Ecclesiastes 2
1 Dixi ergo in corde meo: Vadam, et affluam deliciis, et fruar bonis. Et vidi quod hoc quoque esset vanitas.
I said in my heart, “Pray, come, I try you with mirth, and look on gladness”; and behold, even it [is] vanity.
2 Risum reputavi errorem: et gaudio dixi: Quid frustra deciperis?
Of laughter I said, “Foolish!” And of mirth, “What [is] this it is doing?”
3 Cogitavi in corde meo abstrahere a vino carnem meam, ut animam meam transferrem ad sapientiam, devitaremque stultitiam, donec viderem quid esset utile filiis hominum: quo facto opus est sub sole numero dierum vitae suae.
I have sought in my heart to draw out with wine my appetite (and my heart leading in wisdom), and to take hold on folly until I see where this [is]—the good to the sons of man of that which they do under the heavens, the number of the days of their lives.
4 Magnificavi opera mea, aedificavi mihi domos, et plantavi vineas,
I made great my works, I built for myself houses, I planted for myself vineyards.
5 feci hortos, et pomaria, et consevi ea cuncti generis arboribus,
I made for myself gardens and paradises, and I planted in them trees of every fruit.
6 et extruxi mihi piscinas aquarum, ut irrigarem silvam lignorum germinantium,
I made for myself pools of water, to water from them a forest shooting forth trees.
7 possedi servos et ancillas, multamque familiam habui: armenta quoque, et magnos ovium greges ultra omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Ierusalem:
I acquired menservants, and maidservants, and sons of the house were to me; also, I had much substance—herd and flock—above all who had been before me in Jerusalem.
8 coacervavi mihi argentum, et aurum, et substantias regum, ac provinciarum: feci mihi cantores, et cantatrices, et delicias filiorum hominum, scyphos, et urceos in ministerio ad vina fundenda:
I also gathered for myself silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces. I prepared for myself men-singers and women-singers, and the luxuries of the sons of man—a wife and wives.
9 et supergressus sum opibus omnes, qui ante me fuerunt in Ierusalem: sapientia quoque perseveravit mecum.
And I became great, and increased above everyone who had been before me in Jerusalem; also, my wisdom stood with me.
10 Et omnia, quae desideraverunt oculi mei, non negavi eis: nec prohibui cor meum quin omni voluptate frueretur, et oblectaret se in his, quae praeparaveram: et hanc ratus sum partem meam, si uterer labore meo.
And all that my eyes asked I did not keep back from them; I did not withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this has been my portion, from all my labor,
11 Cumque me convertissem ad universa opera, quae fecerant manus meae, et ad labores, in quibus frustra sudaveram, vidi in omnibus vanitatem et afflictionem animi, et nihil permanere sub sole.
and I have looked on all my works that my hands have done, and on the labor that I have labored to do, and behold, the whole [is] vanity and distress of spirit, and there is no advantage under the sun!
12 Transivi ad contemplandam sapientiam, erroresque et stultitiam (quid est, inquam, homo, ut sequi possit regem Factorem suum?)
And I turned to see wisdom, and madness, and folly, but what [is] the man who comes after the king? That which [is] already—they have done it!
13 et vidi quod tantum praecederet sapientia stultitiam, quantum differt lux a tenebris.
And I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom above folly, like the advantage of the light above the darkness.
14 Sapientis oculi in capite eius: stultus in tenebris ambulat: et didici quod unus utriusque esset interitus.
The wise—his eyes [are] in his head, and the fool is walking in darkness, and I also knew that one event happens with them all;
15 Et dixi in corde meo: Si unus et stulti et meus occasus erit, quid mihi prodest quod maiorem sapientiae dedi operam? Locutusque cum mente mea, animadverti quod hoc quoque esset vanitas.
and I said in my heart, “As it happens with the fool, it happens also with me, and why am I then more wise?” And I spoke in my heart, that also this [is] vanity:
16 Non enim erit memoria sapientis similiter ut stulti in perpetuum, et futura tempora oblivione cuncta pariter operient: moritur doctus similiter et indoctus.
That there is no remembrance to the wise—with the fool—for all time, for that which [is] already, [in] the days that are coming is all forgotten, and how dies the wise? With the fool!
17 Et idcirco taeduit me vite meae videntem mala universa esse sub sole, et cuncta vanitatem et afflictionem spiritus.
And I have hated life, for sad to me [is] the work that has been done under the sun, for the whole [is] vanity and distress of spirit.
18 Rursus detestatus sum omnem industriam meam, qua sub sole studiosissime laboravi, habiturus heredem post me,
And I have hated all my labor that I labor at under the sun, because I leave it to a man who is after me.
19 quem ignoro, utrum sapiens an stultus futurus sit, et dominabitur in laboribus meis, quibus desudavi et solicitus fui. et est quidquam tam vanum?
And who knows whether he is wise or foolish? Yet he rules over all my labor that I have labored at, and that I have done wisely under the sun! This [is] also vanity.
20 Unde cessavi, renunciavitque cor meum ultra laborare sub sole.
And I turned around to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor that I labored at under the sun.
21 Nam cum alius laboret in sapientia, et doctrina, et solicitudine, homini otioso quaesita dimittit: et hoc ergo, vanitas, et magnum malum.
For there is a man whose labor [is] in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity, and to a man who has not labored therein he gives it—his portion! Even this [is] vanity and a great evil.
22 Quid enim proderit homini de universo labore suo, et afflictione spiritus, qua sub sole cruciatus est?
For what has been to a man by all his labor, and by the thought of his heart that he labored at under the sun?
23 Cuncti dies eius doloribus et aerumnis pleni sunt, nec per noctem mente requiescit: et hoc nonne vanitas est?
For all his days are sorrows, and his travail sadness; even at night his heart has not lain down; this [is] also vanity.
24 Nonne melius est comedere et bibere, et ostendere animae suae bona de laboribus suis? et hoc de manu Dei est.
There is nothing good in a man who eats, and has drunk, and has shown his soul good in his labor. This also I have seen that it [is] from the hand of God.
25 Quis ita devorabit, et deliciis affluet ut ego?
For who eats and who hurries out more than I?
26 Homini bono in conspectu suo dedit Deus sapientiam, et scientiam, et laetitiam: peccatori autem dedit afflictionem, et curam superfluam, ut addat, et congreget, et tradat ei qui placuit Deo: sed et hoc vanitas est, et cassa solicitudo mentis.
For to a man who [is] good before Him, He has given wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; and to a sinner He has given travail, to gather and to heap up, to give to the good before God. Even this [is] vanity and distress of spirit.
