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Be Careful About Making Promises

Be careful when you go to worship at the Temple. It is better to listen than to offer foolish sacrifices. People who do this don’t even know they are doing wrong.

Think before you speak.
    Be careful about what you promise to God.
God is in heaven,
    and you are on the earth.
    So say only a few words to God.
The saying is true: Bad dreams come from too much worrying.
    So too many words come from foolish people.

If you make a promise to God, don’t be slow to keep it. God is not happy with foolish people. Give God what you promised. It is better not to promise anything than to promise something and not do it. So don’t let your words cause you to sin. Also, don’t say to the priest at the Temple, “I didn’t mean what I promised!” If you do, God will become angry with your words. He will destroy everything you have worked for. Many empty promises are like many foolish dreams. They mean nothing. You should honor God.

Officers Cheat Each Other

In some countries you will see poor people treated badly. They are not treated fairly or given their rights. Don’t be surprised! One officer is cheated by a higher officer. They in turn are cheated by even higher officers. The wealth of the country is divided up among them all. Even the king makes sure he gets his share of the profits.

Wealth Cannot Buy Happiness

10 The person who loves money
    will never have all the money he wants.
The person who loves wealth
    will not be satisfied when he gets it.
    This is also useless.
11 The more wealth a person has,
    the more friends he has to help him spend it.
So what does he really gain?
    He gains nothing except to look at his riches.
12 A man who works hard sleeps in peace.
    It is not important if he has little or much to eat.
But a rich person worries about his wealth.
    He cannot sleep.

13 I have seen something unfair here on earth:
    A person suffers harm from saving up his money.
14     Then he loses it all in a bad deal.
So he has nothing
    to give to his son.
15 A person comes into this world with nothing.
    And when he dies, he leaves with nothing.
In spite of all his hard work,
    he leaves exactly as he came.
16 This, too, is unfair:
He leaves exactly as he came.
    So what does he gain from chasing the wind?
17 All he gets are days filled with sadness and sorrow.
    He ends up sick, defeated and angry.

Enjoy Your Life’s Work

18 I have seen what is best for a person to do here on earth. He should eat and drink and enjoy his work. This is because the life God has given him on earth is short. 19 God gives some people the ability to enjoy the wealth and property he gives them. He also gives them the ability to accept their state in life and enjoy their work. 20 Such people do not worry much about how short life is. This is because God keeps them busy with the things they love to do.

I have seen something else unfair here on earth. It causes serious problems for people. God gives some people great wealth, riches and honor. They have everything they want. But God does not let them enjoy such things. Someone else enjoys them instead. This is unfair and senseless. It is sad when a person can’t enjoy the good things God gives him. Such a person might have 100 children. He might live a long time. But what good is it if he can’t enjoy the good God gives him? I say a baby who is born dead is better off than he is. It is useless for such a baby to be born. It ends up in the darkness of the grave without even a name. That baby never saw the sun. It never knew anything. But it finds more rest than the person who never gets to enjoy the good things God gives him. Even if he lives 2,000 years, it is sad if a person can’t enjoy the good things God gives him. After all, both he and the baby born dead go to the same place—the grave.

A person works just to feed himself.
    But he never seems to get enough to eat.
In this way a wise man
    is no better off than a foolish person.
Then, too, it does a poor man little good
    to know how to get along in life.
So it is better to be happy with what you have
    than always to be wanting more.
Always wanting more is useless—
    like chasing the wind.

Who Can Understand God’s Plan?

10 Everything that happens was planned long ago.
    A man is only what he was created to be.
It is useless to argue with God about it.
    This is because God is more powerful than man is.
11 The more you argue,
    the more useless it is.
    You gain nothing at all by arguing.

12 A person has only a few days of life on the earth. His short life passes like a shadow. And who knows what is best for him while he lives? Who can tell him what will happen after his time on earth?

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