Ecclesiastes 5:4

Bible in Basic English (1941)

It is better not to take an oath than to take an oath and not keep it.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Ps 66:13-14 : 13 I will come into your house with burned offerings, I will make payment of my debt to you, 14 Keeping the word which came from my lips, and which my mouth said, when I was in trouble.
  • Ps 76:11 : 11 Give to the Lord your God what is his by right; let all who are round him give offerings to him who is to be feared.
  • Num 30:2 : 2 And Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, This is the order of the Lord.
  • Ps 50:14 : 14 Make an offering of praise to God; keep the agreements which you have made with the Most High;
  • Matt 5:33 : 33 Again, you have knowledge that it was said in old times, Do not take false oaths, but give effect to your oaths to the Lord:
  • Heb 10:6 : 6 You had no joy in burned offerings or in offerings for sin.
  • Deut 23:21-23 : 21 When you take an oath to the Lord, do not be slow to give effect to it: for without doubt the Lord your God will make you responsible, and will put it to your account as sin. 22 But if you take no oath, there will be no sin. 23 Whatever your lips have said, see that you do it; for you gave your word freely to the Lord your God.
  • Gen 28:20 : 20 Then Jacob took an oath, and said, If God will be with me, and keep me safe on my journey, and give me food and clothing to put on,
  • Gen 35:1 : 1 And God said to Jacob, Go up now to Beth-el and make your living-place there: and put up an altar there to the God who came to you when you were in flight from your brother Esau.
  • Gen 35:3 : 3 And let us go up to Beth-el: and there I will make an altar to God, who gave me an answer in the day of my trouble, and was with me wherever I went.
  • Ps 116:14 : 14 I will make the offering of my oath to the Lord, even before all his people.
  • Ps 116:16-18 : 16 O Lord, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of her who is your servant; by you have my cords been broken. 17 I will give an offering of praise to you, and make my prayer in the name of the Lord. 18 I will make the offerings of my oath, even before all his people;
  • Ps 119:106 : 106 I have made an oath and kept it, to be guided by your upright decisions.
  • Ps 147:10-11 : 10 He has no delight in the strength of a horse; he takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. 11 The Lord takes pleasure in his worshippers, and in those whose hope is in his mercy.
  • Isa 19:21 : 21 And the Lord will give the knowledge of himself to Egypt, and the Egyptians will give honour to the Lord in that day; they will give him worship with offerings and meal offerings, and will take an oath to the Lord and give effect to it.
  • Jonah 2:9 : 9 The worshippers of false gods have given up their only hope.
  • Mal 1:10 : 10 If only there was one among you who would see that the doors were shut, so that you might not put a light to the fire on my altar for nothing! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of armies, and I will not take an offering from your hands.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Eccl 5:5-7
    3 verses
    89%

    5 Let not your mouth make your flesh do evil. And say not before the angel, It was an error. So that God may not be angry with your words and put an end to the work of your hands.

    6 Because much talk comes from dreams and things of no purpose. But let the fear of God be in you.

    7 If you see the poor under a cruel yoke, and law and right being violently overturned in a country, be not surprised, because one authority is keeping watch on another and there are higher than they.

  • Deut 23:21-23
    3 verses
    81%

    21 When you take an oath to the Lord, do not be slow to give effect to it: for without doubt the Lord your God will make you responsible, and will put it to your account as sin.

    22 But if you take no oath, there will be no sin.

    23 Whatever your lips have said, see that you do it; for you gave your word freely to the Lord your God.

  • Eccl 5:1-3
    3 verses
    76%

    1 Be not unwise with your mouth, and let not your heart be quick to say anything before God, because God is in heaven and you are on the earth--so let not the number of your words be great.

    2 As a dream comes from much business, so the voice of a foolish man comes with words in great number.

    3 When you take an oath before God, put it quickly into effect, because he has no pleasure in the foolish; keep the oath you have taken.

  • Num 30:2-4
    3 verses
    76%

    2 And Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, This is the order of the Lord.

    3 When a man takes an oath to the Lord, or gives an undertaking having the force of an oath, let him not go back from his word, but let him do whatever he has said he will do.

    4 If a woman, being young and under the authority of her father, takes an oath to the Lord or gives an undertaking;

  • Job 22:27
    73%

    27 You will make your prayer to him, and be answered; and you will give effect to your oaths.

  • Prov 26:4-5
    2 verses
    73%

    4 Do not give to the foolish man a foolish answer, or you will be like him.

    5 Give a foolish man a foolish answer, or he will seem wise to himself.

  • Lev 5:4
    72%

    4 Or if anyone, without thought, takes an oath to do evil or to do good, whatever he says without thought, with an oath, having no knowledge of what he is doing; when it becomes clear to him, he will be responsible for any of these things.

  • Prov 20:25
    72%

    25 It is a danger to a man to say without thought, It is holy, and, after taking his oaths, to be questioning if it is necessary to keep them.

  • Prov 26:10
    70%

    10 Like an archer wounding all who go by, is a foolish man overcome by drink.

  • Eccl 8:2
    70%

    2 I say to you, Keep the king's law, from respect for the oath of God.

  • Prov 22:26-27
    2 verses
    70%

    26 Be not one of those who give their hands in an agreement, or of those who make themselves responsible for debts:

    27 If you have nothing with which to make payment, he will take away your bed from under you.

  • Matt 5:33
    70%

    33 Again, you have knowledge that it was said in old times, Do not take false oaths, but give effect to your oaths to the Lord:

  • Prov 23:9
    70%

    9 Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.

  • Deut 5:11
    69%

    11 You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose; whoever takes the Lord's name on his lips for an evil purpose will be judged as a sinner by the Lord.

  • Job 15:4
    69%

    4 Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry.

  • Ps 15:4
    69%

    4 Who gives honour to those who have the fear of the Lord, turning away from him who has not the Lord's approval. He who takes an oath against himself, and makes no change.

  • Ps 50:14
    69%

    14 Make an offering of praise to God; keep the agreements which you have made with the Most High;

  • Prov 29:20
    68%

    20 Have you seen a man who is quick with his tongue? There is more hope for a foolish man than for him.

  • Prov 17:16
    68%

    16 How will money in the hand of the foolish get him wisdom, seeing that he has no sense?

  • Prov 19:1
    68%

    1 Better is the poor man whose ways are upright, than the man of wealth whose ways are twisted.

  • Ps 76:11
    68%

    11 Give to the Lord your God what is his by right; let all who are round him give offerings to him who is to be feared.

  • Jas 5:12
    68%

    12 But most of all, my brothers, do not take oaths, not by the heaven, or by the earth, or by any other thing: but let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No: so that you may not be judged.

  • Eccl 7:17
    68%

    17 Be not evil overmuch, and be not foolish. Why come to your end before your time?

  • Prov 11:15
    68%

    15 He who makes himself responsible for a strange man will undergo much loss; but the hater of such undertakings will be safe.

  • Prov 19:10
    68%

    10 Material comfort is not good for the foolish; much less for a servant to be put over rulers.

  • Prov 30:6
    68%

    6 Make no addition to his words, or he will make clear your error, and you will be seen to be false.

  • Ps 22:25
    68%

    25 My praise will be of you in the great meeting: I will make my offerings before his worshippers.

  • Prov 15:5
    68%

    5 A foolish man puts no value on his father's training; but he who has respect for teaching has good sense.

  • Exod 20:7
    67%

    7 You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose; whoever takes the Lord's name on his lips for an evil purpose will be judged a sinner by the Lord

  • Ps 116:18
    67%

    18 I will make the offerings of my oath, even before all his people;

  • Job 36:18
    67%

    18 ...

  • Prov 6:1
    67%

    1 My son, if you have made yourself responsible for your neighbour, or given your word for another,

  • Prov 5:9
    67%

    9 For fear that you may give your honour to others, and your wealth to strange men:

  • Eccl 7:9
    67%

    9 Be not quick to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.

  • Prov 3:27
    67%

    27 Do not keep back good from those who have a right to it, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.

  • Prov 19:3
    67%

    3 By his foolish behaviour a man's ways are turned upside down, and his heart is bitter against the Lord.

  • Prov 17:21
    67%

    21 He who has an unwise son gets sorrow for himself, and the father of a foolish son has no joy.

  • Eccl 7:5
    67%

    5 It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.