| Vers | Afrikaans 1953 † | English: King James Version |
| 1 | Wees nie haastig met jou mond nie, en laat jou hart nie gou 'n woord uitbring voor die aangesig van God nie; want God is in die hemel, en jy op die aarde. Daarom moet jou woorde min wees. | 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 | Want soos die droom kom deur baie drukte, so die gepraat van die dwaas deur baie woorde. | 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 | As jy 'n gelofte aan God gedoen het, stel nie uit om dit te betaal nie, want daar is geen welgevalle in dwase nie. Betaal wat jy belowe. | For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. |
| 4 | Dit is beter dat jy nie belowe nie as dat jy belowe en nie betaal nie. | 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 | Laat jou mond nie toe om op jou liggaam 'n sondeskuld te laai nie, en sê nie voor die gesant van God: Dit was 'n vergissing nie. Waarom moet God toornig word oor jou stem en die werk van jou hande verwoes? | Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. |
| 6 | Want soos daar baie drome is, so is daar ook nietige woorde in menigte, maar vrees God! | 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 | As jy verdrukking van die arme en berowing van reg en geregtigheid sien in die land--verwonder jou nie oor die saak nie, want 'n hoër een loer op die hoë, en die hoëres weer op hulle. | For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God. |
| 8 | Maar 'n voordeel vir 'n land onder alles is dit: 'n koning wat aan die landbou diensbaar word. | If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they. |
| 9 | Hy wat geld liefhet, kry nie genoeg van geld nie, en wie rykdom liefhet, nie van inkomste nie; ook dit is dan tevergeefs. | Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field. |
| 10 | As die goed baie word, word die eters baie; watter voordeel het die besitter dan daarvan, behalwe dat sy oë dit aanskou? | He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. |
| 11 | Soet is die slaap van die arbeider, of hy min en of hy baie eet; maar die oorversadiging van die ryke laat hom nie toe om te slaap nie. | When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? |
| 12 | Daar is 'n smartlike onheil wat ek onder die son gesien het: rykdom wat deur sy besitter bewaar word tot sy eie ongeluk. | The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. |
| 13 | Gaan hierdie rykdom verlore deur 'n ongeval, en het hy 'n seun verwek, dan besit dié niks nie. | There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. |
| 14 | Soos hy uit die skoot van sy moeder uitgegaan het, gaan hy naak weer heen soos hy gekom het; en hy sal vir sy moeitevolle arbeid niks wegdra wat hy met hom kan saamneem nie. | But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. |
| 15 | So is dit dan ook 'n smartlike onheil: net soos hy gekom het, so sal hy heengaan; watter voordeel het hy dan dat hy hom vermoei het vir wind? | As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. |
| 16 | Ook eet hy sy lewe lank in duisternis en het baie ergernis; daarby sy lyding en toorn! | And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind? |
| 17 | Kyk, wat ek as 'n goeie ding gesien het, wat voortreflik is, is dat iemand eet en drink en die goeie geniet vir al sy arbeid waarmee hy hom vermoei onder die son gedurende die getal van sy lewensdae wat God hom gee; want dit is sy deel. | All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness. |
| 18 | Ook vir elke mens aan wie God rykdom en skatte gegee het, en wat Hy in staat stel om daarvan te eet en sy deel te neem en hom te verheug by sy moeitevolle arbeid, is dit 'n gawe van God. | Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. |
| 19 | Want hy dink nie baie aan sy lewensdae nie, omdat God hom laat besig wees met die vreugde van sy hart. | Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. |
| 20 | For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart. |