Ecclesiastes 5:4

It is better that thou shouldest not vow, 1 Than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 1

Updated Brenton Septuagint

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

3Whenever thou shalt vow a vow to God, 1 Defer not to pay it; 1 For he has no pleasure in fools: 1 Pay thou therefore whatsoever thou shalt have vowed. 1

5Suffer not thy mouth to lead thy flesh to sin; 1 And say not in the presence of God, It was an error: 1 Lest God be angry at thy voice, 1 And destroy the works of thy hands. 1

Read all of Ecclesiastes 5

Cross References

Genesis 35:1And God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to the place, Bethel, and dwell there; and make there an altar to the God that appeared to thee, when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

Numbers 30:2And Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord has commanded.

Psalms 50:14Restore to me the joy of thy salvation: 1 Establish me with thy directing Spirit. 1

Psalms 76:11And I said, Now I have begun; 1 This is the change of the right hand of the Most High. 1

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 →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Ecclesiastes 5:4