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Your Attitude Toward God

^1 (F1)(C1)Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the ^(C2)sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil.^2 (F1)Do not be ^(C1)hasty ^(F2)in word or ^(F3)impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your ^(C2)words be few.³ For the dream comes through much ^(F1)effort and the voice of a ^(C1)fool through many words.

⁴ When you ^(C1)make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. ^(C2)Pay what you vow!⁵ It is ^(C1)better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.⁶ Do not let your ^(F1)speech cause ^(F2)you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a ^(C1)mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands?⁷ For in many dreams and in many words there is ^(F1)emptiness. Rather, ^(F2)(C1)fear God.

⁸ If you see ^(C1)oppression of the poor and ^(C2)denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be ^(C3)shocked at the ^(F1)sight; for one ^(F2)official watches over another ^(F2)official, and there are higher ^(F3)officials over them.⁹ After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.

The Folly of Riches

^10 (C1)He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is ^(F1)vanity.^11 (C1)When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to ^(F1)look on?¹² The sleep of the working man is ^(C1)pleasant, whether he eats little or much; but the ^(F1)full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep.

¹³ There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: ^(C1)riches being ^(F1)hoarded by their owner to his hurt.¹⁴ When those riches were lost through ^(F1)a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing ^(F2)to support him.^15 (C1)As he had come naked from his mother's womb, so will he return as he came. He will ^(C2)take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.¹⁶ This also is a grievous evil--exactly as a man ^(F1)is born, thus will he ^(F2)die. So ^(C1)what is the advantage to him who ^(C2)toils for the wind?¹⁷ Throughout his life ^(C1)he also eats in darkness with ^(C2)great vexation, sickness and anger.

¹⁸ Here is what I have seen to be ^(C1)good and ^(F1)fitting: to eat, to drink and ^(F2)enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few ^(F3)years of his life which God has given him; for this is his ^(F4)(C2)reward.¹⁹ Furthermore, as for every man to whom ^(C1)God has given riches and wealth, He has also ^(C2)empowered him to eat from them and to receive his ^(F1)reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the ^(C3)gift of God.²⁰ For he will not often ^(F1)consider the ^(F2)years of his life, because ^(C1)God keeps ^(F3)him occupied with the gladness of his heart.