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Be Careful How You Worship

Be careful what you do when you enter the house of God. Fools go there to offer sacrifices, because all they do is sin.[a] But it's best just to listen when you go to worship. Don't talk before you think or make promises to God without thinking them through. God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so don't talk too much. If you keep thinking about something, you will dream about it. If you talk too much, you will say the wrong thing.

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Footnotes

  1. 5.1 because … sin: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

Fulfill Your Vow to God

[a]Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

Do not be quick with your mouth,
    do not be hasty in your heart
    to utter anything before God.(A)
God is in heaven
    and you are on earth,
    so let your words be few.(B)
A dream(C) comes when there are many cares,
    and many words mark the speech of a fool.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:17, and 5:2-20 is numbered 5:1-19.