Ecclesiastes 2
1 I said in my heart, “Pray, come, I try you with mirth, and look on gladness”; and behold, even it [is] vanity.
Dixi ego in corde meo: Vadam, et affluam deliciis, et fruar bonis; et vidi quod hoc quoque esset vanitas.
2 Of laughter I said, “Foolish!” And of mirth, “What [is] this it is doing?”
Risum reputavi errorem, et gaudio dixi: Quid frustra deciperis?
3 I have sought in my heart to draw out with wine my appetite (and my heart leading in wisdom), and to take hold on folly until I see where this [is]—the good to the sons of man of that which they do under the heavens, the number of the days of their lives.
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 great my works, I built for myself houses, I planted for myself vineyards.
Magnificavi opera mea, ædificavi mihi domos, et plantavi vineas;
5 I made for myself gardens and paradises, and I planted in them trees of every fruit.
feci hortos et pomaria, et consevi ea cuncti generis arboribus;
6 I made for myself pools of water, to water from them a forest shooting forth trees.
et exstruxi mihi piscinas aquarum, ut irrigarem silvam lignorum germinantium.
7 I acquired menservants, and maidservants, and sons of the house were to me; also, I had much substance—herd and flock—above all who had been before me in Jerusalem.
Possedi servos et ancillas, multamque familiam habui: armenta quoque, et magnos ovium greges, ultra omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Jerusalem;
8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces. I prepared for myself men-singers and women-singers, and the luxuries of the sons of man—a wife and wives.
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 above everyone who had been before me in Jerusalem; also, my wisdom stood with me.
et supergressus sum opibus omnes qui ante me fuerunt in Jerusalem: sapientia quoque perseveravit mecum.
10 And all that my eyes asked I did not keep back from them; I did not withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this has been my portion, from all my labor,
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 and I have looked on all my works that my hands have done, and on the labor that I have labored to do, and behold, the whole [is] vanity and distress of spirit, and there is no advantage 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 to see wisdom, and madness, and folly, but what [is] the man who comes after the king? That which [is] already—they have done it!
Transivi ad contemplandam sapientiam, erroresque, et stultitiam. (Quid est, inquam, homo, ut sequi possit regem, factorem suum?)
13 And I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom above folly, like the advantage of the light above the darkness.
Et vidi quod tantum præcederet sapientia stultitiam, quantum differt lux a tenebris.
14 The wise—his eyes [are] in his head, and the fool is walking in darkness, and I also knew that one event happens with them all;
Sapientis oculi in capite ejus; stultus in tenebris ambulat: et didici quod unus utriusque esset interitus.
15 and I said in my heart, “As it happens with the fool, it happens also with me, and why am I then more wise?” And I spoke in my heart, that also this [is] vanity:
Et dixi in corde meo: Si unus et stulti et meus occasus erit, quid mihi prodest quod majorem sapientiæ dedi operam? Locutusque cum mente mea, animadverti quod hoc quoque esset vanitas.
16 That there is no remembrance to the wise—with the fool—for all time, for that which [is] already, [in] the days that are coming is all forgotten, and how dies the wise? With 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 have hated life, for sad to me [is] the work that has been done under the sun, for the whole [is] vanity and distress of spirit.
Et idcirco tæduit me vitæ meæ, videntem mala universa esse sub sole, et cuncta vanitatem et afflictionem spiritus.
18 And I have hated all my labor that I labor at under the sun, because I leave it to a man who is after me.
Rursus detestatus sum omnem industriam meam, qua sub sole studiosissime laboravi, habiturus hæredem post me,
19 And who knows whether he is wise or foolish? Yet he rules over all my labor that I have labored at, and that I have done wisely under the sun! This [is] also vanity.
quem ignoro utrum sapiens an stultus futurus sit, et dominabitur in laboribus meis, quibus desudavi et sollicitus fui: et est quidquam tam vanum?
20 And I turned around to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor that I labored at under the sun.
Unde cessavi, renuntiavitque cor meum ultra laborare sub sole.
21 For there is a man whose labor [is] in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity, and to a man who has not labored therein he gives it—his portion! Even this [is] vanity and a great evil.
Nam cum alius laboret in sapientia, et doctrina, et sollicitudine, homini otioso quæsita dimittit; et hoc ergo vanitas et magnum malum.
22 For what has been to a man by all his labor, and by the thought of his heart that he labored at 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 sadness; even at night his heart has not lain down; this [is] also vanity.
Cuncti dies ejus doloribus et ærumnis pleni sunt, nec per noctem mente requiescit. Et hoc nonne vanitas est?
24 There is nothing good in a man who eats, and has drunk, and has shown his soul good in his labor. This also I have seen that it [is] 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 eats and who hurries out more than I?
Quis ita devorabit et deliciis affluet ut ego?
26 For to a man who [is] good before Him, He has given wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; and to a sinner He has given travail, to gather and to heap up, to give to the good before God. Even this [is] vanity and distress of spirit.
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 sollicitudo mentis.
