< Ecclesiastes 11 >
1 Mitte panem tuum super transeuntes aquas: quia post tempora multa invenies illum.
Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.
2 Da partes septem, necnon et octo: quia ignoras quid futurum sit mali super terram.
Divide a portion into seven, yea, even into eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
3 Si repletae fuerint nubes, imbrem super terram effundent. Si ceciderit lignum ad Austrum, aut ad Aquilonem, in quocumque loco ceciderit, ibi erit.
If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if a tree fall in the south, or in the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there shall it be.
4 Qui observat ventum, non seminat: et qui considerat nubes, numquam metet.
He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
5 Quomodo ignoras quae sit via spiritus, et qua ratione compingantur ossa in ventre praegnantis; sic nescis opera Dei, qui fabricator est omnium.
As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all things.
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 knowest 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.
And 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 laetatus fuerit, meminisse debet tenebrosi temporis, et dierum multorum: qui cum venerint, vanitatis arguentur praeterita.
For if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.
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.
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 vexation from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for childhood and youth are vanity.