Approaching God with Fear 1 RV Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God; for to draw nigh to hear is better than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil. 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 RV Be not rash with thy month, 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. 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 RV For a dream cometh with a multitude of business; and a fool’s voice with a multitude of words. BSB BSB: As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.
4 RV When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou vowest. 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 RV Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. BSB BSB: It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.
6 RV Suffer 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? 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 RV For thus it cometh to pass through the multitude of dreams and vanities and many words: but fear thou God. BSB BSB: For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.
The Futility of Wealth (Psalm 49:1–20)
8 RV If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there be higher than they. 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 RV Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. BSB BSB: The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
10 RV He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this also is vanity. 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 RV When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what advantage is there to the owner thereof, saving the beholding of them with his eyes? 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 RV The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. 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 RV There is a grievous evil, which I have seen under the sun, namely , riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt: BSB BSB: There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
14 RV and those riches perish by evil adventure; and if he hath begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand. BSB BSB: or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.
15 RV As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. 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 RV And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he laboureth for the wind? 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 RV All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he is sore vexed and hath sickness and wrath. BSB BSB: Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.
18 RV Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour, wherein he laboureth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion. 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 RV Every 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. 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 RV For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart. 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.