Ecclesiastes 8
1 Who is like the wise man? and to whom is the sense of anything clear? A man's wisdom makes his face shining, and his hard face will be changed.
Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu eius, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.
2 I say to you, Keep the king's law, from respect for the oath of God.
Ego os regis observo, et præcepta iuramenti Dei.
3 Be not quick to go from before him. Be not fixed in an evil design, because he does whatever is pleasing to him.
Ne festines recedere a facie eius, neque permaneas in opere malo: quia omne, quod voluerit, faciet:
4 The word of a king has authority; and who may say to him, What is this you are doing?
et sermo illius potestate plenus est: nec dicere ei quisquam potest: Quare ita facis?
5 Whoever keeps the law will come to no evil: and a wise man's heart has knowledge of time and of decision.
Qui custodit præceptum, non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.
6 For every purpose there is a time and a decision, because the sorrow of man is great in him.
Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas, et multa hominis afflictio:
7 No one is certain what is to be, and who is able to say to him when it will be?
quia ignorat præterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuncio.
8 No man has authority over the wind, to keep the wind; or is ruler over the day of his death. In war no man's time is free, and evil will not keep the sinner safe.
Non est in hominis potestate prohibere spiritum, nec habet potestatem in die mortis, nec sinitur quiescere ingruente bello, neque salvabit impietas impium.
9 All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.
Omnia hæc consideravi, et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus, quæ fiunt sub sole. Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.
10 And then I saw evil men put to rest, taken even from the holy place; and they went about and were praised in the town because of what they had done. This again is to no purpose.
Vidi impios sepultos: qui etiam cum adhuc viverent, in loco sancto erant, et laudabantur in civitate quasi iustorum operum. Sed et hoc vanitas est.
11 Because punishment for an evil work comes not quickly, the minds of the sons of men are fully given to doing evil.
Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpetrant mala.
12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life is long, I am certain that it will be well for those who go in fear of God and are in fear before him.
At tamen peccator ex eo quod centies facit malum, et per patientiam sustentatur, ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui verentur faciem eius.
13 But it will not be well for the evil-doer; he will not make his days long like a shade, because he has no fear before God.
Non sit bonum impio, nec prolongentur dies eius, sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini.
14 There is a thing which is to no purpose done on the earth: that there are good men to whom is given the same punishment as those who are evil, and there are evil men who get the reward of the good. I say that this again is to no purpose.
Est et alia vanitas, quæ fit super terram. Sunt iusti, quibus mala proveniunt, quasi opera egerint impiorum: et sunt impii, qui ita securi sunt, quasi iustorum facta habeant. Sed et hoc vanissimum iudico.
15 So I gave praise to joy, because there is nothing better for a man to do under the sun than to take meat and drink and be happy; for that will be with him in his work all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
Laudavi igitur lætitiam quod non esset homini bonum sub sole, nisi quod comederet, et biberet, atque gauderet: et hoc solum secum auferret de labore suo in diebus vitæ suæ, quos dedit ei Deus sub sole.
16 When I gave my mind to the knowledge of wisdom and to seeing the business which is done on the earth (and there are those whose eyes see not sleep by day or by night),
Et apposui cor meum ut scirem sapientiam, et intelligerem distentionem, quæ versatur in terra: est homo, qui diebus et noctibus somnum non capit oculis.
17 Then I saw all the work of God, and that man may not get knowledge of the work which is done under the sun; because, if a man gives hard work to the search he will not get knowledge, and even if the wise man seems to be coming to the end of his search, still he will be without knowledge.
Et intellexi quod omnium operum Dei nullam possit homo invenire rationem eorum, quæ fiunt sub sole: et quanto plus laboraverit ad quærendum, tanto minus inveniat: etiam si dixerit sapiens se nosse, non poterit reperire.
