Ecclesiastes 7
1 Melius est nomen bonum, quam unguenta pretiosa: et dies mortis die nativitatis.
A good name is better than oil of great price, and the day of death than the day of birth.
2 Melius est ire ad domum luctus, quam ad domum convivii: in illa enim finis cunctorum admonetur hominum, et vivens cogitat quid futurum sit.
It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.
3 Melior est ira risu: quia per tristitiam vultus, corrigitur animus delinquentis.
Sorrow is better than joy; when the face is sad the mind gets better.
4 Cor sapientium ubi tristitia est, et cor stultorum ubi laetitia.
The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.
5 Melius est a sapiente corripi, quam stultorum adulatione decipi.
It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.
6 quia sicut sonitus spinarum ardentium sub olla, sic risus stulti: sed et hoc vanitas.
Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.
7 Calumnia conturbat sapientem, et perdet robur cordis illius.
The wise are troubled by the ways of the cruel, and the giving of money is the destruction of the heart.
8 Melior est finis orationis, quam principium. Melior est patiens arrogante.
The end of a thing is better than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride.
9 Ne sis velox ad irascendum: quia ira in sinu stulti requiescit.
Be not quick to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.
10 Ne dicas: Quid putas causae est quod priora tempora meliora fuere quam nunc sunt? stulta enim est huiuscemodi interrogatio.
Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.
11 Utilior est sapientia cum divitiis, et magis prodest videntibus solem.
Wisdom together with a heritage is good, and a profit to those who see the sun.
12 Sicut enim protegit sapientia, sic protegit pecunia. hoc autem plus habet eruditio et sapientia, quod vitam tribuunt possessori suo.
Wisdom keeps a man from danger even as money does; but the value of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to its owner.
13 Considera opera Dei, quod nemo possit corrigere quem ille despexerit.
Give thought to the work of God. Who will make straight what he has made bent?
14 In die bona fruere bonis, et malam diem praecave. sicut enim hanc, sic et illam fecit Deus, ut non inveniat homo contra eum iustas querimonias.
In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him.
15 Haec quoque vidi in diebus vanitatis meae: Iustus perit in iustitia sua, et impius multo vivit tempore in malitia sua.
These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing.
16 Noli esse iustus multum: neque plus sapias quam necesse est, ne obstupescas.
Be not given overmuch to righteousness and be not over-wise. Why let destruction come on you?
17 Ne impie agas multum: et noli esse stultus, ne moriaris in tempore non tuo.
Be not evil overmuch, and be not foolish. Why come to your end before your time?
18 Bonum est te sustentare iustum, et ab illo ne subtrahas manum tuam: quia qui timet Deum, nihil negligit.
It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two.
19 Sapientia confortavit sapientem super decem principes civitatis.
Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town.
20 Non est enim homo iustus in terra, qui faciat bonum, et non peccet.
There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does good and is free from sin all his days.
21 Sed et cunctis sermonibus, qui dicuntur, ne accomodes cor tuum: ne forte audias servum tuum maledicentem tibi.
Do not give ear to all the words which men say, for fear of hearing the curses of your servant.
22 scit enim conscientia tua, quia et tu crebro maledixisti aliis.
Your heart has knowledge how frequently others have been cursed by you.
23 Cuncta tentavi in sapientia. Dixi: Sapiens efficiar: et ipsa longius recessit a me
All this I have put to the test by wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.
24 multo magis quam erat: et alta profunditas, quis inveniet eam?
Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?
25 Lustravi universa animo meo, ut scirem, et considerarem, et quaererem sapientiam, et rationem: et ut cognoscerem impietatem stulti, et errorem imprudentium:
I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.
26 et inveni amariorem morte mulierem, quae laqueus venatorum est, et sagena cor eius, vincula sunt manus illius. qui placet Deo, effugiet illam: qui autem peccator est, capietur ab illa.
And I saw a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose heart is full of tricks and nets, and whose hands are as bands. He with whom God is pleased will get free from her, but the sinner will be taken by her.
27 Ecce hoc inveni, dixit Ecclesiastes, unum et alterum, ut invenirem rationem,
Look! this I have seen, said the Preacher, taking one thing after another to get the true account,
28 quam adhuc quaerit anima mea, et non inveni. Virum de mille unum reperi, mulierem ex omnibus non inveni.
For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.
29 Solummodo hoc inveni, quod fecerit Deus hominem rectum, et ipse se infinitis miscuerit quaestionibus. Quis talis ut sapiens est? et quis cognovit solutionem verbi?
This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they have been searching out all sorts of inventions.
