Ecclesiastes 11
1 [Mitte panem tuum super transeuntes aquas, quia post tempora multa invenies illum.
Cast thy bread upon the face of the waters; for after many days wilt thou find it again.
2 Da partem septem necnon et octo, quia ignoras quid futurum sit mali super terram.
Give a portion to seven, and also to eight: for thou knowest not what evil may come upon the earth.—
3 Si repletæ fuerint nubes, imbrem super terram effundent. Si ceciderit lignum ad austrum aut ad aquilonem, in quocumque loco ceciderit, ibi erit.
If the clouds be full of rain, they will empty it out upon the earth; and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, on the place where the tree falleth, there will it remain.
4 Qui observat ventum non seminat; et qui considerat nubes numquam metet.
He that watcheth the wind will not sow; and he that gazeth on the clouds will not reap.
5 Quomodo ignoras quæ sit via spiritus, et qua ratione compingantur ossa in ventre prægnantis, sic nescis opera Dei, qui fabricator est omnium.
As thou knowest not which is the way of the wind, as little as what is enclosed in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou canst not know the works of God who maketh all.
6 Mane semina semen tuum, et vespere ne cesset manus tua: quia nescis quid magis oriatur, hoc aut illud; et si utrumque simul, melius erit.]
In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening let not thy hand rest; for thou knowest not which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both of them will be alike good.
7 [Dulce lumen, et delectabile est oculis videre solem.
Truly the light is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to see the sun;
8 Si annis multis vixerit homo, et in his omnibus lætatus fuerit, meminisse debet tenebrosi temporis, et dierum multorum, qui cum venerint, vanitatis arguentur præterita.
For if a man live [even] many years, let him rejoice in them all; and let him remember the days of darkness; for they will be many; all that cometh is vanity.
9 Lætare ergo, juvenis, in adolescentia tua, et in bono sit cor tuum in diebus juventutis tuæ: et ambula in viis cordis tui, et in intuitu oculorum tuorum, et scito quod pro omnibus his adducet te Deus in judicium.
Rejoice, O young man, in thy childhood; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youthful vigor, and walk firmly in the ways of thy heart, and in [the direction which] thy eyes see: but know thou, that concerning all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
10 Aufer iram a corde tuo, et amove malitiam a carne tua: adolescentia enim et voluptas vana sunt.]
And remove vexation from thy heart, and cause evil to pass away from thy body; for childhood and the time when the head is black are vanity.
