Ecclesiastes 11:9
7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for a person to see the sun. 8 So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many—all that is about to come is obscure. 9 Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes, but know that God will judge your motives and actions. 10 Banish emotional stress from your mind and put away pain from your body; for youth and the prime of life are fleeting.
Sirach 5:2
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus1 Do not rely on your wealth, or say, "I have enough." 2 Do not follow your inclination and strength in pursuing the desires of your heart. 3 Do not say, "Who can have power over me?" for the Lord will surely punish you. 4 Do not say, "I sinned, yet what has happened to me?" for the Lord is slow to anger.
Notes and References
"... "... As joy, piety, and pessimism all meet in Ecclesiastes 11:9, Qoheleth’s clamorous internal dialogue draws in a canonical bystander, Torah, in the form of Numbers 15:39 ... Since, however, Qoheleth seems to endorse precisely the pursuit of personal pleasure that the fringe, or tsitsit, is intended to prevent, and since Numbers presents this libertarian behavior as the alternative to remembering and doing all the commandments of the Lord, it is little surprise that the rabbis pointed to this intertextual con ict as an indication of Ecclesiastes’ questionable canonical status. Some early translators even corrected the apparent contradiction with small alterations of Qoheleth’s words, and Ben Sira appears to reject them explicitly: “Do not follow your inclination and strength in pursuing the desires of your heart” (Sirach 5:2) ..." ..."
Kynes, Will "Follow Your Heart And Do Not Say It Was A Mistake: Qoheleth's Allusions To Numbers 15 And The Story Of The Spies" in Dell, Katharine Julia, and Will Kynes (eds.) Reading Ecclesiastes Intertextually (pp. 15-27) Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2014