Ecclesiastes 5:8-20

International Children’s Bible

Officers Cheat Each Other

⁸In some countries you will see poor people treated badly. They are not treated fairly or given their rights. Don’t be surprised! One officer is cheated by a higher officer. They in turn are cheated by even higher officers. ⁹The wealth of the country is divided up among them all. Even the king makes sure he gets his share of the profits.

Wealth Cannot Buy Happiness

¹⁰The person who loves money
    will never have all the money he wants.
The person who loves wealth
    will not be satisfied when he gets it.
    This is also useless.
¹¹The more wealth a person has,
    the more friends he has to help him spend it.
So what does he really gain?
    He gains nothing except to look at his riches.
¹²A man who works hard sleeps in peace.
    It is not important if he has little or much to eat.
But a rich person worries about his wealth.
    He cannot sleep.

¹³I have seen something unfair here on earth:
    A person suffers harm from saving up his money.
¹⁴    Then he loses it all in a bad deal.
So he has nothing
    to give to his son.
¹⁵A person comes into this world with nothing.
    And when he dies, he leaves with nothing.
In spite of all his hard work,
    he leaves exactly as he came.
¹⁶This, too, is unfair:
He leaves exactly as he came.
    So what does he gain from chasing the wind?
¹⁷All he gets are days filled with sadness and sorrow.
    He ends up sick, defeated and angry.

Enjoy Your Life’s Work

¹⁸I have seen what is best for a person to do here on earth. He should eat and drink and enjoy his work. This is because the life God has given him on earth is short. ¹⁹God gives some people the ability to enjoy the wealth and property he gives them. He also gives them the ability to accept their state in life and enjoy their work. ²⁰Such people do not worry much about how short life is. This is because God keeps them busy with the things they love to do.

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