New American Standard Bible 2020

Ecclesiastes 5:8-20

8If you see 1oppression of the poor and 2denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be 3shocked at the 4sight; for one 5official watches over another 6official, and there are higher 7officials over them. 9After all, a king who cultivates the field is beneficial to the land.

10 8One who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor one who loves abundance with its income. This too is futility. 11 9When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to 10look at them? 12The sleep of the laborer is 11sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the 12full stomach of the rich person does not allow him to sleep.

13There is a sickening evil which I have seen under the sun: 13wealth being 14hoarded by its owner to his detriment. 14When that wealth was lost through bad business and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing 15to support him. 15 16As he came naked from his mother’s womb, so he will return as he came. He will 17take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand. 16This also is a sickening evil: exactly as a person 18is born, so will he 19die. 20What then is the advantage for him who 21labors for the wind? 17All his life 22he also eats in darkness with 23great irritation, sickness, and anger.

18Here is what I have seen to be 24good and 25fitting: to eat, to drink, and 26enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he labors under the sun during the few 27years of his life which God has given him; for this is his 28 29reward. 19Furthermore, as for every person to whom 30God has given riches and wealth, He has also 31given him the opportunity to 32enjoy them and to receive his 33reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the 34gift of God. 20For he will not often call to mind the 35years of his life, because 36God keeps 37him busy with the joy of his heart.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 5

Notes

1. Ecclesiastes 5:8 Eccl 4:1 ↩
2. Ecclesiastes 5:8 Ezek 18:18 ↩
3. Ecclesiastes 5:8 1 Pet 4:12 ↩
4. Ecclesiastes 5:8 Lit delight ↩
5. Ecclesiastes 5:8 Lit high one ↩
6. Ecclesiastes 5:8 Lit high one ↩
7. Ecclesiastes 5:8 Lit ones ↩
8. Ecclesiastes 5:10 Eccl 1:8; 2:10, 11; 4:8 ↩
9. Ecclesiastes 5:11 Eccl 2:9 ↩
10. Ecclesiastes 5:11 Lit see with their eyes ↩
11. Ecclesiastes 5:12 Prov 3:24 ↩
12. Ecclesiastes 5:12 Lit satiety ↩
13. Ecclesiastes 5:13 Eccl 6:2 ↩
14. Ecclesiastes 5:13 Lit guarded ↩
15. Ecclesiastes 5:14 Lit in his hand ↩
16. Ecclesiastes 5:15 Job 1:21 ↩
17. Ecclesiastes 5:15 Ps 49:17; 1 Tim 6:7 ↩
18. Ecclesiastes 5:16 Lit comes ↩
19. Ecclesiastes 5:16 Lit go ↩
20. Ecclesiastes 5:16 Eccl 1:3; 2:11; 3:9 ↩
21. Ecclesiastes 5:16 Prov 11:29 ↩
22. Ecclesiastes 5:17 Ps 127:2 ↩
23. Ecclesiastes 5:17 Eccl 2:23 ↩
24. Ecclesiastes 5:18 Eccl 2:24 ↩
25. Ecclesiastes 5:18 Lit beautiful ↩
26. Ecclesiastes 5:18 Lit see good ↩
27. Ecclesiastes 5:18 Or days ↩
28. Ecclesiastes 5:18 Or share ↩
29. Ecclesiastes 5:18 Eccl 2:10 ↩
30. Ecclesiastes 5:19 2 Chr 1:12; Eccl 6:2 ↩
31. Ecclesiastes 5:19 Eccl 6:2 ↩
32. Ecclesiastes 5:19 Lit eat from it ↩
33. Ecclesiastes 5:19 Or share ↩
34. Ecclesiastes 5:19 Eccl 3:13 ↩
35. Ecclesiastes 5:20 Or days ↩
36. Ecclesiastes 5:20 Ex 23:25 ↩
37. Ecclesiastes 5:20 As in LXX ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 5