Ecclesiastes 2
1 I said in my heart: 'Come now, I will try thee with mirth, and enjoy pleasure'; and, behold, this also was vanity.
[Dixi ego in corde meo: Vadam, et affluam deliciis, et fruar bonis; et vidi quod hoc quoque esset vanitas.
2 I said of laughter: 'It is mad'; and of mirth: 'What doth it accomplish?'
Risum reputavi errorem, et gaudio dixi: Quid frustra deciperis?
3 I searched in my heart how to pamper my flesh with wine, and, my heart conducting itself with wisdom, how yet to lay hold on folly, till I might see which it was best for the sons of men that they should do under the heaven the few days of their life.
Cogitavi in corde meo abstrahere a vino carnem meam, ut animam meam transferrem ad sapientiam, devitaremque stultitiam, donec viderem quid esset utile filiis hominum, quo facto opus est sub sole numero dierum vitæ suæ.
4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;
Magnificavi opera mea, ædificavi mihi domos, et plantavi vineas;
5 I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit;
feci hortos et pomaria, et consevi ea cuncti generis arboribus;
6 I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the wood springing up with trees;
et exstruxi mihi piscinas aquarum, ut irrigarem silvam lignorum germinantium.
7 I acquired men-servants and maid-servants, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that were before me in Jerusalem;
Possedi servos et ancillas, multamque familiam habui: armenta quoque, et magnos ovium greges, ultra omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Jerusalem;
8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and treasure such as kings and the provinces have as their own; I got me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, women very many.
coacervavi mihi argentum et aurum, et substantias regum ac provinciarum; feci mihi cantores et cantatrices, et delicias filiorum hominum, scyphos, et urceos in ministerio ad vina fundenda;
9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom stood me in stead.
et supergressus sum opibus omnes qui ante me fuerunt in Jerusalem: sapientia quoque perseveravit mecum.
10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart had joy of all my labour; and this was my portion from all my labour.
Et omnia quæ desideraverunt oculi mei non negavi eis, nec prohibui cor meum quin omni voluptate frueretur, et oblectaret se in his quæ præparaveram; et hanc ratus sum partem meam si uterer labore meo.
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
Cumque me convertissem ad universa opera quæ fecerant manus meæ, et ad labores in quibus frustra sudaveram, vidi in omnibus vanitatem et afflictionem animi, et nihil permanere sub sole.]
12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness and folly; for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.
[Transivi ad contemplandam sapientiam, erroresque, et stultitiam. (Quid est, inquam, homo, ut sequi possit regem, factorem suum?)
13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
Et vidi quod tantum præcederet sapientia stultitiam, quantum differt lux a tenebris.
14 The wise man, his eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness. And I also perceived that one event happeneth to them all.
Sapientis oculi in capite ejus; stultus in tenebris ambulat: et didici quod unus utriusque esset interitus.
15 Then said I in my heart: 'As it happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?' Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.
Et dixi in corde meo: Si unus et stulti et meus occasus erit, quid mihi prodest quod majorem sapientiæ dedi operam? Locutusque cum mente mea, animadverti quod hoc quoque esset vanitas.
16 For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will long ago have been forgotten. And how must the wise man die even as the fool!
Non enim erit memoria sapientis similiter ut stulti in perpetuum, et futura tempora oblivione cuncta pariter operient: moritur doctus similiter ut indoctus.
17 So I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
Et idcirco tæduit me vitæ meæ, videntem mala universa esse sub sole, et cuncta vanitatem et afflictionem spiritus.]
18 And I hated all my labour wherein I laboured under the sun, seeing that I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
[Rursus detestatus sum omnem industriam meam, qua sub sole studiosissime laboravi, habiturus hæredem post me,
19 And who knoweth whether he will be a wise man or a fool? yet will he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
quem ignoro utrum sapiens an stultus futurus sit, et dominabitur in laboribus meis, quibus desudavi et sollicitus fui: et est quidquam tam vanum?
20 Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labour wherein I had laboured under the sun.
Unde cessavi, renuntiavitque cor meum ultra laborare sub sole.
21 For there is a man whose labour is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skill; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
Nam cum alius laboret in sapientia, et doctrina, et sollicitudine, homini otioso quæsita dimittit; et hoc ergo vanitas et magnum malum.
22 For what hath a man of all his labour, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboureth under the sun?
Quid enim proderit homini de universo labore suo, et afflictione spiritus, qua sub sole cruciatus est?
23 For all his days are pains, and his occupation vexation; yea, even in the night his heart taketh not rest. This also is vanity.
Cuncti dies ejus doloribus et ærumnis pleni sunt, nec per noctem mente requiescit. Et hoc nonne vanitas est?
24 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy pleasure for his labour. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.
Nonne melius est comedere et bibere, et ostendere animæ suæ bona de laboribus suis? et hoc de manu Dei est.
25 For who will eat, or who will enjoy, if not I?
Quis ita devorabit et deliciis affluet ut ego?
26 For to the man that is good in His sight He giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He giveth the task, to gather and to heap up, that he may leave to him that is good in the sight of God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Homini bono in conspectu suo dedit Deus sapientiam, et scientiam, et lætitiam; peccatori autem dedit afflictionem et curam superfluam, ut addat, et congreget, et tradat ei qui placuit Deo; sed et hoc vanitas est, et cassa sollicitudo mentis.]
