| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. | 1 As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. |
| 2Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few. | 2 Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few. |
| 3As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words. | 3Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool. |
| 4When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. | 4When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. |
| 5It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. | 5It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it. |
| 6Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands? | 6Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved. |
| 7For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God. | 7Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead. The Futility of Wealth |
| 8If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them. | 8Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land. For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy. |
| 9The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields. | 9Even the king milks the land for his own profit! |
| 10He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile. | 10Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! |
| 11When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes? | 11The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! |
| 12The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep. | 12People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep. |
| 13There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, | 13There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. |
| 14or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on. | 14Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. |
| 15As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands. | 15We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. |
| 16This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind? | 16And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind. |
| 17Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger. | 17Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry. |
| 18Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot. | 18Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. |
| 19Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God. | 19And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. |
| 20For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart. | 20God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past. |
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