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Ecclesiastes 5

Ecclesiastes 5 places human speech and wealth under God’s authority, exposing rash promises and the search for satisfaction in riches.

The Teacher addresses people approaching God’s house, warning them to listen, speak with care, and keep their vows. He then turns to the oppression of the poor and the officials who stand above one another. His attention shifts to wealth: its failure to satisfy, its threat to sleep, and its loss through misfortune or death. The closing verses describe enjoyment of food and work as a gift God gives within a limited life.

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1Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know that they do evil.
2Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
3For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool’s speech with a multitude of words.
4When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.
5It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay.
6Don’t allow your mouth to lead you into sin. Don’t protest before the messenger that this was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?
7For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, as well as in many words; but you must fear God.
8If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, don’t marvel at the matter, for one official is eyed by a higher one, and there are officials over them.
9Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from the field.
10He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.
11When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?
12The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
13There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.
14Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand.
15As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.
16This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?
17All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath.
18Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.
19Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.
20For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life, because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Ecclesiastes 5:1The opening command makes listening central to worship and warns that sacrifice can coexist with foolish wrongdoing.
Ecclesiastes 5:4The warning about unpaid vows shows that words spoken to God carry obligations that must be honored.
Ecclesiastes 5:8This verse turns from worship to public injustice, naming oppression within a hierarchy of officials.
Where this chapter reaches

Proverbs shares warnings about reckless speech and wealth, while Matthew shares the concern about multiplying words in prayer. Job shares the image of leaving life naked, and 1 Samuel shares the emphasis on listening to God over offering sacrifice.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What does the warning about hasty words expose in how you approach God?

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Where do you recognize the difference between possessing wealth and having the power to enjoy it?

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Questions people ask about Ecclesiastes 5

Does Ecclesiastes 5:2 mean prayers should always be short?

The command to let words be few appears within warnings against rash speech before God. The contrast between God in heaven and people on earth establishes reverence. The passage sets no word limit for prayer; its concern is careless speech, including promises made without regard for their cost.

What does Ecclesiastes 5:8 mean about officials watching officials?

The verse describes oppression within a hierarchy where each official has someone above him. The wording leaves room for debate about whether this stresses oversight or layers of power that enable injustice. It tells readers not to be surprised by oppression, while still naming the taking away of justice as wrong.

Does Ecclesiastes 5 say that wealth is evil?

The chapter condemns the love of money and describes wealth kept to its owner’s harm. Riches can disappear, disturb sleep, and offer nothing to carry beyond death. Yet verses 18–20 call wealth and the capacity to enjoy it God’s gift. Possession alone cannot secure satisfaction.

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Ecclesiastes · 12 chapters
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What the Bible says about money →What the Bible says about worship →What the Bible says about gratitude →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).