Ecclesiastes 5:6

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger, that 'it [is] an error,' why is God wroth because of thy voice, and hath destroyed the work of thy hands?

Young's Literal Translation

In The King James Version

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?

In Context

5Better that thou do not vow, than that thou dost vow and dost not complete.

7For, in the abundance of dreams both vanities and words abound; but fear thou God.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 5

Cross References

Genesis 48:16the Messenger who is redeeming me from all evil doth bless the youths, and my name is called upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and they increase into a multitude in the midst of the land.'

Leviticus 27:9'And if [it is] a beast of which they bring near an offering to Jehovah, all that [one] giveth of it to Jehovah is holy;

Proverbs 23:17Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But — in the fear of Jehovah all the day.

Ecclesiastes 5:1Keep thy feet when thou goest unto a house of God, and draw near to hear rather than to give of fools the sacrifice, for they do not know they do evil.

Hosea 12:4Yea, he is a prince unto the Messenger, And he overcometh [by] weeping, And he maketh supplication to Him, At Bethel He doth find him, And there He doth speak with us,

Haggai 2:14And Haggai answereth and saith, 'So [is] this people, and so [is] this nation before Me — an affirmation of Jehovah — and so [is] every work of their hands, and that which they bring near there — it is unclean.

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 →

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