< Ecclesiastes 11 >
1 Mitte panem tuum super transeuntes aquas, quia post tempora multa invenies illum.
Cast your bread on the waters; for you 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, yes, even to eight; for you do not know what evil will be on 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 on 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 won't sow; and he who regards the clouds won't 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 you do not know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you do not know 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 your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they will both be equally 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 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.
Yes, 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, 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, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
10 Aufer iram a corde tuo, et amove malitiam a carne tua: adolescentia enim et voluptas vana sunt.
Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.