Ecclesiastes 6
1 There is also another evil, which I have seen under the sun, and that frequent among men:
Est et aliud malum, quod vidi sub sole, et quidem frequens apud homines:
2 A man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and honour, and his soul wanteth nothing of all that he desireth: yet God doth not give him power to eat thereof, but a stranger shall eat it up. This is vanity and a great misery.
Vir, cui dedit Deus divitias, et substantiam, et honorem, et nihil deest animae suae ex omnibus, quae desiderat: nec tribuit ei potestatem Deus ut comedat ex eo, sed homo extraneus vorabit illud. hoc vanitas, et miseria magna est.
3 If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, and attain to a great age, and his soul make no use of the goods of his substance, and he be without burial: of this man I pronounce, that the untimely born is better than he.
Si genuerit quispiam centum liberos, et vixerit multos annos, et plures dies aetatis habuerit, et anima illius non utatur bonis substantiae suae, sepulturaque careat: de hoc ergo pronuncio quod melior illo sit abortivus.
4 For he came in vain, and goeth to darkness, and his name shall be wholly forgotten.
Frustra enim venit, et pergit ad tenebras, et oblivione delebitur nomen eius.
5 He hath not seen the sun, nor known the distance of good and evil:
Non vidit solem, neque cognovit distantiam boni et mali:
6 Although he lived two thousand years, and hath not enjoyed good things: do not all make haste to one place?
etiam si duobus millibus annis vixerit, et non fuerit perfruitus bonis: nonne ad unum locum properant omnia?
7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, but his soul shall not be filled.
Omnis labor hominis in ore eius: sed anima eius non implebitur.
8 What hath the wise man more than the fool? and what the poor man, but to go thither, where there is life?
Quid habet amplius sapiens a stulto? et quid pauper nisi ut pergat illuc, ubi est vita?
9 Better it is to see what thou mayst desire, than to desire that which thou canst not know. But this also is vanity, and presumption of spirit.
Melius est videre quod cupias, quam desiderare quod nescias. sed et hoc vanitas est, et praesumptio spiritus.
10 He that shall be, his name is already called: and it is known, that he is man, and cannot contend in judgment with him that is stronger than himself.
Qui futurus est, iam vocatum est nomen eius: et scitur quod homo sit, et non possit contra fortiorem se in iudicio contendere.
11 There are many words that have much vanity in disputing.
Verba sunt plurima, multamque in disputando habentia vanitatem.
12 What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he knoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun?
Quid necesse est homini maiora se quaerere, cum ignoret quid conducat sibi in vita sua numero dierum peregrinationis suae, et tempore, quod velut umbra praeterit? Aut quis ei poterit indicare quod post eum futurum sub sole sit?
