For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.
Ecclesiastes 5 opens with a sharp warning about how to approach God in worship: don't be hasty with your words, don't make rash vows, don't let your mouth run ahead of your heart. In the ancient world, making a vow to God was a serious matter — breaking one had real consequences. This verse closes that section by pulling back to the big picture: all the talking, all the grand promises made in emotional moments or inspired dreams — they evaporate into nothing. What remains? Awe. Real reverence for God, not impressive words about him. The Teacher is calling us back to something quiet and true.
God, forgive me for how many words I've used to fill silence that was actually yours. Quiet my busy mouth and my busier mind. Teach me what it means to stand in awe of you — not perform for you. Amen.
We live in a time of endless output — content, commentary, takes, threads, declarations. The volume of words produced every single day is staggering, and much of it is, as the Teacher bluntly says, meaningless. This isn't new. People in Solomon's era were just as prone to making beautiful promises to God in an emotional moment and forgetting them by Tuesday. Dreams and many words — inspiration that doesn't take root, vows that dissolve in the ordinary light of morning. The Teacher has seen it all, and his verdict is dry and honest: most of it amounts to nothing. But the verse doesn't leave you there — it pivots sharply: "therefore stand in awe of God." Not "therefore try harder" or "therefore choose your words more carefully." Awe. A posture, not a performance. It's the quiet before you speak — the moment you remember who you're actually talking to. What if the most spiritually mature thing you did today wasn't saying more — praying more eloquently, posting more scripture — but going silent long enough to feel genuinely small before something genuinely vast? That's the invitation here.
What do you think the Teacher means by "much dreaming" in this context — is he criticizing vision and aspiration, or something more specific about how people approach God?
Can you think of a time you made a promise to God — or to someone else — in an emotional moment that you didn't follow through on? What happened afterward?
This verse seems to say that awe matters more than words — but prayer and worship involve lots of words. How do you hold that tension in your own faith life?
How would your closest relationships look different if you practiced speaking fewer words and listening more — both to God and to the people around you?
What is one way you could practice "standing in awe" this week — something that actually pulls you out of your head and into genuine wonder?
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
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.
Ecclesiastes 5:2
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Matthew 6:7
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
Proverbs 23:17
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Matthew 12:36
Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
Isaiah 50:10
For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
Ecclesiastes 5:3
For in a multitude of dreams and in a flood of words there is worthlessness. Rather [reverently] fear God [and worship Him with awe-filled respect, knowing who He is].
AMP
For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.
ESV
For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.
NASB
Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.
NIV
For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.
NKJV
Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.
NLT
But against all illusion and fantasy and empty talk There's always this rock foundation: Fear God!
MSG