Ecclesiastes 2
1 I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity.
Dixi ego in corde meo: Vadam, et affluam deliciis, et fruar bonis. Et vidi quod hoc quoque esset vanitas.
2 I said of laughter, Madness! and of mirth, What availeth it?
Risum reputavi errorem: et gaudio dixi: Quid frustra deciperis?
3 I searched in my heart how to cherish my flesh with wine, while practising my heart with wisdom; and how to lay hold on folly, till I should see what was that good for the children of men which they should do under the heavens all the days of their life.
Cogitavi in corde meo abstrahere a vino carnem meam, ut animam meam transferrem ad sapientiam, devitaremque stultitiam, donec viderem quid esset utile filiis hominum: quo facto opus est sub sole numero dierum vitæ suæ.
4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;
Magnificavi opera mea, ædificavi mihi domos, et plantavi vineas,
5 I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of every kind of fruit;
feci hortos, et pomaria, et consevi ea cuncti generis arboribus,
6 I made me ponds of water, to water therewith the wood, where the trees are reared.
et extruxi mihi piscinas aquarum, ut irrigarem silvam lignorum germinantium,
7 I acquired servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that had been in Jerusalem before me.
possedi servos et ancillas, multamque familiam habui: armenta quoque, et magnos ovium greges ultra omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Ierusalem:
8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the children of men, a wife and concubines.
coacervavi mihi argentum, et aurum, et substantias regum, ac provinciarum: feci mihi cantores, et cantatrices, et delicias filiorum hominum, scyphos, et urceos in ministerio ad vina fundenda:
9 And I became great, and increased more than all that had been before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
et supergressus sum opibus omnes, qui ante me fuerunt in Ierusalem: sapientia quoque perseveravit mecum.
10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them: I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour, and this was my portion from all my labour.
Et omnia, quæ desideraverunt oculi mei, non negavi eis: nec prohibui cor meum quin omni voluptate frueretur, et oblectaret se in his, quæ præparaveram: et hanc ratus sum partem meam, si uterer labore meo.
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that it had cost me to do [them]; and behold, all was vanity and pursuit of the wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
Cumque me convertissem ad universa opera, quæ fecerant manus meæ, et ad labores, in quibus frustra sudaveram, vidi in omnibus vanitatem et afflictionem animi, et nihil permanere sub sole.
12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly; for what shall the man [do] that cometh after the king? — that which hath already been done.
Transivi ad contemplandam sapientiam, erroresque et stultitiam (quid est, inquam, homo, ut sequi possit regem Factorem suum?)
13 And I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as light excelleth darkness.
et vidi quod tantum præcederet sapientia stultitiam, quantum differt lux a tenebris.
14 The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness; but I myself also perceived that one event happeneth to them all.
Sapientis oculi in capite eius: stultus in tenebris ambulat: et didici quod unus utriusque esset interitus.
15 And I said in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool so will it happen even to me; and why was I then so wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
Et dixi in corde meo: Si unus et stulti et meus occasus erit, quid mihi prodest quod maiorem sapientiæ dedi operam? Locutusque cum mente mea, animadverti quod hoc quoque esset vanitas.
16 For there shall be no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; because everything is already forgotten in the days which come. And how dieth the wise even as the fool?
Non enim erit memoria sapientis similiter ut stulti in perpetuum, et futura tempora oblivione cuncta pariter operient: moritur doctus similiter ut indoctus.
17 And I hated life; for the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and pursuit of the wind.
Et idcirco tæduit me vitæ meæ videntem mala universa esse sub sole, et cuncta vanitatem et afflictionem spiritus.
18 And I hated all my labour wherewith I had been toiling under the sun, because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
Rursus detestatus sum omnem industriam meam, qua sub sole studiosissime laboravi, habiturus heredem post me,
19 And who knoweth whether he will be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour at which I have laboured, and wherein I have been wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
quem ignoro, utrum sapiens an stultus futurus sit, et dominabitur in laboribus meis, quibus desudavi et solicitus fui. et est quidquam tam vanum?
20 Then I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour wherewith I had laboured under the sun.
Unde cessavi, renunciavitque cor meum ultra laborare sub sole.
21 For there is a man whose labour hath been with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skill, and who leaveth it to a man that hath not laboured therein, to be his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
Nam cum alius laboret in sapientia, et doctrina, et solicitudine, homini otioso quæsita dimittit: et hoc ergo, vanitas, et magnum malum.
22 For what will man have of all his labour and of the striving of his heart, wherewith he hath wearied himself under the sun?
Quid enim proderit homini de universo labore suo, et afflictione spiritus, qua sub sole cruciatus est?
23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail vexation: even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.
Cuncti dies eius doloribus et ærumnis pleni sunt, nec per noctem mente requiescit: et hoc nonne vanitas est?
24 There is nothing good for man, but that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
Nonne melius est comedere et bibere, et ostendere animæ suæ bona de laboribus suis? et hoc de manu Dei est.
25 For who can eat, or who be eager, more than I?
Quis ita devorabit, et deliciis affluet ut ego?
26 For he giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good in God's sight. This also is vanity and pursuit of the wind.
Homini bono in conspectu suo dedit Deus sapientiam, et scientiam, et lætitiam: peccatori autem dedit afflictionem, et curam superfluam, ut addat, et congreget, et tradat ei qui placuit Deo: sed et hoc vanitas est, et cassa solicitudo mentis.
