Please read “E1. Meaning to the Meaningless” before reading any of my other articles on Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes 10:16-20
When I read scripture, the meaning is not always clear. I use multiple translations to study difficult passages. A free web site biblegateway.com offers many different translations. The “Amplified Bible” is one of those I often look at. It is not a literal translation. They insert words they believe help to make the meaning clear. I do not always agreeing with the choices they make, but I find it does help stimulate my thinking upon the text.

Chapter 10 “16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and when your [incompetent] officials and princes feast in the morning. 17 Blessed [prosperous and admired] are you, O land, when your king is a man of noble birth, and your princes and officials feast at the proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness. 18 Through laziness the rafters [of state affairs] decay and the roof sags, and through idleness [the roof of] the house leaks. 19 The officials make a feast for enjoyment [instead of repairing what is broken], and serve wine to make life merry, and money is the answer to everything. “Amplified Bible”

The writer of Ecclesiastes says, “Money is the answer to everything.” He may have expressed this as an example of the attitude of bad rulers. He may have expressed this as an example of earthy wisdom. We cannot know for sure. What we do know is that the sentiment is wrong. Yet many people today still believe it. They believe having more money will solve all their problems. Humanities root problem is not financial; it is spiritual. Not all the money in the world can buy salvation for a single individual. Christ paid the price of our salvation on the cross. He offers salvation as a gift. We insult him when we attempt to buy it with our money or our works. You do not buy a gift; you receive it with thanksgiving.