Ecclesiastes 2
1 I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and behold, this also [is] vanity.
Dixi ergo 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 sought in my heart, to give myself to wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what [was] that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven 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 vitae suae.
4 I made me great works; I built me houses; I planted me vineyards:
Magnificavi opera mea, aedificavi mihi domos, et plantavi vineas,
5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all [kind of] fruits:
feci hortos, et pomaria, et consevi ea cuncti generis arboribus,
6 I made me pools of water, to water with them the wood that bringeth forth trees:
et extruxi mihi piscinas aquarum, ut irrigarem silvam lignorum germinantium,
7 I procured [me] servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were 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 procured me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, [as] musical instruments, and of all sorts.
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 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 ante me fuerunt in Ierusalem: sapientia quoque perseveravit mecum.
10 And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor.
Et omnia, quae desideraverunt oculi mei, non negavi eis: nec prohibui cor meum quin omni voluptate frueretur, et oblectaret se in his, quae praeparaveram: 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 labor that I had labored to do: and behold, all [was] vanity and vexation of spirit, 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 afflictionem 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 quod tantum praecederet sapientia stultitiam, quantum differt lux a tenebris.
14 The wise man's eyes [are] in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also 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 it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more 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 sapientiae dedi operam? Locutusque cum mente mea, animadverti quod hoc quoque esset vanitas.
16 For [there is] no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now [is] in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise [man]? as the fool.
Non enim erit memoria sapientis similiter ut stulti in perpetuum, et futura tempora oblivione cuncta pariter operient: moritur doctus similiter et indoctus.
17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun [is] grievous to me: for all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.
Et idcirco taeduit me vite meae videntem mala universa esse sub sole, et cuncta vanitatem et afflictionem spiritus.
18 Yes, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it to 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 shall be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have showed myself wise under the sun. This [is] also 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 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labor which I took under the sun.
Unde cessavi, renunciavitque cor meum ultra laborare sub sole.
21 For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not labored in it, shall he leave it [for] his portion. This also [is] vanity and a great evil.
Nam cum alius laboret in sapientia, et doctrina, et solicitudine, homini otioso quaesita dimittit: et hoc ergo, vanitas, et magnum malum.
22 For what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, in which he hath labored 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 labor grief; yes, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
Cuncti dies eius doloribus et aerumnis pleni sunt, nec per noctem mente requiescit: et hoc nonne vanitas est?
24 [There is] nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it [was] 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 else can hasten [to it] more than I?
Quis ita devorabit, et deliciis affluet ut ego?
26 For [God] giveth to a man who [is] good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth toil, to gather, and to amass, that he may give to [him that is] good before God. This also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.
Homini bono in conspectu suo dedit Deus sapientiam, et scientiam, et laetitiam: 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.
