The big picture
Ecclesiastes 5 opens in verse 1 with “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to…”, reaches its middle movement near verse 10 with “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance…”, and closes in verse 20 with “For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the…” Repeated or prominent terms include evil, days, good, labour, multitude. Together, those details trace this chapter’s own movement from its opening to its conclusion.
Scripture beside the summary
Ecclesiastes · King James Version · 20Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
1–7: Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to…
Ecclesiastes 5:1–7 opens with “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the…” and reaches “For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on A worshiper approaching the house of God carefully while wealth and restless ownership fail to provide sleep, with particular weight carried by multitude, words, fools.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 1 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
“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…” Naming Keep keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
King James Version1Keep 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.
2Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
3For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.
4When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
5Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
6Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
7For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.
Ecclesiastes 5:8-14
8–14: If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of…
Ecclesiastes 5:8–14 opens with “If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a…” and reaches “But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his…” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on A worshiper approaching the house of God carefully while wealth and restless ownership fail to provide sleep, with particular weight carried by abundance, evil, higher.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 1 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
“If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at…” The line’s distinctive content terms include higher, highest, judgment. Its relationship to verses 9 shows what work it does in this passage.
Ecclesiastes 5:8-14
King James Version8If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.
9Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.
10He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
11When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?
12The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
13There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
14But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
Ecclesiastes 5:15-20
15–20: As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he…
Ecclesiastes 5:15–20 opens with “As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take…” and reaches “For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his…” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on A worshiper approaching the house of God carefully while wealth and restless ownership fail to provide sleep, with particular weight carried by days, labour, good.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 1 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
“As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour…” The command cannot be understood from the verb alone. Its recipient, purpose, and place in the larger covenant or argument define the responsibility.
Ecclesiastes 5:15-20
King James Version15As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
16And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
17All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
18Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.
19Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
20For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Ecclesiastes 5:1 begins with “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.”
Where the chapter turns
Ecclesiastes 5:11 forms a natural hinge: “When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?”
The final note
Ecclesiastes 5:20 leaves the reader with “For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words evil, days, good, labour, multitude, riches help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
What does the repeated ending make readers feel?
Death becomes the chapter's persistent refrain, even as generation follows generation.
What two interruptions offer hope?
Enoch's walk with God and Lamech's hope attached to Noah.
KJV words made clear
- behold
- look, or pay close attention
- unto
- to
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
- hath
- has
Text first
Where readers differ
The chapter summary begins with what the passage says and how its parts fit together. It does not assume one denomination has already settled every question. Where a conclusion depends on a tradition, literary theory, or historical reconstruction, that dependence is named openly.
The KJV text is presented first. Interpretive conclusions are labeled, and differences are introduced only when they help a reader understand why serious communities do not always reach the same answer.
Comparative interpretive notes for this chapter are in preparation. Until reviewed notes are ready, this page separates the KJV text from summary and application without claiming that serious readers agree on every question.