Ecclesiastes 5:2

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Ecclesiastes 5:1–4 · Berean Standard Bible

1 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 Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.

3 As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.

4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Genesis 18:27

Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—

Genesis 18:30

Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.”

Genesis 18:32

Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.”

Genesis 28:20

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,

Genesis 28:22

And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”

Numbers 30:2

If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.

Numbers 30:3

And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge,

Numbers 30:4

and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.

Numbers 30:5

But if her father prohibits her on the day he hears about it, then none of the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. The LORD will absolve her because her father has prohibited her.

Judges 11:30

Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand,

1 Samuel 14:24

Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the troops tasted any food.

1 Samuel 14:25

Then all the troops entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground.

1 Samuel 14:26

And when they entered the forest and saw the flowing honey, not one of them put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath.

1 Samuel 14:27

Jonathan, however, had not heard that his father had charged the people with the oath. So he reached out the end of the staff in his hand, dipped it into the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes brightened.

1 Samuel 14:28

Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the troops with a solemn oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ That is why the people are faint.”

1 Samuel 14:29

“My father has brought trouble to the land,” Jonathan replied. “Just look at how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.

1 Samuel 14:30

How much better it would have been if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been much greater?”

1 Samuel 14:31

That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, the people were very faint.

1 Samuel 14:32

So they rushed greedily to the plunder, taking sheep, cattle, and calves. They slaughtered them on the ground and ate meat with the blood still in it.

1 Samuel 14:33

Then someone reported to Saul: “Look, the troops are sinning against the LORD by eating meat with the blood still in it.” “You have broken faith,” said Saul. “Roll a large stone over here at once.”

1 Samuel 14:34

Then he said, “Go among the troops and tell them, ‘Each man must bring me his ox or his sheep, slaughter them in this place, and then eat. Do not sin against the LORD by eating meat with the blood still in it.’” So that night everyone brought his ox and slaughtered it there.

1 Samuel 14:35

Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first time he had built an altar to the LORD.

1 Samuel 14:36

And Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until dawn, leaving no man alive!” “Do what seems good to you,” the troops replied. But the priest said, “We must consult God here.”

1 Samuel 14:37

So Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.

1 Samuel 14:38

Therefore Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the troops, and let us investigate how this sin has occurred today.

1 Samuel 14:39

As surely as the LORD who saves Israel lives, even if it is my son Jonathan, he must die!” But not one of the troops said a word.

1 Samuel 14:40

Then Saul said to all Israel, “You stand on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will stand on the other side.” “Do what seems good to you,” the troops replied.

1 Samuel 14:41

So Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel, “Why have You not answered Your servant this day? If the fault is with me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim; but if the fault is with the men of Israel, respond with Thummim.” And Jonathan and Saul were selected, but the people were cleared of the charge.

1 Samuel 14:42

Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was selected.

1 Samuel 14:43

“Tell me what you have done,” Saul commanded him. So Jonathan told him, “I only tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. And now I must die?”

1 Samuel 14:44

And Saul declared, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if you, Jonathan, do not surely die!”

1 Samuel 14:45

But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die—he who accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for with God’s help he has accomplished this today.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.

Mark 6:23

And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom!”

Psalms 115:3

Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.

Isaiah 55:9

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Matthew 6:9

So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

Ecclesiastes 5:3

As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.

Ecclesiastes 5:7

For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.

Proverbs 10:19

When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.

Matthew 6:7

And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.

James 3:2

We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.