< Ecclesiastes 11 >
1 Mitte panem tuum super transeuntes aquas: quia post tempora multa invenies illum.
Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shall find it after many days.
2 Da partem septem, necnon et octo: quia ignoras quid futurum sit mali super terram.
Give a portion to seven, yea, even to eight, for thou know not what evil shall be 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 are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth, and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be.
4 Qui observat ventum, non seminat: et qui considerat nubes, numquam metet.
He who observes the wind shall not sow, and he who regards the clouds shall 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 know not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, even so thou know not the work of God who does 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 withhold not thy hand, for thou know not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
7 Dulce lumen, et delectabile est oculis videre solem.
Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold 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.
Yea, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.
9 Lætare ergo iuvenis in adolescentia tua, et in bono sit cor tuum in diebus iuventutis tuæ, et ambula in viis cordis tui, et in intuitu oculorum tuorum: et scito quod pro omnibus his adducet te Deus in iudicium.
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes. But know thou, that for 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.
Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.