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Ecclesiastes 5

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.

When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow.

It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.

Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?

For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.

If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.

But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt,

and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand.

As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.

This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind?

Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.

Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.

For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

Scripture quotations marked “ESV” are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Ecclesiastes 5

The Preacher advises prudent worship: guard your steps approaching God's house and listen rather than offer foolish sacrifices. Hasty vows displease Him; it is better to vow nothing than to vow and fail to pay. He warns against excessive words in prayer or before officials, and critiques the oppression of the poor by corrupt bureaucracy. He observes the futility of wealth: the lover of money never satisfies his appetite, wealth brings anxiety and sleeplessness, and accumulated riches cannot be carried at death. Yet he affirms a qualified good: the ability to eat one's own labor and find satisfaction in it is a gift from God. This chapter introduces explicit theological obligations and divine relational norms within the Preacher's framework. The emphasis on restrained, sincere worship rather than elaborate ritual aligns with later prophetic critique of mere external observance. Literarily, the passage employs direct imperatives and vivid imagery—the watchdog official, the sleepless wealthy person—to make abstract warnings concrete and memorable. Theologically, the chapter pivots decisively toward covenantal obedience: while possessions themselves remain transient, right relationship with God through sincere vows and obedient labor constitutes an enduring good. The notion that finding satisfaction in one's work is 'God's gift' introduces grace and divine provision as realities transcending vanity, suggesting that meaning emerges through proper alignment with God rather than through achievement alone.

Ecclesiastes 5:19

The reason that such a person does not much remember the days of their life through the sadness that might otherwise accompany existence is that their mind is occupied with joy and satisfaction. The implication is that those who pursue infinite accumulation remember their lives with sadness, preoccupied with anxiety about loss; yet the contented person, occupied with present goods and gratitude, experiences forgetfulness of life's sorrows. This verse suggests that psychological peace depends less on the amount one possesses than on whether one achieves contentment.

Ecclesiastes 5:20

The final statement of chapter 5 affirms that God keeps the person preoccupied with the joy of their heart, without allowing them to dwell overmuch on the years of their life, consolidates the chapter's message about the gift of contentment. The divine activity of keeping human consciousness focused on present joy rather than on the totality of existence (with its implicit reminder of mortality) represents a form of grace. This verse suggests that happiness depends not on achieving the impossible but on accepting God's gift of present satisfaction.

Ecclesiastes 5:2

The admonition that words are few before God, and that the multitude of dreams comes with much talk, suggests that excessive speech distances one from genuine encounter with the divine. The association of dreams with empty speech implies that fantasies and idle talk proliferate while standing before God; the wise person recognizes God's transcendence by restraining words. This verse privileges silence and listening over self-assertion in the presence of the holy.

Ecclesiastes 5:3

The observation that as dreams accompany many worries, and words accompany many deeds, extends the previous verse's caution about speech into a broader observation about human tendency to fill existence with noise. The bustle of words and deeds may distract from genuine encounter with reality and the divine. This verse suggests that much human activity serves to shield us from confrontation with what truly matters.

Ecclesiastes 5:4

The warning against rash vows to God, and the recommendation not to delay payment of vows once made, establishes the principle that commitments to God require both carefulness in making and faithfulness in fulfilling. The image of God taking no pleasure in fools suggests that the divine standard for human conduct, particularly regarding sacred promises, remains exacting even within Ecclesiastes' vision of vanity. This verse reminds readers that the vanity of worldly pursuits does not excuse negligence in obligations before God.

Ecclesiastes 5:5

The statement that it is better not to vow than to vow and not pay reiterates the seriousness of commitments before God while suggesting that the safest course is restraint in religious self-obligation. The image of God's anger at the mouth that causes the body to sin personifies divine response to broken vows as potentially destructive. This verse combines realism about human weakness with strict accountability; the wise person avoids circumstances in which one might fail to honor commitments.

Ecclesiastes 5:6

The warning against allowing one's mouth to lead flesh into sin, and against claiming before God's messenger that the vow was a mistake, expresses the seriousness of religious language and commitment. The reference to God's messenger may allude to the priest or other religious official whose role includes holding people accountable to vows. This verse emphasizes that utterances before God carry weight and consequence; casual or frivolous religious speech provokes divine displeasure.

Ecclesiastes 5:7

The acknowledgment that in many dreams and many words, vanity is evident, and one should fear God, returns to the book's central motif while indicating that fear of God represents the appropriate response to vanity and meaninglessness. The piling up of dreams and words serves no purpose; yet in the presence of God, this futility becomes something that generates awe rather than despair. This verse suggests that recognition of vanity, properly understood, opens toward the divine rather than closing off transcendence.

Ecclesiastes 5:8

The observation of oppression and injustice in a province, suggesting governmental corruption where officials exploit their power, reintroduces the social critique of 4:1. The hierarchy of officials each enriching themselves at the expense of those below creates systematic injustice. Yet the implicit contrast—between human injustice and divine justice (verse 7 mentions fear of God)—suggests that one should look beyond earthly corruption toward the ultimate judge.

Ecclesiastes 5:9

The cryptic statement that the advantage of a land is that a king is served by the fields, understood variously, may suggest that even in injustice, some benefit accrues to the realm as a whole through agricultural production. The verse seems to acknowledge that despite corruption, basic functions of society continue; yet this is a minimal good, hardly justifying the system of oppression that enables it. The verse's difficulty of interpretation may itself express the perplexity of observing how unjust systems continue to function.

Ecclesiastes 5:15

Qohelet's further reflection that this is a grievous evil, that one comes and goes the same way, with nothing gained, deepens the critique of wealth-seeking through explicit moral evaluation. The term "grievous evil" indicates that this condition of vanity is not neutral or acceptable but genuinely harmful. Yet the harm consists not in external punishment but in the wasted life—effort expended on accumulation that achieves nothing.

Ecclesiastes 5:11

The observation that as goods increase, so do those who consume them, leaving the owner no advantage except the sight of them, presents another form of vanity: the multiplication of possession does not increase the owner's personal benefit. The phrase "sight of them" suggests that the satisfaction of observing wealth becomes the only real profit, a visual pleasure rather than genuine advantage. This verse implies that the owner becomes almost incidental to the accumulation; the multiplication of wealth has its own momentum.

Ecclesiastes 5:12

The affirmation that the sleep of the laborer is pleasant, whether he eats little or much, while the abundance of the rich prevents him from sleeping, inverts worldly assumptions about prosperity. The laborer's contentment and ability to rest contrasts with the rich person's sleepless anxiety about preserving wealth. This verse suggests that simplicity and modest means, combined with the tiredness that comes from honest work, actually promote human flourishing in the form of peaceful rest.

Ecclesiastes 5:13

Qohelet's observation of a grievous evil: wealth hoarded and destroyed through misfortune, leaving the owner with nothing to give to his heir, illustrates how wealth fails to secure the future. The sudden loss of accumulated fortune, whether through economic disaster, theft, or other calamity, renders the entire effort to accumulate futile. This verse implies that the fundamental vulnerability of all possessions to loss makes wealth-hoarding particularly futile; one cannot actually secure through accumulation.

Ecclesiastes 5:14

The statement that as a person comes naked from the womb, so they return naked, gaining nothing from their toil to take with them, connects with the theme of mortality first introduced in 3:19-20. The image of nakedness—vulnerability, emptiness of possessions—frames human existence as fundamentally unchanged by all the accumulation undertaken in the interim. This verse suggests a kind of cosmic indifference to human achievement; the universe strips away all attachments at death.

Ecclesiastes 5:16

The reiteration that all the days of one's life are spent in darkness, with much grief, sickness, and wrath, if lived in service of accumulation, presents the psychological and existential cost of wealth-seeking. The image of darkness and the enumeration of suffering—grief, sickness, anger—suggest that the pursuit of security through riches actually produces misery. This verse implies that the means contradict the end; one suffers in the process of trying to secure happiness.

Ecclesiastes 5:17

The proclamation that what is good and fitting is to eat, drink, and find enjoyment in one's labor, for this is one's portion and reward under the sun, returns to the theme of modest contentment that threads through Ecclesiastes. The word "portion" suggests acceptance of one's allotment rather than envious pursuit of more; the word "reward" suggests that simple enjoyment represents genuine compensation for labor. This verse presents the alternative to wealth-seeking: acceptance of present goods as sufficient.

Ecclesiastes 5:18

The additional observation that to one whom God gives wealth and possessions, and power to enjoy them, and to accept their portion and find satisfaction in their labor, is a gift of God, acknowledges that not all possess the capacity to enjoy what they have. The ability to find satisfaction represents a divine gift as much as the goods themselves; contentment with modest means requires grace. This verse suggests that the wise person recognizes in ordinary enjoyment a blessing from God.

Ecclesiastes 5:10

The principle that the lover of money never has enough, and the lover of wealth never has return, establishes that acquisitiveness represents an inherent form of vanity—a desire that, by its nature, cannot be satisfied. The endless hunger for more money, the always-inadequate wealth accumulated, suggests that the pursuit of material security works against its own goal. This verse implies that those who bind their happiness to accumulation necessarily suffer; the structure of the pursuit guarantees dissatisfaction.

Ecclesiastes 5:1

The warning to guard one's steps when entering God's house, and to draw near to listen rather than to speak hastily, introduces a more explicitly religious tone while maintaining wisdom's emphasis on proper conduct. The contrast between listening and rash speech suggests that approaching God requires humility and receptiveness rather than presumptuous assertion. This verse marks a shift in focus from social and political vanity toward the religious dimension of human existence.