Ecclesiastes 5
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Ecclesiastes chapter 5 is given here in full, verse by verse, in Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), with the Greek text of the Septuagint set beneath each verse. The text follows the Septuagint tradition received throughout the Orthodox Church.
1 patristic excerpt is attached to this chapter, from Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus.
Ecclesiastes 5
1Be not hasty with your mouth, and let not your heart be swift to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven above, and you upon earth: therefore let your words be few.Μὴ σπεῦδε ἐπὶ στόματί σου, καὶ καρδία σου μὴ ταχυνάτω τοῦ ἐξενέγκαι λόγον πρὸ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω, καὶ σὺ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· διὰ τοῦτο ἔστωσαν οἱ λόγοι σου ὀλίγοι.
2For through the multitude of trial a dream comes; and a fool's voice is with a multitude of words.Ὅτι παραγίνεται ἐνύπνιον ἐν πλήθει πειρασμοῦ, καὶ φωνὴ ἄφρονος ἐν πλήθει λόγων.
3Whenever you shall vow a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools: pay you therefore whatever you shall have vowed.Καθὼς εὔξῃ εὐχὴν τῷ Θεῷ, μὴ χρονίσῃς τοῦ ἀποδοῦναι αὐτήν· ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι θέλημα ἐν ἄφροσι· σὺ οὖν ὅσα ἐὰν εὔξῃ, ἀπόδος.
4It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay.Ἀγαθὸν τὸ μὴ εὔξασθαί σε, ἢ τὸ εὔξασθαί σε καὶ μὴ ἀποδοῦναι.
5Suffer not your mouth to lead your flesh to sin; and say not in the presence of God, It was an error: lest God be angry at your voice, and destroy the works of your hands.Μὴ δῷς τὸ στόμα σου τοῦ ἐξαμαρτῆσαι τὴν σάρκα σου, καὶ μὴ εἴπῃς πρὸ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι ἄγνοιά ἐστιν· ἵνα μὴ ὀργισθῇ ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ φωνῇ σου, καὶ διαφθείρῃ τὰ ποιήματα χειρῶν σου.
6For there is evil in a multitude of dreams and vanities and many words: but fear you God.Ὅτι ἐν πλήθει ἐνυπνίων καὶ ματαιοτήτων καὶ λόγων πολλῶν, ὅτι σὺ τὸν Θεὸν φοβοῦ.
7If you should see the oppression of the poor, and the wresting of judgment and of justice in the land, wonder not at the matter: for there is a high one to watch over him that is high, and high ones over them.Ἐὰν συκοφαντίαν πένητος καὶ ἁρπαγὴν κρίματος καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἴδῃς ἐν χώρᾳ, μὴ θαυμάσῃς ἐπὶ τῷ πράγματι· ὅτι ὑψηλὸς ἐπάνω ὑψηλοῦ φυλάξαι, καὶ ὑψηλοὶ ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς.
8Also the abundance of the earth is for every one: the king is dependent on the tilled field.Καὶ περίσσεια γῆς ἐπὶ παντί ἐστι, βασιλεὺς τοῦ ἀγροῦ εἰργασμένου.
9He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver: and who has loved gain, in the abundance thereof? this is also vanity.Ἀγαπῶν ἀργύριον οὐ πλησθήσεται ἀργυρίου· καὶ τίς ἠγάπησεν ἐν πλήθει αὐτῶν γέννημα; καί γε τοῦτο ματαιότης.
10In the multitude of good they are increased that eat it: and what virtue has the owner, but the right of beholding it with his eyes?Ἐν πλήθει ἀγαθωσύνης ἐπληθύνθησαν ἔσθοντες αὐτήν· καὶ τί ἀνδρεία τῷ παρʼ αὐτῆς; ὅτι ἀρχὴ τοῦ ὁρᾷν ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ.
11The sleep of a servant is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but to one who is satiated with wealth, there is none that suffers him to sleep.Γλυκὺς ὕπνος τοῦ δούλου εἰ ὀλίγον καὶ εἰ πολὺ φάγεται, καὶ τῷ ἐμπλησθέντι τοῦ πλουτῆσαι, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀφίων αὐτὸν τοῦ ὑπνῶσαι.
12There is an infirmity which I have seen under the sun, namely, wealth kept for its owner to his hurt.Ἔστιν ἀῤῥωστία ἣν εἶδον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, πλοῦτον φυλασσόμενον τῷ παρʼ αὐτοῦ εἰς κακίαν αὐτῷ,
13And that wealth shall perish in an evil trouble: and the man begets a son, and there is nothing in his hand.καὶ ἀπολεῖται ὁ πλοῦτος ἐκεῖνος ἐν περισπασμῷ πονηρῷ, καὶ ἐγέννησεν υἱὸν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ οὐδέν.
14As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, he shall return back as he came, and he shall receive nothing for his labor, that it should go with him in his hand.Καθὼς ἐξῆλθεν ἀπὸ γαστρὸς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ γυμνὸς, ἐπιστρέψει τοῦ πορευθῆναι ὡς ἥκει, καὶ οὐδὲν οὐ λήψεται ἐν μόχθῳ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα πορευθῇ ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ.
15And this is also an evil infirmity: for as he came, so also shall he return: and what is his gain, for which he vainly labors?Καί γε τοῦτο πονηρὰ ἀῤῥωστία· ὥσπερ γὰρ παρεγένετο, οὕτως καὶ ἀπελεύσεται· καὶ τίς ἡ περίσσεια αὐτοῦ ᾗ μοχθεῖ εἰς ἄνεμον;
16Yes, all his days are in darkness, and in mourning, and much sorrow, and infirmity, and wrath.Καί γε πᾶσαι αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ ἐν σκότει, καὶ ἐν πένθει, καὶ θυμῷ πολλῷ, καὶ ἀῤῥωστίᾳ, καὶ χόλῳ.
17Behold, I have seen good, that it is a fine thing for a man to eat and to drink, and to see good in all his labor in which he may labor under the sun, all the number of the days of his life which God has given to him: for it is his portion.Ἰδοὺ, εἶδον ἐγὼ ἀγαθὸν, ὅ ἐστι καλὸν, τοῦ φαγεῖν καὶ τοῦ πιεῖν καὶ τοῦ ἰδεῖν ἀγαθωσύνην ἐν παντὶ μόχθῳ αὐτοῦ, ᾧ ἐὰν μοχθῇ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον ἀριθμὸν ἡμερῶν ζωῆς αὐτοῦ ὧν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι αὐτὸ μερὶς αὐτοῦ.
18Yes, and as for every man to whom God has given wealth and possessions, and has given him power to eat thereof, and to receive his portion, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.Καί γε πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ᾧ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς πλοῦτον καὶ ὑπάρχοντα, καὶ ἐξουσίασεν αὐτῷ φαγεῖν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ λαβεῖν τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοῦ· εὐφρανθῆναι ἐν μόχθῳ αὐτοῦ, τοῦτο δόμα Θεοῦ ἐστιν.
19For he shall not much remember the days of his life; for God troubles him in the mirth of his heart.Ὅτι οὐ πολλὰ μνησθήσεται τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς περισπᾷ αὐτὸν ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ καρδίας αὐτοῦ.
The Fathers on Ecclesiastes 5
Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus comments on this chapter. Each excerpt below is drawn from the full text held in the Fathers Library; follow the link on any entry to read the whole work.
On Ecclesiastes 5Open Ecclesiastes 5 in the interactive reader Switch translations, hear the chapter read aloud, tap any verse for its patristic commentary, and study the Greek word by word.Saint Gregory ThaumaturgusChapter V. Moreover, it is a good thing to use the tongue sparingly, and to keep a calm and rightly balanced heart in the exercise of speech. For it is not right to give utterance in words to things that are foolish and absurd, or to all that occur to the mind; but we ought to know and reflect, that though we are far separated from heaven, we speak in the…
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