Ecclesiastes 4
1 Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.
Verti me ad alia, et vidi calumnias, quae sub sole geruntur, et lacrymas innocentium, et neminem consolatorem: nec posse resistere eorum violentiae, cunctorum auxilio destitutos.
2 So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.
Et laudavi magis mortuos, quam viventes:
3 But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
et feliciorem utroque iudicavi, qui necdum natus est, nec vidit mala quae sub sole fiunt.
4 I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Rursum contemplatus sum omnes labores hominum, et industrias animadverti patere invidiae proximi: et in hoc ergo vanitas, et cura superflua est.
5 The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.
Stultus complicat manus suas, et comedit carnes suas, dicens:
6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.
Melior est pugillus cum requie, quam plena utraque manus cum labore, et afflictione animi.
7 Again, I saw futility under the sun.
Considerans reperi et aliam vanitatem sub sole:
8 There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.
unus est, et secundum non habet, non filium, non fratrem, et tamen laborare non cessat, nec satiantur oculi eius divitiis: nec recogitat, dicens: Cui laboro, et fraudo animam meam bonis? in hoc quoque vanitas est, et afflictio pessima.
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.
Melius est ergo duos esse simul, quam unum: habent enim emolumentum societatis suae:
10 For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!
si unus ceciderit, ab altero fulcietur. vae soli: quia cum ceciderit, non habet sublevantem se.
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?
Et si dormierint duo, fovebuntur mutuo: unus quomodo calefiet?
12 And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Et si quispiam praevaluerit contra unum, duo resistunt ei: funiculus triplex difficile rumpitur.
13 Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning.
Melior est puer pauper et sapiens, rege sene et stulto, qui nescit praevidere in posterum.
14 For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.
Quod de carcere, catenisque interdum quis egrediatur ad regnum: et alius natus in regno, inopia consumatur.
15 I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king.
Vidi cunctos viventes, qui ambulant sub sole cum adolescente secundo, qui consurget pro eo.
16 There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Infinitus numerus est populi omnium, qui fuerunt ante eum: et qui postea futuri sunt, non laetabuntur in eo. sed et hoc, vanitas et afflictio spiritus.
