Ecclesiastes 5:5
Give not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin: and say not before the angel: There is no providence: lest God be angry at thy words, and destroy all the works of thy hands.
Douay-Rheims 1899
In The King James Version
Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
In Context
4And it is much better not to vow, than after a vow not to perform the things promised.
Cross References
Deuteronomy 23:22If thou wilt not promise, thou shalt be without sin.
Malachi 2:7For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 5:5-9
The Obligation of a Vow. 4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6 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? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.… Read the whole commentary →