Ecclesiastes 5:8-20
Lexham English Bible
Powerful Bureaucrats Exploit the Helpless Poor
8 Do not be surprised if you see the poor being oppressed with violence
or do not see justice and righteousness in the province.
For one official is watched by a higher official,
and there are even higher officials over them!
9 The produce of the land is exploited by everyone;
even the king profits from the field of the poor![a]
There is Never Enough Money to Satisfy
10 Whoever loves money is not satisfied with money,
and whoever loves wealth is not satisfied with profit.
This also is vanity!
11 When prosperity increases,
those who consume it increase.
So its owner gains nothing,
except to see his wealth before it is spent.[b]
12 The sleep of the laborer is pleasant, whether he eats little or much,
but the wealth of the rich man does not allow him to rest.
Hoarding Wealth Can Backfire
13 There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded[c] by its owner to his harm. 14 That wealth was lost in a bad venture. Although he has borne a child, he has nothing to leave to him.[d] 15 Just as he came from his mother’s womb naked, he will depart[e] just as he came; he will take nothing with him for his toil. 16 This also is a grievous illness. Exactly as he came, so he will go. What profit does he gain for all his toil for the wind? 17 Also, he eats in darkness all his days; he is frustrated in much sickness and resentment.
If You Have Wealth, Enjoy It as God Enables
18 Look! I have discovered what is good and fitting: to eat and to drink and to enjoy[f] all the fruit of the toil with which one toils under the sun during the number of the days of his life that God gives to him—for this is his lot.[g] 19 This indeed is a gift of God: everyone to whom God gives wealth and possessions, he also empowers him to enjoy them,[h] to accept his lot, and to rejoice in the fruit of his toil. 20 For he does not remember the brief days of his life, for God keeps his heart preoccupied with enjoyment of life.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 5:9 Literally “for the field is even worked for the king”
- Ecclesiastes 5:11 Literally “And what gain has its owner but to see it with his eyes?”
- Ecclesiastes 5:13 Literally “kept ”
- Ecclesiastes 5:14 Literally “he has nothing in his hand”
- Ecclesiastes 5:15 Literally “return to go”
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 Literally “to see goodness”
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 Or “fate”
- Ecclesiastes 5:19 Literally “to eat from it”
Ecclesiastes 5:8-20
New Living Translation
The Futility of Wealth
8 Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land. For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy. 9 Even the king milks the land for his own profit![a]
10 Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! 11 The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!
12 People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep.
13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. 14 Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. 15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.
16 And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind. 17 Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.
18 Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. 19 And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. 20 God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 5:9 The meaning of the Hebrew in verses 8 and 9 is uncertain.
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