Ecclesiastes 5 Parallel Bible Translations

Ecclesiastes 5 ▼
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BISHOPS
Bishops' Bible of 1568
ESV
English Standard Version
NIV
New International Version
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1 (4:17) When thou commest into the house of God, kepe thy foote and drawe nye, that God which is at hande may heare that thou geue not the offerynges of fooles: for they knowe naught but to do euyll. 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. 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 (5:1) Be not hastye with thy mouth, and let not thine heart speake any thyng rashly before God: For God is in heauen, and thou vpon earth, therfore let thy wordes be fewe. 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 let your words be few. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
3 (5:2) For where much carefulnesse is, there are many dreames: and where many wordes are, there men may heare fooles. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words. A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool.
4 (5:3) If thou make a vowe vnto God, be not slacke to perfourme it: As for foolish vowes he hath no pleasure in them: yf thou promise any thyng, pay it. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.
5 (5:4) For better is it that thou make no vowe, then that thou shouldest promise and not pay. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.
6 (5:5) Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy fleshe for to sinne, neither say thou before the angell that it is thy ignoraunce: for then God wyll be angry at thy voyce, and destroy all the worke of thyne handes. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? 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 (5:6) And why? wheras are many dreames and many wordes, there are also diuers vanities: but loke that thou feare God. For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear. Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.
8 (5:7) If thou seest the poore to be oppressed, and wrongfully dealt withall, so that equitie and right of the lawe is wrested in the lande, maruayle not thou at such a thyng: for he that is higher then the hyghest regardeth, and there be hygher then they. If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. If you see the poor oppressed 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 (5:8) The encrease of the earth vpholdeth all thyng: yea the kyng hym selfe is maynteyned by husbandry. But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields. The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
10 (5:9) He that loueth money, wyll neuer be satisfied with money: and he that loueth riches, shalbe without the fruite therof: This is also a vayne thyng. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.
11 (5:10) Wheras much riches is, there are many also that spende them away: And what pleasure more hath he that possesseth them, sauyng that he may loke vpon them with his eyes? When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 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 (5:11) A labouryng man sleepeth swetely, whether it be litle or much that he eateth: but the aboundaunce of the riche wyll not suffer him to sleepe. 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. The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.
13 (5:12) Yet is there a sore plague which I haue seene vnder the sunne namely riches kept to the hurt of him that hath them in possession: There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
14 (5:13) For oft tymes they perishe with his great miserie and trouble: and yf he haue a chylde, it getteth nothyng. and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit.
15 (5:14) Lyke as he came naked out of his mothers wombe, so goeth he thyther agayne, and caryeth nothyng away with him of all his labour. 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. Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.
16 (5:15) This is a miserable plague, that he shall go euen as he came away: What helpeth it him then that he hath laboured in the wynde? This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind?
17 (5:16) All the dayes of his lyfe also he dyd eate in the darke, with great carefulnesse, sicknesse, and sorowe. Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger. All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.
18 (5:17) Therfore me thinke it a better and a fayrer thyng, a man to eate and drynke, and to be refresshed of all his labour that he taketh vnder the sunne, all the dayes of his lyfe which God geueth him: for this is his portion. Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment 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 lot. This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.
19 (5:18) For vnto whom soeuer God geueth riches, goodes, and power, he geueth it him to enioy it, to take it for his portion, and to be refresshed of his labour: this is the gyft of God. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.
20 (5:19) For he thinketh not much howe long he shall lyue, forasmuch as God fylleth his heart with gladnesse. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
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