Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

1 Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.

² Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few.

³ For a dream comes through much activity, and a fool’s voice is known by his many words.

⁴ When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—

⁵ Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

⁶ Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?

⁷ For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.

walk prudently (v.1) = guard your steps, be careful

The man who worships properly is a careful listener. To hear implies not only hearing, but understanding and obedience as well. The fool offers sacrifices in a mechanical manner, but the man of wisdom is responsive to the teachings and prayers of the Temple service. — KJV Commentary, page 742.

Solomon is urging his readers (v.2) not to make vows to God without thinking them through carefully first — they shouldn’t make vows they cannot keep.

dream (v.3) — a perplexing, unsettling dream

Note the Hebrew parallelism in verse 3. As “a multitude of business” produces bad dreams, so a “multitude of words” produces foolish speech (“a fool’s voice”). As Proverbs 17:27-28 says, “He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” — Grace, page 1173.

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It was not a sin to make a vow (v.5), but it was a sin to make a vow and not keep it (Deuteronomy 23:21-22). — Grace, page 1173.

Sin (v.6) — It was a sin to vow before God to do something and then not do it.

messenger (v.6) — a priest, one who heard vows and accepted offerings

The maker of rash vows desires the priest to offer for him a trespass offering. Under the premise that his vow was an error, he expects to thus dispose of his sin. Those who trifle with vows in this way are reminded that such shallowness is an affront to God. — KJV Commentary, page 743.

The way to avoid careless words is to fear God (v.7).