Ecclesiastes 5
1 custodi pedem tuum ingrediens domum Dei multo enim melior est oboedientia quam stultorum victimae qui nesciunt quid faciant mali
Keep your foot, whenever you go to the house of God; and [when you are] near to hear, let your sacrifice [be] better than the gift of fools: for they know not that they are doing 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 hasty with your mouth, and let not your heart be swift to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven above, and you upon earth: therefore let your words be few.
3 multas curas sequuntur somnia et in multis sermonibus invenitur stultitia
For through the multitude of trial a dream comes; and a fool's voice is with a multitude of words.
4 si quid vovisti Deo ne moreris reddere displicet enim ei infidelis et stulta promissio sed quodcumque voveris redde
Whenever you shall vow a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for [he has] no pleasure in fools: pay you therefore whatever you shall have vowed.
5 multoque melius est non vovere quam post votum promissa non conplere
[It is] better that you should not vow, than that you should 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 your mouth to lead your flesh to sin; and say not in the presence of God, It was an error: lest God be angry at your voice, and destroy the works of your hands.
7 ubi multa sunt somnia plurimae vanitates et sermones innumeri tu vero Deum time
For [there is evil] in a multitude of dreams and vanities and many words: but fear you 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 you should see the oppression of the poor, and the wresting of judgment and of justice in the land, wonder not at the matter: for [there is] a high one to watch over him that is high, and high ones over them.
9 et insuper universae terrae rex imperat servienti
Also the abundance of the earth is for every one: the king [is dependent on] the tilled field.
10 avarus non implebitur pecunia et qui amat divitias fructus non capiet ex eis et hoc ergo vanitas
He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver: and who has loved gain, in the abundance thereof? this is also vanity.
11 ubi multae sunt opes multi et qui comedant eas et quid prodest possessori nisi quod cernit divitias oculis suis
In the multitude of good they are increased that eat it: and what virtue has the owner, but the right of beholding [it] with his eyes?
12 dulcis est somnus operanti sive parum sive multum comedat saturitas autem divitis non sinit dormire eum
The sleep of a servant is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but to one who is satiated with wealth, there is none that suffers him to sleep.
13 est et alia infirmitas pessima quam vidi sub sole divitiae conservatae in malum domini sui
There is an infirmity which I have seen under the sun, [namely], wealth kept for its owner to his hurt.
14 pereunt enim in adflictione pessima generavit filium qui in summa egestate erit
And that wealth shall perish in an evil trouble: and [the man] begets 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 naked from his mother's womb, he shall return back as he came, and he shall receive nothing for his labor, that it should go [with him] in his hand.
16 miserabilis prorsus infirmitas quomodo venit sic revertetur quid ergo prodest ei quod laboravit in ventum
And this is also an evil infirmity: for as he came, so also shall he return: and what is his gain, for which he vainly labors?
17 cunctis diebus vitae suae comedit in tenebris et in curis multis et in aerumna atque tristitia
Yes, all his days are in darkness, and in mourning, and much sorrow, and infirmity, and wrath.
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, I have seen good, that it is a fine thing [for a man] to eat and to drink, and to see good in all his labor in which he may labor under the sun, [all] the number of the days of his life which God has given to 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
Yes, and [as for] every man to whom God has given wealth and possessions, and has given him power to eat thereof, and to receive 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; for God troubles him in the mirth of his heart.
