James 3:2
3
Dreams come to people when they worry a lot. When foolish people talk, they use too many words.
Reference
4
When you make a promise to God, don't wait too long to carry it out. He isn't pleased with foolish people. So do what you have promised.
Reference
Parallel theme
Numbers 30:2
Matthew 5:33
Psalm 116:14
Malachi 1:10
References God
Psalm 76:11
Psalm 50:14
6
Don't let your mouth cause you to sin. Don't object to the temple messenger. Don't say, "My promise was a mistake." Why should God be angry with what you say? Why should he destroy what you have done?
Reference
7
Dreaming too much and talking too much are meaningless. So have respect for God.
Reference
Parallel theme
Proverbs 23:17
References God
Ecclesiastes 8:12
Ecclesiastes 3:14
Ecclesiastes 7:18
Word
Ecclesiastes 12:13
Matthew 12:36
Ecclesiastes 5:3
8
Suppose you see poor people being mistreated somewhere. And what is being done to them isn't right or fair. Don't be surprised by that. One official is watched by a higher one. Others who are even higher are watching both of them.
Reference
9
All of them take what the land produces. And the king himself takes his share from the fields.
Reference
Parallel theme
Proverbs 28:19
10
Anyone who loves money never has enough. Anyone who loves wealth is never satisfied with what he gets. That doesn't have any meaning either.
Reference
11
As more and more goods are made, more and more people use them up. So how can those goods benefit their owner? All he can do is look at them with longing.
Reference
12
The sleep of a worker is sweet. It doesn't matter whether he eats a little or a lot. But the wealth of a rich man keeps him awake at night.
Reference
Parallel theme
Proverbs 3:24
13
I've seen something very evil on earth. It's when wealth is stored up and then brings harm to its owner.
Reference
14
It's also when wealth is lost because of an unwise business deal. Then there won't be anything left for the owner's son.
Reference
15
A man is born naked. He comes into the world with nothing. And he goes out of it with nothing. He doesn't get anything from his work that he can take with him.
Reference
16
Here's something else that is very evil. A man is born, and a man dies. And what does he get for his work? Nothing. It's like working for the wind.
Reference
17
All his life he eats in darkness. His life is full of trouble, suffering and anger.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 127:2
18
I realized that it's good and proper for a man to eat and drink. It's good for him to be satisfied with his hard work on this earth. That's what he should do during the few days of life God has given him. That's what God made him for.
Reference
Good
Ecclesiastes 2:24
Parallel theme
Ecclesiastes 3:22
Ecclesiastes 2:10
Jeremiah 52:34
References God
1 Timothy 6:17
Ecclesiastes 8:15
Ecclesiastes 9:7
Ecclesiastes 11:9
19
Sometimes God gives a man wealth and possessions. He makes it possible for him to enjoy them. He helps him accept the life he has given him. He helps him to be happy in his work. All of those things are gifts from God.
Reference
Parallel theme
2 Chronicles 1:12
1 Kings 3:13
References God
Deuteronomy 8:18
Ecclesiastes 3:13
Ecclesiastes 6:2
Summary of Ecclesiastes 5
Ecclesiastes 5 brings together two closely connected subjects: how people approach God and how they approach wealth.
The chapter begins in a place of worship, reminding the reader that religious life should be approached with humility and seriousness.
The Teacher warns against rushing into God's presence with endless words, emotional promises, or careless vows.
The important point is not how much a person says, but whether his words are sincere and whether he is willing to live according to what he has promised.
A person who makes a promise to God should keep it, because worship is not supposed to become a performance of impressive language without corresponding action.
The chapter then turns from individual worship to society and government, where the Teacher observes that poor people can be oppressed and justice can be distorted by layers of authority.
Human systems are imperfect, and one official may answer to another, creating a structure in which wrongdoing can continue through different levels of power.
Even so, no ruler or official is completely independent, because every authority ultimately depends on the larger economic and social system around it.
The Teacher then focuses strongly on money.
His concern is not simply that people possess wealth.
The problem begins when a person loves money and believes that having more will finally make him satisfied.
The more wealth such a person gains, the more he may want.
More possessions can also create more responsibilities, more people depending on him, and more concerns about protecting what he owns.
A poor worker may sleep peacefully after completing his day's labor, while a wealthy person can lie awake worrying about his possessions.
The chapter therefore challenges the assumption that more wealth automatically produces more happiness.
The Teacher also points out how fragile financial security can be.
Money can disappear through a bad investment, an unexpected event, or circumstances outside a person's control.
A person can spend years accumulating wealth and still end up with little to leave behind.
Even when wealth remains intact, death creates the final limitation: no one can take material possessions beyond this life.
A person enters the world with nothing and eventually leaves it in the same basic condition.
This makes the endless pursuit of wealth appear especially frustrating when possessions become the central purpose of existence.
The Teacher's conclusion is not that work or possessions are meaningless.
Instead, he presents a healthier perspective.
When a person works, receives food, enjoys the results of honest labor, and appreciates the possessions available to him, those things can be genuinely good.
The difference is that they should be received as gifts from God rather than treated as replacements for God.
Wealth becomes dangerous when it controls the person who possesses it.
Work becomes frustrating when it is pursued only for accumulation.
Religious activity becomes empty when words are not supported by sincere obedience.
Ecclesiastes 5 therefore connects worship and wealth through one common principle: human beings should recognize their limitations and avoid trying to control life through either religious performance or material accumulation.
The chapter encourages humility before God, careful speech, honest commitments, contentment, and gratitude.
It also recognizes that life is uncertain.
A person cannot guarantee his financial future, control every political system, or know exactly what will happen to his possessions after he is gone.
What he can do is live responsibly in the present and receive the good things God provides.
The overall message of Ecclesiastes 5 is that wisdom is found not in saying more, owning more, or controlling more, but in approaching God with reverence, keeping one's commitments, working honestly, accepting life's limitations, and enjoying the blessings that are available without allowing them to become the purpose of life itself.
The chapter begins in a place of worship, reminding the reader that religious life should be approached with humility and seriousness.
The Teacher warns against rushing into God's presence with endless words, emotional promises, or careless vows.
The important point is not how much a person says, but whether his words are sincere and whether he is willing to live according to what he has promised.
A person who makes a promise to God should keep it, because worship is not supposed to become a performance of impressive language without corresponding action.
The chapter then turns from individual worship to society and government, where the Teacher observes that poor people can be oppressed and justice can be distorted by layers of authority.
Human systems are imperfect, and one official may answer to another, creating a structure in which wrongdoing can continue through different levels of power.
Even so, no ruler or official is completely independent, because every authority ultimately depends on the larger economic and social system around it.
The Teacher then focuses strongly on money.
His concern is not simply that people possess wealth.
The problem begins when a person loves money and believes that having more will finally make him satisfied.
The more wealth such a person gains, the more he may want.
More possessions can also create more responsibilities, more people depending on him, and more concerns about protecting what he owns.
A poor worker may sleep peacefully after completing his day's labor, while a wealthy person can lie awake worrying about his possessions.
The chapter therefore challenges the assumption that more wealth automatically produces more happiness.
The Teacher also points out how fragile financial security can be.
Money can disappear through a bad investment, an unexpected event, or circumstances outside a person's control.
A person can spend years accumulating wealth and still end up with little to leave behind.
Even when wealth remains intact, death creates the final limitation: no one can take material possessions beyond this life.
A person enters the world with nothing and eventually leaves it in the same basic condition.
This makes the endless pursuit of wealth appear especially frustrating when possessions become the central purpose of existence.
The Teacher's conclusion is not that work or possessions are meaningless.
Instead, he presents a healthier perspective.
When a person works, receives food, enjoys the results of honest labor, and appreciates the possessions available to him, those things can be genuinely good.
The difference is that they should be received as gifts from God rather than treated as replacements for God.
Wealth becomes dangerous when it controls the person who possesses it.
Work becomes frustrating when it is pursued only for accumulation.
Religious activity becomes empty when words are not supported by sincere obedience.
Ecclesiastes 5 therefore connects worship and wealth through one common principle: human beings should recognize their limitations and avoid trying to control life through either religious performance or material accumulation.
The chapter encourages humility before God, careful speech, honest commitments, contentment, and gratitude.
It also recognizes that life is uncertain.
A person cannot guarantee his financial future, control every political system, or know exactly what will happen to his possessions after he is gone.
What he can do is live responsibly in the present and receive the good things God provides.
The overall message of Ecclesiastes 5 is that wisdom is found not in saying more, owning more, or controlling more, but in approaching God with reverence, keeping one's commitments, working honestly, accepting life's limitations, and enjoying the blessings that are available without allowing them to become the purpose of life itself.