Ecclesiastes
Chapter
5
{Was Chapter 4 Verse 17 in Tanakh Version}
1 Be not overeager to go to the House of God.
More
acceptable is obedience
than
the offering of fools . . .
for
they know nothing {but} to do wrong.
2
Keep your mouth from being rash,
and
let not your throat be quick
to
bring forth speech before God.
For
God is in heaven
and
you are on earth.
That is why your words should be few.
3
Just as dreams come with much brooding,
so
does foolish utterance come with much speech.
4
When you vow to God,
do
not delay to fulfill it.
For He has no pleasure in fools.
What you vow . . . fulfill.
5
It is better not to vow
than
to vow and not fulfill it.
6
Don't let your mouth bring you into disfavor,
and
don't plead before the messenger
that
it was an error . . .
but
fear God . . .
else
God may be angered by your talk
and
destroy your possessions.
7
For much dreaming
leads
to futility/meaninglessnesses and to superfluous talk.
8
If you see in a province oppression of the poor
and
suppression of right and justice,
don't
wonder at the fact.
For
one high official is protected by a higher one,
and
both of them by still higher ones.
9 Thus the greatest advantage in all the land is his.
He controls a field that is cultivated.
{6th
Experiment by Solomon - Happiness through having money in the Cosmic System}
10~~Whoever
has money . . . never has enough money.
Whoever loves wealth . . . is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.
11~~As goods increase . . . so do those who consume them.
And
what benefit are they to the owner
except
to feast their eyes on them?
12~~On
the other hand, the sleep of a laborer man is sweet . . .
whether
he eats much or little.
But the abundance of a rich man will not allow him to sleep.
13~~I
have seen a grievous evil under the sun . . .
to
the harm of its owner.
14~~For
wealth lost through some misfortune . . .
so
that when he has a son there is nothing left for him.
15~~Naked
a man comes from his mother's womb . . .
and
naked shall he depart.
He takes nothing of his labor that he can carry in his hand.
16~~This too is a grievous evil.
As a man comes . . . so he departs . . . and what does he gain?
He toils for the wind.
Everything is left behind.
17~~
All of his days he eats in darkness . . .
with
great frustration, affliction and anger {ulcers}.
18~~Then
I realized that it is good and proper for a man
to
eat and drink
and
to find satisfaction in his toils and labors under the sun
during
the few days of life
God
has given him.
19~~When
God gives anyone wealth
and
possessions and enables him to enjoy them . . .
to
accept his lot and to be happy in his work . . .
this
. . . is a gift from God!
20~~For
{such a man} will not brood much over the days of his life,
because
God keeps him busy enjoying himself.
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