Neville Goddard on Ecclesiastes 5:13-20 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Ecclesiastes 5 in context

Scripture Focus

13There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

14But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

15As 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.

16And 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?

17All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

18Behold 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.

19Every 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.

20For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

Ecclesiastes 5:13-20

Biblical Context

The passage warns that riches hoarded for the owner can bring hurt and vanish; true profit lies in receiving what God provides and enjoying the labor and its fruit. When you change your stance, pleasure becomes your portion.

Neville's Inner Vision

These verses describe the inner economy by which wealth operates. Wealth is not a purse of coins but a state of consciousness you inhabit. If you cling to riches as yours alone, you sever your connection with the one Source and the harvest seems to fail. The remedy is to claim the gifts are already given by God within you—the I AM that knows, provides, and sustains you. The 'joy of his heart' is not a mood you chase; it is the natural expression of alignment with this inner gift. When you eat and drink with gratitude, you are tasting the truth that God has endowed your days with abundance. As you dwell in that inner assurance, you become a magnet for circumstances that reflect your assumed abundance. Practice the feeling that you are already provided for; let that assumption color your decisions, your plans, and your conversations. Prosperity, in this sense, is not the possession of things but the harmony between your inner state and the outer world, a harmony Godward and inward.

Practice This Now

Imaginative act: Close your eyes and repeat, 'I am wealth and provision now, given by God within me,' then feel the associated joy as if it were already yours; dwell in that sensation for a few minutes and observe the mood shift within and the sense of abundance you carry forward.