Ecclesiastes 7:21 (LSB)

Passage

Also, do not give your heart to all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your slave cursing you.

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 7:19 Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten men with power who are in a city.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

Ecclesiastes 7:21 Also, do not give your heart to all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your slave cursing you.

Ecclesiastes 7:22 For your heart also knows that you likewise have many times cursed others.

Ecclesiastes 7:23 I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "give", "heart", "words", "spoken", "slave", and "cursing". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "give" and "heart", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "Indeed there is not a righteous man..." into verse 22's "For your heart also knows that you...", so "give" and "heart" belong inside that flow. In Ecclesiastes context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "give" and "heart" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.