Ecclesiastes, 5

1. Be in no hurry to speak; do not hastily declare yourself before God; for God is in heaven, you on earth. Be sparing, then, of speech:

1. 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.

2. From too much worrying comes illusion, from too much talking, the accents of folly.

2. 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 upon earth; therefore let your words be few.

3. If you make a vow to God, discharge it without delay, for God has no love for fools. Discharge your vow.

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

4. Better a vow unmade than made and not discharged.

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

5. Do not allow your mouth to make a sinner of you, and do not say to the messenger that it was a mistake. Why give God occasion to be angry with you and ruin all the work that you have done?

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

6. From too many illusions come futility and too much talk. Therefore, fear God.

6. 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?

7. If in a province you see the poor oppressed, fair judgement and justice violated, do not be surprised, for over every official there watches a higher official, and over these, higher officials still.

7. For when dreams increase, empty words grow many: but do you fear God.

8. But what the land yields is for the benefit of all, a king is served by the fields.

8. If you see in a province the poor oppressed and justice and right violently taken away, do not be amazed at the matter; for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.

9. No one who loves money ever has enough, no one who loves luxury has any income; this, too, is futile.

9. But in all, a king is an advantage to a land with cultivated fields.

10. Where goods abound, parasites abound: where is the owner's profit, apart from feasting his eyes?

10. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money; nor he who loves wealth, with gain: this also is vanity.

11. The labourer's sleep is sweet, whether he has eaten little or much, but the surfeit of the rich will not let him sleep at all.

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

12. Something grossly unjust I observe under the sun: riches stored and turning to loss for their owner.

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

13. An unlucky venture, and those riches are lost; a son is born to him, and he has nothing to leave him.

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

14. Naked from his mother's womb he came; as naked as he came will he depart; not one of his achievements can he take with him.

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

15. And something else grossly unjust: that as he came, so must he go; what profit can he show after toiling to earn the wind,

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

16. as he spends the rest of his days in darkness, mourning, many sorrows, sickness and exasperation.

16. This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go; and what gain has he that he toiled for the wind,

17. So my conclusion is this: true happiness lies in eating and drinking and enjoying whatever has been achieved under the sun, throughout the life given by God: for this is the lot of humanity.

17. and spent all his days in darkness and grief, in much vexation and sickness and resentment?

18. And whenever God gives someone riches and property, with the ability to enjoy them and to find contentment in work, this is a gift from God.

18. Behold, what I have seen to be good and to be 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 which God has given him, for this is his lot.

19. For such a person will hardly notice the passing of time, so long as God keeps his heart occupied with joy.

19. Every man also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and find enjoyment in his toil -- this is the gift of God.

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