📖 Ecclesiastes — Chapter 5 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Ecclesiastes 5:1 Keep Rthy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 Be Rnot rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any Tthing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
Ecclesiastes 5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.
Ecclesiastes 5:4 When thou Rvowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
Ecclesiastes 5:5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Ecclesiastes 5:6 Suffer not Rthy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
Ecclesiastes 5:7 For Rin the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.
Ecclesiastes 5:8 If Rthou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not Tat the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.
Ecclesiastes 5:9 Moreover Rthe profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: Rthis is also vanity.
Ecclesiastes 5:11 When goods increase, Rthey are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?
Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
Ecclesiastes 5:13 There is Ra sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
Ecclesiastes 5:14 But Rthose riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
Ecclesiastes 5:15 As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
Ecclesiastes 5:16 And this also is Ra sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
Ecclesiastes 5:17 All his days also Rhe eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
Ecclesiastes 5:18 Behold that which I have seen: RTit is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun Tall the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.
Ecclesiastes 5:19 Every man also Rto whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 5:20 RTFor he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Ecclesiastes 5:1–7 — Listen and keep your vows
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Approaching God requires attentive hearing rather than rash words. Promises should be honored, and reverence is preferred to multiplying speech.
Key Truth: Speak thoughtfully before God.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “… sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do ____ .” (Ecclesiastes 5:1)
Find it in Ecclesiastes 5:1 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “When thou ____ a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for …” (Ecclesiastes 5:4)
Find it in Ecclesiastes 5:4 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “For in the multitude of dreams and many ____ there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:7)
Find it in Ecclesiastes 5:7 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Ecclesiastes 5:8–14 — Oppression and unsatisfying wealth
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Corrupt authority and growing possessions are examined. Love of silver remains unsatisfied; accumulated riches can multiply consumers or vanish through misfortune.
Key Truth: Do not place security in accumulated wealth.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “If thou seest the oppression of the ____ , and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a …” (Ecclesiastes 5:8)
Find it in Ecclesiastes 5:8 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “When ____ increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good …” (Ecclesiastes 5:11)
Find it in Ecclesiastes 5:11 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “But those riches perish by ____ travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing …” (Ecclesiastes 5:14)
Find it in Ecclesiastes 5:14 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Ecclesiastes 5:15–20 — Empty hands and received enjoyment
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
People enter and leave life unable to carry wealth away. Enjoyment of one’s allotted work and provision is God’s gift, not proof of complete control.
Key Truth: Receive your portion with gratitude.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “… is a sore evil, that in all points as he ____ , so shall he go: and what profit hath he …” (Ecclesiastes 5:16)
Find it in Ecclesiastes 5:16 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “For he shall not much remember the days of his ____ ; because God answereth him in the joy of his …” (Ecclesiastes 5:20)
Find it in Ecclesiastes 5:20 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “… days of his life; because God answereth him in the ____ of his heart.” (Ecclesiastes 5:20)
Find it in Ecclesiastes 5:20 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Matthew 6:19 — Earthly treasures are vulnerable to loss.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
What promise or anxious attachment needs attention?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. What approach to the house of God is commended?
2. Why should words before God be few?
3. What is better than making a vow and failing to pay it?
4. What does the lover of silver discover?
5. What distinguishes possession from enjoyment?
Notes
Write what you want to remember, questions to explore, or Scriptures to look up later. Your saved notes are private to your account.
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