Ecclesiastes 5
1 Custodi pedem tuum ingrediens domum Dei, et appropinqua ut audias. Multo enim melior est obedientia, quam stultorum victimæ, qui nesciunt quid faciunt mali.
Keep thy foot, whensoever thou goest to the house of God; and [when thou art] near to hear, let thy sacrifice [be] better than the gift of fools: for they know not that they are doing evil.
2 Ne temere quid loquaris, neque cor tuum sit velox ad proferendum sermonem coram Deo. Deus enim in cælo, et tu super terram: idcirco sint pauci sermones tui.
Be not hasty with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be swift to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven above, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
3 Multas curas sequuntur somnia, et in multis sermonibus invenietur stultitia.
For through the multitude of trial a dream comes; and a fool's voice is with a multitude of words.
4 Si quid vovisti Deo, ne moreris reddere: displicet enim ei infidelis et stulta promissio. Sed quodcumque voveris, redde:
Whenever thou shalt vow a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for [he has] no pleasure in fools: pay thou therefore whatsoever thou shalt have vowed.
5 multoque melius est non vovere, quam post votum promissa non reddere.
[It is] better that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
6 Ne dederis os tuum ut peccare facias carnem tuam: neque dicas coram Angelo: Non est Providentia: ne forte iratus Deus contra sermones tuos, dissipet cuncta opera manuum tuarum.
Suffer not thy mouth to lead thy flesh to sin; and say not in the presence of God, It was an error: lest God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the works of thy hands.
7 Ubi multa sunt somnia, plurimæ sunt vanitates, et sermones innumeri: tu vero Deum time.
For [there is evil] in a multitude of dreams and vanities and many words: but fear thou God.
8 Si videris calumnias egenorum, et violenta iudicia, et subverti iustitiam in provincia, non mireris super hoc negotio: quia excelso excelsior est alius, et super hos quoque eminentiores sunt alii,
If thou shouldest see the oppression of the poor, and the wresting of judgment and of justice in the land, wonder not at the matter: for [there is] a high one to watch over him that is high, and high ones over them.
9 et insuper universæ terræ Rex imperat servienti.
Also the abundance of the earth is for every one: the king [is dependent on] the tilled field.
10 Avarus non implebitur pecunia: et qui amat divitias, fructum non capiet ex eis: et hoc ergo vanitas.
He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver: and who has loved gain, in the abundance thereof? this is also vanity.
11 Ubi multæ sunt opes, multi et qui comedunt eas. Et quid prodest possessori, nisi quod cernit divitias oculis suis?
In the multitude of good they are increased that eat it: and what virtue has the owner, but the right of beholding [it] with his eyes?
12 Dulcis est somnus operanti, sive parum, sive multum comedat: saturitas autem divitis non sinit eum dormire.
The sleep of a servant is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but to one who is satiated with wealth, there is none that suffers him to sleep.
13 Est et alia infirmitas pessima, quam vidi sub sole: divitiæ conservatæ in malum domini sui.
There is an infirmity which I have seen under the sun, [namely], wealth kept for its owner to his hurt.
14 Pereunt enim in afflictione pessima: generavit filium, qui in summa egestate erit.
And that wealth shall perish in an evil trouble: and [the man] begets a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
15 Sicut egressus est nudus de utero matris suæ, sic revertetur, et nihil auferet secum de labore suo.
As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, he shall return back as he came, and he shall receive nothing for his labour, that it should go [with him] in his hand.
16 Miserabilis prorsus infirmitas: quo modo venit, sic revertetur. Quid ergo prodest ei quod laboravit in ventum?
And this is also an evil infirmity: for as he came, so also shall he return: and what is his gain, for which he vainly labours?
17 Cunctis diebus vitæ suæ comedit in tenebris et in curis multis, et in ærumna atque tristitia.
Yea, all his days are in darkness, and in mourning, and much sorrow, and infirmity, and wrath.
18 Hoc itaque visum est mihi bonum ut comedat quis, et bibat, et fruatur lætitia ex labore suo, quo laboravit ipse sub sole numero dierum vitæ suæ, quos dedit ei Deus, et hæc est pars illius.
Behold, I have seen good, that it is a fine thing [for a man] to eat and to drink, and to see good in all his labour in which he may labour under the sun, [all] the number of the days of his life which God has given to him: for it is his portion.
19 Et omni homini, cui dedit Deus divitias, atque substantiam, potestatemque ei tribuit ut comedat ex eis, et fruatur parte sua, et lætetur de labore suo: hoc est donum Dei.
Yea, and [as for] every man to whom God has given wealth and possessions, and has given him power to eat thereof, and to receive his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
20 Non enim satis recordabitur dierum vitæ suæ, eo quod Deus occupet deliciis cor eius.
For he shall not much remember the days of his life; for God troubles him in the mirth of his heart.
