Ecclesiastes 2
1 I SAID in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was 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, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
risum reputavi errorem et gaudio dixi quid frustra deciperis
3 I searched in mine heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, mine heart yet guiding [me] with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
cogitavi in corde meo abstrahere a vino carnem meam ut animum meum transferrem ad sapientiam devitaremque stultitiam donec viderem quid esset utile filiis hominum quod facto opus est sub sole numero dierum vitae suae
4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;
magnificavi opera mea aedificavi mihi domos plantavi vineas
5 I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit:
feci hortos et pomeria et consevi ea cuncti generis arboribus
6 I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared:
extruxi mihi piscinas aquarum ut inrigarem silvam lignorum germinantium
7 I bought menservants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that were before me in Jerusalem:
possedi servos et ancillas multamque familiam habui armenta quoque et magnos ovium greges ultra omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Hierusalem
8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, concubines very many.
coacervavi mihi argentum et aurum et substantias regum ac provinciarum feci mihi cantores et cantrices et delicias filiorum hominum scyphos et urceos in ministerio ad vina fundenda
9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
et supergressus sum opibus omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Hierusalem 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 because of all my labour; and this was my portion from all my labour.
et omnia quae desideraverunt oculi mei non negavi eis nec prohibui cor quin omni voluptate frueretur et oblectaret se in his quae paraveram 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 I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
cumque me convertissem ad universa opera quae fecerant manus meae et ad labores in quibus frustra sudaveram vidi in omnibus vanitatem et adflictionem animi et nihil permanere sub sole
12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness and folly; for what [can] the man [do] that cometh after the king? [even] that which hath been already done.
transivi ad contemplandam sapientiam erroresque et stultitiam quid est inquam homo ut sequi possit regem factorem suum
13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
et vidi quia tantum praecederet sapientia stultitiam quantum differt lux tenebris
14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I 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 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also was vanity.
et dixi in corde meo si unus et stulti et meus occasus erit quid mihi prodest quod maiorem sapientiae dedi operam locutusque cum mente mea animadverti quod hoc quoque esset vanitas
16 For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been already forgotten. And how doth the wise man die even as the fool!
non enim erit memoria sapientis similiter ut stulti in perpetuum et futura tempora oblivione cuncta pariter obruent moritur doctus similiter et indoctus
17 So I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me: for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
et idcirco taeduit me vitae meae videntem mala esse universa sub sole et cuncta vanitatem atque adflictionem spiritus
18 And I hated all my labour wherein I laboured under the sun: seeing that I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
rursum detestatus sum omnem industriam meam quae sub sole studiosissime laboravi habiturus heredem post me
19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.
quem ignoro utrum sapiens an stultus futurus sit et dominabitur in laboribus meis quibus desudavi et sollicitus fui et est quicquam tam vanum
20 Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labour wherein I had laboured under the sun.
unde cessavi renuntiavitque cor meum ultra laborare sub sole
21 For there is a man whose labour is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skilfulness; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
nam cum alius laboret in sapientia et doctrina et sollicitudine homini otioso quaesita dimittit et hoc ergo vanitas et magnum malum
22 For what hath a man of all his labour, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboureth under the sun?
quid enim proderit homini de universo labore suo et adflictione spiritus qua sub sole cruciatus est
23 For all his days are [but] sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.
cuncti dies eius doloribus et aerumnis pleni sunt nec per noctem mente requiescit et haec non vanitas est
24 There is nothing better for a man [than] that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
nonne melius est comedere et bibere et ostendere animae suae bona de laboribus suis et hoc de manu Dei est
25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?
quis ita vorabit et deliciis affluet ut ego
26 For to the man that pleaseth him [God] giveth 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 pleaseth God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
homini bono in conspectu suo dedit Deus sapientiam et scientiam et laetitiam peccatori autem dedit adflictionem et curam superfluam ut addat et congreget et tradat ei qui placuit Deo sed et hoc vanitas et cassa sollicitudo mentis
