Ecclesiastes 8
Clementine Vulgate, 1598Translation
Clementine Vulgate, 1598
JPS Tanakh (Jewish Publication Society, 1917)
1[Sapientia hominis lucet in vultu ejus, et potentissimus faciem illius commutabit.
1Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face is changed.
2Ego os regis observo, et præcepta juramenti Dei.
2I counsel thee: keep the king's command, and that in regard of the oath of God.
3Ne festines recedere a facie ejus, neque permaneas in opere malo: quia omne quod voluerit faciet.
3Be not hasty to go out of his presence; stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
4Et sermo illius potestate plenus est, nec dicere ei quisquam potest: Quare ita facis?
4Forasmuch as the king's word hath power; and who may say unto him: 'What doest thou?'
5Qui custodit præceptum non experietur quidquam mali. Tempus et responsionem cor sapientis intelligit.
5Whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing; and a wise man's heart discerneth time and judgment.
6Omni negotio tempus est, et opportunitas: et multa hominis afflictio,
6For to every matter there is a time and judgment; for the evil of man is great upon him.
7quia ignorat præterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuntio.
7For he knoweth not that which shall be; for even when it cometh to pass, who shall declare it unto him?
8Non est in hominis potestate prohibere spiritum, nec habet potestatem in die mortis: nec sinitur quiescere ingruente bello, neque salvabit impietas impium.]
8There is no man that hath power over the wind to retain the wind; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in war; neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it.
9[Omnia hæc consideravi, et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus quæ fiunt sub sole. Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.
9All this have I seen, even applied my heart thereto, whatever the work that is done under the sun; what time one man had power over another to his hurt.
10Vidi impios sepultos, qui etiam cum adhuc viverent in loco sancto erant, et laudabantur in civitate quasi justorum operum. Sed et hoc vanitas est.
10And so I saw the wicked buried, and they entered into their rest; but they that had done right went away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city; this also is vanity.
11Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpetrant mala.
11Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil;
12Attamen peccator ex eo quod centies facit malum, et per patientiam sustentatur; ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui verentur faciem ejus.
12because a sinner doeth evil a hundred times, and prolongeth his days — though yet I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before Him;
13Non sit bonum impio, nec prolongentur dies ejus, sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini.
13but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he feareth not before God.
14Est et alia vanitas quæ fit super terram: sunt justi quibus mala proveniunt quasi opera egerint impiorum: et sunt impii qui ita securi sunt quasi justorum facta habeant. Sed et hoc vanissimum judico.
14There is a vanity which is done upon the earth: that there are righteous men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous — I said that this also is vanity.
15Laudavi igitur lætitiam; quod non esset homini bonum sub sole, nisi quod comederet, et biberet, atque gauderet, et hoc solum secum auferret de labore suo, in diebus vitæ suæ quos dedit ei Deus sub sole.
15So I commended mirth, that a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry, and that this should accompany him in his labour all the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun.
16Et apposui cor meum ut scirem sapientiam, et intelligerem distentionem quæ versatur in terra. Est homo qui diebus et noctibus somnum non capit oculis.
16When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth — for neither day nor night do men see sleep with their eyes —
17Et intellexi quod omnium operum Dei nullam possit homo invenire rationem eorum quæ fiunt sub sole; et quanto plus laboraverit ad quærendum, tanto minus inveniat: etiam si dixerit sapiens se nosse, non poterit reperire.]
17then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun; because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
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