Ecclesiastes 6
1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it is frequent among men:
[Est et aliud malum quod vidi sub sole, et quidem frequens apud homines:
2 one to whom God giveth riches, wealth, and honour, and he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and a sore evil.
vir cui dedit Deus divitias, et substantiam, et honorem, et nihil deest animæ suæ ex omnibus quæ desiderat; nec tribuit ei potestatem Deus ut comedat ex eo, sed homo extraneus vorabit illud: hoc vanitas et miseria magna est.
3 If a man beget a hundred [sons], and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, but his soul be not filled with good, and also he have no burial, I say an untimely birth is better than he.
Si genuerit quispiam centum liberos, et vixerit multos annos, et plures dies ætatis habuerit, et anima illius non utatur bonis substantiæ suæ, sepulturaque careat: de hoc ergo pronuntio quod melior illo sit abortivus.
4 For it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness;
Frustra enim venit, et pergit ad tenebras, et oblivione delebitur nomen ejus.
5 moreover it hath not seen nor known the sun: this hath rest rather than the other.
Non vidit solem, neque cognovit distantiam boni et mali.
6 Yea, though he live twice a thousand years, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
Etiam si duobus millibus annis vixerit, et non fuerit perfruitus bonis, nonne ad unum locum properant omnia?
7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
Omnis labor hominis in ore ejus; sed anima ejus non implebitur.
8 For what advantage hath the wise above the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
Quid habet amplius sapiens a stulto? et quid pauper, nisi ut pergat illuc ubi est vita?
9 Better is the seeing of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and pursuit of the wind.
Melius est videre quod cupias, quam desiderare quod nescias. Sed et hoc vanitas est, et præsumptio spiritus.
10 That which is hath already been named; and what man is, is known, and that he cannot contend with him that is mightier than he.
Qui futurus est, jam vocatum est nomen ejus; et scitur quod homo sit, et non possit contra fortiorem se in judicio contendere.
11 For there are many things that increase vanity: what is man advantaged?
Verba sunt plurima, multamque in disputando habentia vanitatem.]
12 For who knoweth what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell man what shall be after him under the sun?
[Quid necesse est homini majora se quærere, cum ignoret quid conducat sibi in vita sua, numero dierum peregrinationis suæ, et tempore quod velut umbra præterit? aut quis ei poterit indicare quod post eum futurum sub sole sit?
