| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1 Watch your step whenever you visit God's house, and come more ready to listen than to offer a fool's sacrifice, since fools never think they're doing evil. | 1Be careful what you do when you go to the temple of God; draw near to listen rather than to offer a sacrifice like fools, for they do not realize that they are doing wrong. |
| 2 Don't be impulsive with your mouth nor be in a hurry to talk in God's presence. Since God is in heaven and you're on earth, keep your speech short. | 2Do not be rash with your mouth or hasty in your heart to bring up a matter before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth! Therefore, let your words be few. |
| 3Too many worries lead to nightmares, and a fool is known from talking too much. | 3Just as dreams come when there are many cares, so the rash vow of a fool occurs when there are many words. |
| 4When you make a promise to God, don't fail to keep it, since he isn't pleased with fools. Keep what you promise— | 4When you make a vow to God, do not delay in paying it. For God takes no pleasure in fools: Pay what you vow! |
| 5it's better that you don't promise than that you do promise and not follow through. | 5It is better for you not to vow than to vow and not pay it. |
| 6Never let your mouth cause you to sin and don't proclaim in the presence of the angel, "My promise was a mistake," for why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy what you've undertaken? | 6Do not let your mouth cause you to sin, and do not tell the priest, "It was a mistake!" Why make God angry at you so that he would destroy the work of your hands?" |
| 7In spite of many daydreams, pointless actions, and empty words, it is more important to fear God. | 7Just as there is futility in many dreams, so also in many words. Therefore, fear God! |
| 8Don't be surprised when you see the poor oppressed and the violent perverting both justice and verdicts in a province, for one high official watches another, and there are ones higher still over them. | 8If you see the extortion of the poor, or the perversion of justice and fairness in the government, do not be astonished by the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher official, and there are higher ones over them! |
| 9Also, the increase of the land belongs to everyone; the king himself is served by his field. | 9The produce of the land is seized by all of them, even the king is served by the fields. |
| 10Whoever loves money will never have enough money. Whoever loves luxury will not be content with abundance. This also is pointless. | 10The one who loves money will never be satisfied with money, he who loves wealth will never be satisfied with his income. This also is futile. |
| 11When possessions increase, so does the number of consumers; therefore what good are they to their owners, except to look at them? | 11When someone's prosperity increases, those who consume it also increase; so what does its owner gain, except that he gets to see it with his eyes? |
| 12Sweet is the sleep of a working man, whether he eats a little or a lot, but the excess wealth of the rich will not allow him to rest. | 12The sleep of the laborer is pleasant--whether he eats little or much--but the wealth of the rich will not allow him to sleep. |
| 13I have observed a painful tragedy on earth: Wealth hoarded by its owner harms him, | 13Here is a misfortune on earth that I have seen: Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery. |
| 14and that wealth is lost in troubled circumstances. Then a son is born, but there is nothing left for him. | 14Then that wealth was lost through bad luck; although he fathered a son, he has nothing left to give him. |
| 15Just as he came naked from his mother's womb, he will leave as naked as he came; he will receive no profit from his efforts— he cannot carry away even a handful. | 15Just as he came forth from his mother\'s womb, naked will he return as he came, and he will take nothing in his hand that he may carry away from his toil. |
| 16This is also a painful tragedy: However a person comes, he also departs; so what does he gain as he labors after the wind? | 16This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind? |
| 17Furthermore, all his days he lives in darkness with great sorrow, anger, and affliction. | 17Surely, he ate in darkness every day of his life, and he suffered greatly with sickness and anger. |
| 18Look! I observed that it is good and prudent to eat, drink, and enjoy all that is good of a person's work that he does on earth during the limited days of his life, which God gives him, for this is his allotment. | 18I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth during the few days of their life which God has given them, for this is their reward. |
| 19Furthermore, for every person to whom God has given wealth, riches, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept this allotment, and to rejoice in his work—this is a gift from God. | 19To every man whom God has given wealth, and possessions, he has also given him the ability to eat from them, to receive his reward and to find enjoyment in his toil; these things are the gift of God. |
| 20For he will not brood much over the days of his life, since God will keep him occupied with the joys of his heart. | 20For he does not think much about the fleeting days of his life because God keeps him preoccupied with the joy he derives from his activity. |
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