Ecclesiastes 5
1 Custodi pedem tuum ingrediens domum Dei, et appropinqua ut audias. Multo enim melior est obedientia, quam stultorum victimæ, qui nesciunt quid faciunt mali.
Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God; for to draw nigh to hear is better than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil.
2 Ne temere quid loquaris, neque cor tuum sit velox ad proferendum sermonem coram Deo. Deus enim in cælo, et tu super terram: idcirco sint pauci sermones tui.
Be not rash with thy month, 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 invenietur stultitia.
For a dream cometh with a multitude of business; and a fool’s voice with a 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 vowest.
5 multoque melius est non vovere, quam post votum promissa non reddere.
Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
6 Ne dederis os tuum ut peccare facias carnem tuam: neque dicas coram Angelo: Non est Providentia: ne forte iratus Deus contra sermones tuos, 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, plurimæ sunt vanitates, et sermones innumeri: tu vero Deum time.
For [thus it cometh to pass] through the multitude of dreams and vanities and many words: but fear thou God.
8 Si videris calumnias egenorum, et violenta iudicia, et subverti iustitiam in provincia, non mireris super hoc negotio: quia excelso excelsior est alius, et super hos quoque eminentiores sunt alii,
If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there be higher than they.
9 et insuper universæ terræ 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, fructum 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 also is vanity.
11 Ubi multæ sunt opes, multi et qui comedunt eas. Et quid prodest possessori, nisi quod cernit divitias oculis suis?
When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what advantage is there to the owner thereof, saving the beholding [of them] with his eyes?
12 Dulcis est somnus operanti, sive parum, sive multum comedat: saturitas autem divitis non sinit eum dormire.
The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
13 Est et alia infirmitas pessima, quam vidi sub sole: divitiæ conservatæ in malum domini sui.
There is a grievous evil, which I have seen under the sun, [namely], riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:
14 Pereunt enim in afflictione pessima: generavit filium, qui in summa egestate erit.
and those riches perish by evil adventure; and if he hath begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.
15 Sicut egressus est nudus de utero matris suæ, sic revertetur, et nihil auferet secum de labore suo.
As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
16 Miserabilis prorsus infirmitas: quo modo venit, sic revertetur. Quid ergo prodest ei quod laboravit in ventum?
And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he laboureth for the wind?
17 Cunctis diebus vitæ suæ comedit in tenebris et in curis multis, et in ærumna atque tristitia.
All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he is sore vexed and hath sickness and wrath.
18 Hoc itaque visum est mihi bonum ut comedat quis, et bibat, et fruatur lætitia ex labore suo, quo laboravit ipse sub sole numero dierum vitæ suæ, quos dedit ei Deus, et hæc est pars illius.
Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour, wherein he laboureth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this 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 lætetur 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 vitæ suæ, 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.
