Ecclesiastes 5
1 Custodi pedem tuum ingrediens domum Dei, et appropinqua ut audias. Multo enim melior est obedientia, quam stultorum victimae, qui nesciunt quid faciunt mali.
Keep thy foot when thou go to the house of God, for to draw near to hear is better than to give the sacrifice of fools. For they know not that they do evil.
2 Ne temere quid loquaris, neque cor tuum sit velox ad proferendum sermonem coram Deo. Deus enim in caelo, et tu super terram: idcirco sint pauci sermones tui.
Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God. For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth. Therefore let thy words be few.
3 Multas curas sequuntur somnia, et in multis sermonibus invenietur stultitia.
For a dream comes with a multitude of business, and a fool's voice with a multitude of words.
4 Si quid vovisti Deo, ne moreris reddere: displicet enim ei infidelis et stulta promissio. sed quodcumque voveris, redde:
When thou vow a vow to God, defer not to pay it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which thou vow.
5 multoque melius est non vovere, quam post votum promissa non reddere.
Better is it that thou should not vow, than that thou should vow and not pay.
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 allow thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, nor say thou before the agent, that is was an error. Why should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?
7 Ubi multa sunt somnia, plurimae sunt vanitates, et sermones innumeri: tu vero Deum time.
For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words. But fear thou God.
8 Si videris calumnias egenorum, et violenta iudicia, et subverti iustitiam in provincia, non mireris super hoc negotio: quia excelso excelsior est alius, et super hos quoque eminentiores sunt alii,
If thou see the oppression of a poor man, and the violent wresting of justice and righteousness in a province, marvel not at the matter. For a man higher than the high is observing, and there are higher men than they.
9 et insuper universae terrae rex imperat servienti.
Moreover the abundance of the land is for all. The king himself is served by the field.
10 Avarus non implebitur pecunia: et qui amat divitias, fructum non capiet ex eis: et hoc ergo vanitas.
He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.
11 Ubi multae sunt opes, multi et qui comedunt eas. Et quid prodest possessori, nisi quod cernit divitias oculis suis?
When goods increase, they are increased who eat them. And what advantage is there to the owner of it, except the beholding of them with his eyes?
12 Dulcis est somnus operanti, sive parum, sive multum comedat: saturitas autem divitis non sinit eum dormire.
The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the fullness of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
13 Est et alia infirmitas pessima, quam vidi sub sole: divitiae conservatae in malum domini sui.
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches were kept by the owner of it to his hurt.
14 Pereunt enim in afflictione pessima: generavit filium, qui in summa egestate erit.
And those riches perish in a bad venture. And if he has begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.
15 Sicut egressus est nudus de utero matris suae, sic revertetur, et nihil auferet secum de labore suo.
As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.
16 Miserabilis prorsus infirmitas: quo modo venit, sic revertetur. Quid ergo prodest ei quod laboravit in ventum?
And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he that he labored for the wind?
17 Cunctis diebus vitae suae comedit in tenebris et in curis multis, et in aerumna atque tristitia.
All his days also he eats in gloom, and he is greatly troubled, and has depression and anger.
18 Hoc itaque visum est mihi bonum ut comedat quis, et bibat, et fruatur laetitia ex labore suo, quo laboravit ipse sub sole numero dierum vitae suae, quos dedit ei Deus, et haec est pars illius.
Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be fitting is for a man to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor in which he labors under the sun all the days of his life which God has given him, for this is his portion.
19 Et omni homini, cui dedit Deus divitias, atque substantiam, potestatemque ei tribuit ut comedat ex eis, et fruatur parte sua, et laetetur de labore suo: hoc est donum Dei.
Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor-this is the gift of God.
20 Non enim satis recordabitur dierum vitae suae, eo quod Deus occupet deliciis cor eius.
For he shall not much remember the days of his life, because God answers him in the joy of his heart.
