Ecclesiastes 5:4
When thou vow a vow to God, defer not to pay it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which thou vow.
A Conservative Version
In The King James Version
In Context
3For a dream comes with a multitude of business, and a fool's voice with a multitude of words.
5Better is it that thou should not vow, than that thou should vow and not pay.
Cross References
Genesis 35:1And God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to thee when thou fled from the face of Esau thy brother.
Numbers 30:2When a man vows a vow to LORD, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
Psalms 50:14Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay thy vows to the Most High.
Psalms 76:11Vow, and pay to LORD your God. Let all who are round about him bring presents to him who ought to be feared.
Psalms 116:16O LORD, truly I am thy servant. I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid. Thou have loosed my bonds.
Psalms 147:10He does not delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 5:2-4
A Caution to Worshippers. 1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. 2 Be not rash with thy mouth, 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. 3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. Solomon's design, in driving us off from the world, by… Read the whole commentary →