Ecclesiastes 5:4
When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.
World English Bible British with Deuterocanon
In The King James Version
In Context
3For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool’s speech with a multitude of words.
5It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay.
Cross References
Genesis 35:1God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
Numbers 30:2When a man vows a vow to the 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. Pay your vows to the Most High.
Psalms 76:11Make vows to the LORD your God, and fulfil them! Let all of his neighbours bring presents to him who is to be feared.
Psalms 116:16LORD, truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your servant girl. You have freed me from my chains.
Psalms 147:10He doesn’t 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 →