Ecclesiastes 5

Reading Ecclesiastes chapter 5 in the Young's Literal Translation, public-domain text from 1898.

Verses 1–10

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

2 Cause not thy mouth to hasten, and let not thy heart hasten to bring out a word before God, for God is in the heavens, and thou on the earth, therefore let thy words be few.

3 For the dream hath come by abundance of business, and the voice of a fool by abundance of words.

4 When thou vowest a vow to God, delay not to complete it, for there is no pleasure in fools; that which thou vowest--complete.

5 Better that thou do not vow, than that thou dost vow and dost not complete.

6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger, that `it is an error,' why is God wroth because of thy voice, and hath destroyed the work of thy hands?

7 For, in the abundance of dreams both vanities and words abound; but fear thou God.

8 If oppression of the poor, and violent taking away of judgment and righteousness thou seest in a province, do not marvel at the matter, for a higher than the high is observing, and high ones are over them.

9 And the abundance of a land is for all. A king for a field is served.

10 Whoso is loving silver is not satisfied with silver, nor he who is in love with stores with increase. Even this is vanity.

Ecclesiastes in other translations

• KJV Ecclesiastes
• ASV Ecclesiastes
• Darby Ecclesiastes
• DRC Ecclesiastes
• WEB Ecclesiastes
• Webster Ecclesiastes

About this translation

The Young's Literal Translation (1898) is one of seven public-domain translations available in the OCC Bible Explorer. Use the full app to compare translations side by side, search across all translations, and explore Strong's Hebrew and Greek concordance entries linked to every word.