Ecclesiastes 11
1 Mitte panem tuum super transeuntes aquas: quia post tempora multa invenies illum.
Send your bread out on the surface of the water, and many days later you will find it again.
2 Da partes septem, necnon et octo: quia ignoras quid futurum sit mali super terram.
Share what you own with seven or eight people, for you never know what disaster could happen.
3 Si repletae fuerint nubes, imbrem super terram effundent. Si ceciderit lignum ad Austrum, aut ad Aquilonem, in quocumque loco ceciderit, ibi erit.
When the clouds are full they pour rain down upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to the north or to the south, it stays where it fell.
4 Qui observat ventum, non seminat: et qui considerat nubes, numquam metet.
The farmer who pays attention to the direction of the wind knows when not to sow, and by watching the clouds knows when not to reap.
5 Quomodo ignoras quae sit via spiritus, et qua ratione compingantur ossa in ventre praegnantis; sic nescis opera Dei, qui fabricator est omnium.
Just as you don't know how the breath of life comes to the child in its mother's womb, so you can't understand the work of God, the Creator of everything.
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. In the evening, don't stop. For you have no way of knowing which crop will grow well—one may be profitable, or the other—or maybe both.
7 Dulce lumen, et delectabile est oculis videre solem.
How sweet it is to live in the light, to see the sun rise on another day.
8 Si annis multis vixerit homo, et in his omnibus laetatus fuerit, meminisse debet tenebrosi temporis, et dierum multorum: qui cum venerint, vanitatis arguentur praeterita.
May you live for many years, and may you enjoy them all. But remember there will many days of darkness, and all that is to come is uncertain.
9 Laetare ergo iuvenis in adolescentia tua, et in bono sit cor tuum in diebus iuventutis tuae, et ambula in viis cordis tui, et in intuitu oculorum tuorum: et scito quod pro omnibus his adducet te Deus in iudicium.
Young people, enjoy your youth! Be happy with what's good! While you're young, let your mind guide your life, and do as you think best. But remember that God will judge you for all your thoughts and actions.
10 Aufer iram a corde tuo, et amove malitiam a carne tua. Adolescentia enim et voluptas vana sunt.
So don't let your mind worry, and avoid things that hurt your body. Even so, despite youth and enthusiasm, life is still so hard to understand!
