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.
When you enter God’s temple, you should be sure to listen carefully. Doing that is better than offering sacrifices to God [and then not obeying him], which is foolish.
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.
Think carefully before you speak [MTY] or before you promise God that you will do something [IDM]. [Do not forget that] God is in heaven [and he is all-powerful] and you are here on the earth, so think carefully before you [make any promises to God].
3 Multas curas sequuntur somnia, et in multis sermonibus invenietur stultitia.
If you are continually thinking [and worrying] about things, you will have bad dreams about them and not rest [well]. And the more you talk, the more likely it will be that you will say things that are foolish.
4 Si quid vovisti Deo, ne moreris reddere: displicet enim ei infidelis et stulta promissio, sed quodcumque voveris redde:
When you solemnly promise God that you will do something, do not be foolish by delaying in doing it, because God is not pleased with foolish people. Do [all] the things that you promise God that you will do.
5 multoque melius est non vovere, quam post votum promissa non reddere.
It is better to not promise [anything] than to promise to do something, and [then] not doing it.
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.
Do not sin by promising to do something and then not doing it. And [when you promise God to do something and do not do it], do not say to God’s priest that it was a mistake for you to promise to do that. If you do that, God will certainly [RHQ] become very angry with you, and he will take from you everything that you [SYN] have worked to acquire.
7 Ubi multa sunt somnia, plurimæ sunt vanitates, et sermones innumeri; tu vero Deum time.
Promising to do something and not doing it is like [SIM] a dream that has no value; instead, revere God [by doing what you promised him that you would do].
8 Si videris calumnias egenorum, et violenta judicia, et subverti justitiam in provincia, non mireris super hoc negotio: quia excelso excelsior est alius, et super hos quoque eminentiores sunt alii;
Do not be surprised if you see poor [people] being (oppressed/treated cruelly) [by powerful/influential people], or if you see judges making unjust decisions throughout the land. [That happens] because the people who do that are supervised [and cheated by] more important officials [DOU],
9 et insuper universæ terræ rex imperat servienti.
and even the king forces the people to give him some of the crops that they harvest.
10 Avarus non implebitur pecunia, et qui amat divitias fructum non capiet ex eis; et hoc ergo vanitas.
Everyone who tries to [get as much] money as they can will never think that they have enough. They will never be satisfied with the money that they have. That also is senseless.
11 Ubi multæ sunt opes, multi et qui comedunt eas. Et quid prodest possessori, nisi quod cernit divitias oculis suis?
The more money that we have, the more people want us to spend our money to buy things for them. So people who have a lot of money do not [RHQ] benefit from it; they see [MTY] it when they get it, but it soon (disappears/is completely spent).
12 Dulcis est somnus operanti, sive parum sive multum comedat; saturitas autem divitis non sinit eum dormire.
Those who work hard sleep peacefully [at night], even if they do not have much food to eat. But rich [people] do not sleep well, because [they worry] about their money.
13 Est et alia infirmitas pessima quam vidi sub sole: divitiæ conservatæ in malum domini sui.
I have seen [another] terrible thing that happens here on the earth [MTY]: People save [up all] their money and become rich, [but] they are not helped by saving a lot of money,
14 Pereunt enim in afflictione pessima: generavit filium qui in summa egestate erit.
[because] something happens that causes their money to be gone, and when they die, there is no money for their children to get/inherit.
15 Sicut egressus est nudus de utero matris suæ, sic revertetur, et nihil auferet secum de labore suo.
When we are born, we do not bring anything with us, and when we die, we take nothing with us from all that we have earned by our working hard.
16 Miserabilis prorsus infirmitas: quomodo venit, sic revertetur. Quid ergo prodest ei quod laboravit in ventum?
That also seems senseless. People bring nothing [into the world when they are born], and they leave [this world] taking nothing with them. They have worked hard, but they receive no lasting benefit [MET].
17 cunctis diebus vitæ suæ comedit in tenebris, et in curis multis, et in ærumna atque tristitia.
[Furthermore, rich people] are always miserable [MET] and sad, and depressed/discouraged and often sick and (resentful/thinking that what has happened to them is unfair).
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.
So, the best thing for people to do here on the earth during the few years that God allows them to be alive is to eat and drink and to enjoy their work, because those are the things that God has given to them.
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.
If people are rich and have a lot of possessions, and are able to (enjoy/be happy with) the things that they have and to enjoy their work, those things are [also] gifts from God.
20 Non enim satis recordabitur dierum vitæ suæ, eo quod Deus occupet deliciis cor ejus.
Those people do not worry much about [everything that has happened] during the time that they have been alive, because God enables them to be happy doing everything that they do.
