Ecclesiastes 7
Prescriptions against worldly vanities: mortification, patience, and seeking wisdom.
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?
What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he knoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun?
Melius est nomen bonum quam unguenta pretiosa, et dies mortis die nativitatis.
A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death than the day of one's birth.
Melius est ire ad domum luctus quam ad domum convivii; in illa enim finis cunctorum admonetur hominum, et vivens cogitat quid futurum sit.
It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all, and the living thinketh what is to come.
Melior est ira risu, quia per tristitiam vultus corrigitur animus delinquentis.
Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.
Cor sapientium ubi tristitia est, et cor stultorum ubi lætitia.
The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth.
Melius est a sapiente corripi, quam stultorum adulatione decipi;
It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools.
quia sicut sonitus spinarum ardentium sub olla, sic risus stulti. Sed et hoc vanitas.
For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.
Calumnia conturbat sapientem, et perdet robur cordis illius.
Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart.
Melior est finis orationis quam principium. Melior est patiens arrogante.
Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the patient man than the presumptuous.
Ne sis velox ad irascendum, quia ira in sinu stulti requiescit.
Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.
Ne dicas: Quid putas causæ est quod priora tempora meliora fuere quam nunc sunt? stulta enim est hujuscemodi interrogatio.
Say not: What thinkest thou is the cause that former times were better than they are now? for this manner of question is foolish.
Utilior est sapientia cum divitiis, et magis prodest videntibus solem.
Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage to them that see the sun.
Sicut enim protegit sapientia, sic protegit pecunia; hoc autem plus habet eruditio et sapientia, quod vitam tribuunt possessori suo.
For as wisdom is a defence, so money is a defence: but learning and wisdom excel in this, that they give life to him that possesseth them.
Considera opera Dei, quod nemo possit corrigere quem ille despexerit.
Consider the works of God, that no man can correct whom he hath despised.
In die bona fruere bonis, et malam diem præcave; sicut enim hanc, sic et illam fecit Deus, ut non inveniat homo contra eum justas querimonias.
In the good day enjoy good things, and beware beforehand of the evil day: for God hath made both the one and the other, that man may not find against him any just complaint.
Hæc quoque vidi in diebus vanitatis meæ: justus perit in justitia sua, et impius multo vivit tempore in malitia sua.
These things also I saw in the days of my vanity: A just man perisheth in his justice, and a wicked man liveth a long time in his wickedness.
Noli esse justus multum, neque plus sapias quam necesse est, ne obstupescas.
Be not over just: and be not more wise than is necessary, lest thou become stupid.
Ne impie agas multum, et noli esse stultus, ne moriaris in tempore non tuo.
Be not overmuch wicked: and be not foolish, lest thou die before thy time.
Bonum est te sustentare justum: sed et ab illo ne subtrahas manum tuam; quia qui timet Deum nihil negligit.
It is good that thou shouldst hold up the just, yea and from him withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God, neglecteth nothing.
Sapientia confortavit sapientem super decem principes civitatis;
Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the city.
non est enim homo justus in terra qui faciat bonum et non peccet.
For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not.
Sed et cunctis sermonibus qui dicuntur ne accomodes cor tuum, ne forte audias servum tuum maledicentem tibi;
But do not apply thy heart to all words that are spoken: lest perhaps thou hear thy servant reviling thee.
scit enim conscientia tua quia et tu crebro maledixisti aliis.
For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast often spoken evil of others.
Cuncta tentavi in sapientia. Dixi: Sapiens efficiar: et ipsa longius recessit a me,
I have tried all things in wisdom. I have said: I will be wise: and it departed farther from me,
multo magis quam erat. Et alta profunditas, quis inveniet eam?
Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?
Lustravi universa animo meo, ut scirem et considerarem, et quærerem sapientiam, et rationem, et ut cognoscerem impietatem stulti, et errorem imprudentium:
I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the wickedness of the fool, and the error of the imprudent:
et inveni amariorem morte mulierem, quæ laqueus venatorum est, et sagena cor ejus; vincula sunt manus illius. Qui placet Deo effugiet illam; qui autem peccator est capietur ab illa.
And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the hunter's snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall be caught by her.
Ecce hoc inveni, dixit Ecclesiastes, unum et alterum ut invenirem rationem,
Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after another, that I might find out the account,
quam adhuc quærit anima mea, et non inveni. Virum de mille unum reperi; mulierem ex omnibus non inveni.
Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it. One man among a thousand I have found, a woman among them all I have not found.
Solummodo hoc inveni, quod fecerit Deus hominem rectum, et ipse se infinitis miscuerit quæstionibus. Quis talis ut sapiens est? et quis cognovit solutionem verbi?
Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions. Who is as the wise man? and who hath known the resolution of the word?