New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 5:1
1As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God.
Ecclesiastes 5:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Keep thy 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.
- New International Version (NIV)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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.
Context of Ecclesiastes 5:1
As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. 2Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few. 3Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 5Ecclesiastes 5:1 word by word
שְׁמֹ֣ר רַגְלְךָ֗ כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר תֵּלֵךְ֙ אֶל־בֵּ֣ית הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים וְקָר֣וֹב לִשְׁמֹ֔עַ מִתֵּ֥ת הַכְּסִילִ֖ים זָ֑בַח כִּֽי־אֵינָ֥ם יוֹדְעִ֖ים לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת רָֽע׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Keepשָׁמַרshâmar · to keep: guardH8104
- thy footרֶ֫גֶלregel · footH7272
- when thou goestיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
- to the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: templeH1004
- of Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- and be more readyקָרֹבqârôb qârôb · nearH7138
- to hearשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- than to giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- the sacrificeזֶ֫בַחzebach · sacrificeH2077
- of foolsכְּסִילkesîyl · foolH3684
- for they considerיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
- not that they doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 5:1
- Genesis 28:16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!”
- Exodus 3:5“Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.
- Leviticus 10:3Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when he said, ‘I will display my holiness through those who come near me. I will display my glory before all the people.’” And Aaron was silent.
- Joshua 5:15The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.
- 2 Chronicles 26:16But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar.
- Psalms 89:7The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.
- Isaiah 1:12When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
- 1 Corinthians 11:22What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!
- Hebrews 12:28Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
- Acts 10:33So I sent for you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.”
- Acts 17:11And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.
- James 1:19Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
- 1 Peter 2:1So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.
- Genesis 4:3When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord.
- 1 Samuel 13:12So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.”
- 1 Samuel 15:21Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 5:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Keep thy foot - This verse the Hebrew and all the versions join to the preceding chapter. Solomon, having before intimated, though very briefly, that the only cure against human vanity is a due sense of religion, now enters more largely on this important subject, and gives some excellent directions with regard to the right performance of Divine service, the nature of vocal and mental prayer, the danger of rash vows, etc. - C. The whole verse might be more…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Keep thy foot - i. e., Give thy mind to what thou art going to do. The house of God - It has been said that here an ordinary devout Hebrew writer might have been expected to call it “the house of Yahweh;” but to those who accept this book as the work of Solomon after his fall into idolatry, it will appear a natural sign of the writer‘s self-humiliation, an acknowledgment of his unworthiness of the privileges of a son of the covenant, that he avoids the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1What renders devotion vain. (Eccl. 5:1-3) Of vows, and oppression. (Eccl. 5:4-8) the vanity of riches shown. (Eccl. 5:9-7) The right use of riches. (Eccl. 5:18-20) Verses 1-3 Address thyself to the worship of God, and take time to compose thyself for it. Keep thy thoughts from roving and wandering: keep thy affections from running out toward wrong objects. We should avoid vain repetitions; copious prayers are not here condemned, but those that are…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1The house of God offers a chance for respectful words and thoughtful promises, but it is mainly a place for listening.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-20Ec 5:1-20. 1. From vanity connected with kings, he passes to vanities (Ec 5:7) which may be fallen into in serving the King of kings, even by those who, convinced of the vanity of the creature, wish to worship the Creator. Keep thy foot--In going to worship, go with considerate, circumspect, reverent feeling. The allusion is to the taking off the shoes, or sandals, in entering a temple (Ex 3:5; Jos 5:15, which passages perhaps gave rise to the custom)…Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 5:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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