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.
Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know 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.
Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
3 Multas curas sequuntur somnia, et in multis sermonibus invenietur stultitia.
For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool’s speech 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 you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.
5 multoque melius est non vovere, quam post votum promissa non reddere.
It is better that you should not vow, than that you 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.
Don’t allow your mouth to lead you into sin. Don’t protest before the messenger that this was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your 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, as well as in many words; but you must fear 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 you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, don’t marvel at the matter, for one official is eyed by a higher one, and there are officials over them.
9 et insuper universae terrae rex imperat servienti.
Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from 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, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on 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 abundance 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: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.
14 Pereunt enim in afflictione pessima: generavit filium, qui in summa egestate erit.
Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered 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 out of 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?
This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?
17 Cunctis diebus vitae suae comedit in tenebris et in curis multis, et in aerumna atque tristitia.
All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath.
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 proper is for one 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 often reflect on the days of his life, because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
