Approaching God with Fear 1 UDB Be careful when you approach God in his house. Listen well to him. That is better than offering sacrifices to him and then not obeying him, which is foolish. BSB BSB: Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
2 UDB Do not speak too quickly without thinking about the words you say; and do not be too quick in your heart to complain about something to God. Remember that God is very different from you and he is in heaven. You, however, are very limited and you must live all your life here on earth. So think carefully about what you say to God, and do not speak without thinking about how you should speak to him. BSB BSB: Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.
3 UDB If you are continually thinking and worrying about things, you will have bad dreams about them and not rest well. And the more you talk, the more likely it will be that you will say things that are foolish. BSB BSB: As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.
4 UDB When you solemnly promise God that you will do something, do not foolishly delay in doing it, because God is not pleased with foolish people. Do all the things that you promise God that you will do. BSB BSB: When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.
5 UDB It is better to not promise anything than to promise to do something and then not do it. BSB BSB: It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.
6 UDB Do not let the things that you promise to do cause you to sin by not doing them. And if you promise God that you will do something but then do not do it, do not say to God's priest that it was a mistake for you to promise to do that. If you do that, God can destroy everything you have worked to accomplish. BSB BSB: Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?
7 UDB Promising to do something and not doing it is like having a useless dream. Instead, honor God by doing what you promised him that you would do. BSB BSB: For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.
The Futility of Wealth (Psalm 49:1–20)
8 UDB Do not be surprised if you see poor people being oppressed. There are people able to stop others from oppressing them, but even these people are under the power of someone even higher. BSB BSB: If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.
9 UDB Even though people throughout the land own their fields, the king forces them to give him some of the crops that they harvest. BSB BSB: The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
10 UDB Everyone who tries to get as much money as they can will never think that they have enough. They will never be satisfied with the money that they have. That fact also makes no sense. BSB BSB: He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.
11 UDB The more money that people have, the more they want to spend it. People who have a lot of money do not benefit from it, except to look at it and admire it. BSB BSB: When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?
12 UDB Those who work hard sleep peacefully at night, even if they do not have much food to eat. But rich people do not sleep well because they worry about their money. BSB BSB: The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.
13 UDB I have seen another terrible thing that happens here on the earth. People save up all their money and become rich, but they are miserable because they store up their money. BSB BSB: There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
14 UDB If something happens that causes their money to be gone, then when they die, there is no money for their children. BSB BSB: or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.
15 UDB When we are born, we do not bring anything with us, and when we die, we take nothing with us from all that we have earned by working hard. BSB BSB: As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.
16 UDB That also seems to make no sense. People bring nothing into the world when they are born, and when they leave this world they take nothing with them. They have worked hard, but they receive no lasting benefit. BSB BSB: This too is a grievous affliction: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?
17 UDB Furthermore, rich people are always miserable, sad, and depressed. BSB BSB: Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.
18 UDB So the best thing for people to do here on the earth during the few years that God allows them to be alive is to eat, drink, and enjoy their work, because those are the things that he allows them to do. BSB BSB: Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.
19 UDB If people are rich and have a lot of possessions, and are able to enjoy the things that they have and to enjoy their work, those things are also gifts from God. BSB BSB: Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.
20 UDB Those people do not think much about everything that has happened during their lifetime, because God makes sure that they keep working at what they enjoy. BSB BSB: For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.