Ecclesiastes 5
1 Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.
[Custodi pedem tuum ingrediens domum Dei, et appropinqua ut audias. Multo enim melior est obedientia quam stultorum victimæ, qui nesciunt quid faciunt mali.]
2 Do not be rash with your mouth, and do not let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
[Ne temere quid loquaris, neque cor tuum sit velox ad proferendum sermonem coram Deo. Deus enim in cælo, et tu super terram; idcirco sint pauci sermones tui.
3 For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool’s speech with a multitude of words.
Multas curas sequuntur somnia, et in multis sermonibus invenietur stultitia.
4 When you vow a vow to God, do not defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.
Si quid vovisti Deo, ne moreris reddere: displicet enim ei infidelis et stulta promissio, sed quodcumque voveris redde:
5 It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay.
multoque melius est non vovere, quam post votum promissa non reddere.
6 Do not allow your mouth to lead you into sin. Do not protest before the messenger that this was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?
Ne dederis os tuum ut peccare facias carnem tuam, neque dicas coram angelo: Non est providentia: ne forte iratus Deus contra sermones tuos dissipet cuncta opera manuum tuarum.
7 For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, as well as in many words; but you must fear God.
Ubi multa sunt somnia, plurimæ sunt vanitates, et sermones innumeri; tu vero Deum time.]
8 If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, do not marvel at the matter, for one official is eyed by a higher one, and there are officials over them.
[Si videris calumnias egenorum, et violenta judicia, et subverti justitiam in provincia, non mireris super hoc negotio: quia excelso excelsior est alius, et super hos quoque eminentiores sunt alii;
9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from the field.
et insuper universæ terræ rex imperat servienti.
10 He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.
Avarus non implebitur pecunia, et qui amat divitias fructum non capiet ex eis; et hoc ergo vanitas.
11 When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?
Ubi multæ sunt opes, multi et qui comedunt eas. Et quid prodest possessori, nisi quod cernit divitias oculis suis?
12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
Dulcis est somnus operanti, sive parum sive multum comedat; saturitas autem divitis non sinit eum dormire.]
13 There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.
[Est et alia infirmitas pessima quam vidi sub sole: divitiæ conservatæ in malum domini sui.
14 Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand.
Pereunt enim in afflictione pessima: generavit filium qui in summa egestate erit.
15 As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.
Sicut egressus est nudus de utero matris suæ, sic revertetur, et nihil auferet secum de labore suo.
16 This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?
Miserabilis prorsus infirmitas: quomodo venit, sic revertetur. Quid ergo prodest ei quod laboravit in ventum?
17 All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath.
cunctis diebus vitæ suæ comedit in tenebris, et in curis multis, et in ærumna atque tristitia.]
18 Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.
[Hoc itaque visum est mihi bonum, ut comedat quis et bibat, et fruatur lætitia ex labore suo quo laboravit ipse sub sole, numero dierum vitæ suæ quos dedit ei Deus; et hæc est pars illius.
19 Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.
Et omni homini cui dedit Deus divitias atque substantiam, potestatemque ei tribuit ut comedat ex eis, et fruatur parte sua, et lætetur de labore suo: hoc est donum Dei.
20 For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life, because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
Non enim satis recordabitur dierum vitæ suæ, eo quod Deus occupet deliciis cor ejus.]
