Tamaño de la fuente
Ecclesiastes 5-8
English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 5-8
English Standard Version
Fear God
5 [a] (A)Guard your steps when you go to (B)the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to (C)offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 [b] Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore (D)let your words be few. 3 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with (E)many words.
4 When (F)you vow a vow to God, (G)do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. (H)Pay what you vow. 5 (I)It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Let not your mouth lead you[c] into sin, and do not say before (J)the messenger[d] that it was (K)a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity;[e] but[f] (L)God is the one you must fear.
The Vanity of Wealth and Honor
8 (M)If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, (N)do not be amazed at the matter, (O)for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. 9 But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.[g]
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 12 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.
13 (P)There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15 (Q)As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what (R)gain is there to him who (S)toils for the wind? 17 Moreover, all his days he (T)eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.
18 Behold, what I have seen to be (U)good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment[h] in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his (V)lot. 19 Everyone also to whom (W)God has given (X)wealth and possessions (Y)and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is (Z)the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
6 (AA)There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: 2 a man (AB)to whom (AC)God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he (AD)lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God (AE)does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity;[i] it is a grievous evil. 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that (AF)the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's (AG)good things, and he also has no (AH)burial, I say that (AI)a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. 5 Moreover, it has not (AJ)seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds (AK)rest rather than he. 6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy[j] no good—do not all go to the one place?
7 (AL)All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.[k] 8 For what advantage has the wise man (AM)over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? 9 Better (AN)is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is (AO)vanity and a striving after wind.
10 Whatever has come to be has (AP)already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to (AQ)dispute with one stronger than he. 11 The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? 12 For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his (AR)vain[l] life, which he passes like (AS)a shadow? For who can tell man what will be (AT)after him under the sun?
The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly
7 (AU)A good name is better than precious ointment,
and (AV)the day of death than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will (AW)lay it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
(AX)for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is (AY)better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
6 (AZ)For as the crackling of (BA)thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.[m]
7 Surely (BB)oppression drives the wise into madness,
and (BC)a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and (BD)the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 (BE)Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
(BF)for anger lodges in the heart[n] of fools.
10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who (BG)see the sun.
12 For the protection of wisdom is like (BH)the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that (BI)wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 Consider (BJ)the work of God:
(BK)who can make straight what he has made crooked?
14 (BL)In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, (BM)so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
15 In my (BN)vain[o] life I have seen everything. There is (BO)a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who (BP)prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not (BQ)make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. (BR)Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of (BS)this, and from (BT)that (BU)withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
19 (BV)Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
20 Surely (BW)there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear (BX)your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that (BY)many times you yourself have cursed others.
23 All this I have tested by wisdom. (BZ)I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and (CA)deep, very deep; (CB)who can find it out?
25 (CC)I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more (CD)bitter than death: (CE)the woman whose heart is (CF)snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but (CG)the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says (CH)the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. (CI)One man among a thousand I found, but (CJ)a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that (CK)God made man upright, but (CL)they have sought out many schemes.
Keep the King's Command
8 Who is like the wise?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
(CM)A man's wisdom makes his face shine,
and (CN)the hardness of his face is changed.
2 I say:[p] Keep the king's command, because of (CO)God's oath to him.[q] 3 Be not hasty to (CP)go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and (CQ)who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.[r] 6 For there is a time and a way (CR)for everything, although man's trouble[s] lies heavy on him. 7 For he (CS)does not know what is to be, for (CT)who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to (CU)retain the spirit, (CV)or power over the day of death. There is no (CW)discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 (CX)All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.
Those Who Fear God Will Do Well
10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of (CY)the holy place and were (CZ)praised[t] in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.[u] 11 Because (DA)the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, (DB)the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and (DC)prolongs his life, yet I know that (DD)it will be well with (DE)those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will (DF)not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like (DG)a shadow, because he does not fear before God.
Man Cannot Know God's Ways
14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people (DH)to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people (DI)to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man (DJ)has nothing better under the sun but to (DK)eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see (DL)the business that is done on earth, how neither (DM)day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that (DN)man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, (DO)he cannot find it out.
Notas al pie
- Ecclesiastes 5:1 Ch 4:17 in Hebrew
- Ecclesiastes 5:2 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew
- Ecclesiastes 5:6 Hebrew your flesh
- Ecclesiastes 5:6 Or angel
- Ecclesiastes 5:7 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verse 10 (see note on 1:2)
- Ecclesiastes 5:7 Or For when dreams and vanities increase, words also grow many; but
- Ecclesiastes 5:9 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 Or and see good
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verses 4, 9, 11 (see note on 1:2)
- Ecclesiastes 6:6 Or see
- Ecclesiastes 6:7 Hebrew filled
- Ecclesiastes 6:12 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)
- Ecclesiastes 7:6 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)
- Ecclesiastes 7:9 Hebrew in the bosom
- Ecclesiastes 7:15 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)
- Ecclesiastes 8:2 Hebrew lacks say
- Ecclesiastes 8:2 Or because of your oath to God
- Ecclesiastes 8:5 Or and judgment
- Ecclesiastes 8:6 Or evil
- Ecclesiastes 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten
- Ecclesiastes 8:10 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also twice in verse 14 (see note on 1:2)
Ecclesiastes 5-8
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 5-8
New International Version
Fulfill Your Vow to God
5 [a]Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
2 Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.(A)
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.(B)
3 A dream(C) comes when there are many cares,
and many words mark the speech of a fool.(D)
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it.(E) He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.(F) 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.(G) 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.(H)
Riches Are Meaningless
8 If you see the poor oppressed(I) in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
10 Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.
11 As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
except to feast their eyes on them?
12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
permits them no sleep.(J)
13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:(K)
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
14 or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
there is nothing left for them to inherit.
15 Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
and as everyone comes, so they depart.(L)
They take nothing from their toil(M)
that they can carry in their hands.(N)
16 This too is a grievous evil:
As everyone comes, so they depart,
and what do they gain,
since they toil for the wind?(O)
17 All their days they eat in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.
18 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink(P) and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor(Q) under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions,(R) and the ability to enjoy them,(S) to accept their lot(T) and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.(U) 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.(V)
6 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: 2 God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them,(W) and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.(X)
3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn(Y) child is better off than he.(Z) 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?(AA)
7 Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,
yet their appetite is never satisfied.(AB)
8 What advantage have the wise over fools?(AC)
What do the poor gain
by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?
9 Better what the eye sees
than the roving of the appetite.
This too is meaningless,
a chasing after the wind.(AD)
10 Whatever exists has already been named,(AE)
and what humanity is has been known;
no one can contend
with someone who is stronger.
11 The more the words,
the less the meaning,
and how does that profit anyone?
12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days(AF) they pass through like a shadow?(AG) Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
Wisdom
7 A good name is better than fine perfume,(AH)
and the day of death better than the day of birth.(AI)
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death(AJ) is the destiny(AK) of everyone;
the living should take this to heart.
3 Frustration is better than laughter,(AL)
because a sad face is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.(AM)
5 It is better to heed the rebuke(AN) of a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools.
6 Like the crackling of thorns(AO) under the pot,
so is the laughter(AP) of fools.
This too is meaningless.
7 Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe(AQ) corrupts the heart.
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience(AR) is better than pride.
9 Do not be quickly provoked(AS) in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.(AT)
10 Do not say, “Why were the old days(AU) better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.
11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing(AV)
and benefits those who see the sun.(AW)
12 Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.
13 Consider what God has done:(AX)
Who can straighten
what he has made crooked?(AY)
14 When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.(AZ)
Therefore, no one can discover
anything about their future.
15 In this meaningless life(BA) of mine I have seen both of these:
the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
and the wicked living long in their wickedness.(BB)
16 Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?(BC)
18 It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
Whoever fears God(BD) will avoid all extremes.[b]
20 Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,(BG)
no one who does what is right and never sins.(BH)
21 Do not pay attention to every word people say,
or you(BI) may hear your servant cursing you—
22 for you know in your heart
that many times you yourself have cursed others.
23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said,
“I am determined to be wise”(BJ)—
but this was beyond me.
24 Whatever exists is far off and most profound—
who can discover it?(BK)
25 So I turned my mind to understand,
to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things(BL)
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
and the madness of folly.(BM)
26 I find more bitter than death
the woman who is a snare,(BN)
whose heart is a trap
and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
but the sinner she will ensnare.(BO)
27 “Look,” says the Teacher,[c](BP) “this is what I have discovered:
“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
28 while I was still searching
but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
but not one upright woman(BQ) among them all.
29 This only have I found:
God created mankind upright,
but they have gone in search of many schemes.”
8 Who is like the wise?
Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
and changes its hard appearance.
Obey the King
2 Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence.(BR) Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4 Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?(BS)”
5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,(BT)
though a person may be weighed down by misery.
7 Since no one knows the future,
who can tell someone else what is to come?
8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it,
so[d] no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war,
so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own[e] hurt. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried(BU)—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise[f] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better(BV) with those who fear God,(BW) who are reverent before him.(BX) 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God,(BY) it will not go well with them, and their days(BZ) will not lengthen like a shadow.
14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve.(CA) This too, I say, is meaningless.(CB) 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life(CC), because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink(CD) and be glad.(CE) Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom(CF) and to observe the labor that is done on earth(CG)—people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done.(CH) No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.(CI)
Notas al pie
- Ecclesiastes 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:17, and 5:2-20 is numbered 5:1-19.
- Ecclesiastes 7:18 Or will follow them both
- Ecclesiastes 7:27 Or the leader of the assembly
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 Or over the human spirit to retain it, / and so
- Ecclesiastes 8:9 Or to their
- Ecclesiastes 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (Aquila); most Hebrew manuscripts and are forgotten
English Standard Version (ESV) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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