Ecclesiastes 5
1 custodi pedem tuum ingrediens domum Dei multo enim melior est oboedientia quam stultorum victimae qui nesciunt quid faciant mali
Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider 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 thine heart be hasty to utter [any] thing 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 invenitur stultitia
For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice [is known] by multitude of words.
4 si quid vovisti Deo ne moreris reddere displicet enim ei infidelis et stulta promissio sed quodcumque voveris redde
When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for [he hath] no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
5 multoque melius est non vovere quam post votum promissa non conplere
Better [is it] that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
6 ne dederis os tuum ut peccare faciat carnem tuam neque dicas coram angelo non est providentia ne forte iratus Deus super sermone tuo dissipet cuncta opera manuum tuarum
Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it [was] an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
7 ubi multa sunt somnia plurimae vanitates et sermones innumeri tu vero Deum time
For in the multitude of dreams and many words [there are] also [divers] vanities: but fear thou God.
8 si videris calumnias egenorum et violenta iudicia et subverti iustitiam in provincia non mireris super hoc negotio quia excelso alius excelsior est et super hos quoque eminentiores sunt alii
If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for [he that is] higher than the highest regardeth; and [there be] higher than they.
9 et insuper universae terrae rex imperat servienti
Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king [himself] is served by the field.
10 avarus non implebitur pecunia et qui amat divitias fructus non capiet ex eis et hoc ergo vanitas
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this [is] also vanity.
11 ubi multae sunt opes multi et qui comedant eas et quid prodest possessori nisi quod cernit divitias oculis suis
When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good [is there] to the owners thereof, saving the beholding [of them] with their eyes?
12 dulcis est somnus operanti sive parum sive multum comedat saturitas autem divitis non sinit dormire eum
The sleep of a labouring man [is] sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
13 est et alia infirmitas pessima quam vidi sub sole divitiae conservatae in malum domini sui
There is a sore evil [which] I have seen under the sun, [namely], riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
14 pereunt enim in adflictione pessima generavit filium qui in summa egestate erit
But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and [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 of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
16 miserabilis prorsus infirmitas quomodo venit sic revertetur quid ergo prodest ei quod laboravit in ventum
And this also [is] a sore evil, [that] in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured 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 eateth in darkness, and [he hath] much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
18 hoc itaque mihi visum est bonum ut comedat quis et bibat et fruatur laetitia ex labore suo quod laboravit ipse sub sole numerum dierum vitae suae quos dedit ei Deus et haec est pars illius
Behold [that] which I have seen: [it is] good and comely [for one] to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it [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 hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; 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 answereth [him] in the joy of his heart.
