Ecclesiastes/Qohelet 5

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Speak not any thing rashly, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.	1 Be in no hurry to speak; do not hastily declare yourself before God; for God is in heaven, you on earth.Be sparing, then, of speech:
2 Dreams follow many cares: and in many words shall be found folly.	2 From too much worrying comes illusion, from too much talking, the accents of fol y.
3 If thou hast vowed any thing to God, defer not to pay it: for an unfaithful and foolish promise displeaseth him: but whatsoever thou hast vowed, pay it.	3 If you make a vow to God, discharge it without delay, for God has no love for fools. Discharge your vow.
4 And it is much better not to vow, than after a vow not to perform the things promised.	4 Better a vow unmade than made and not discharged.
5 Give not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin: and say not before the angel: There is no providence: lest God be angry at thy words, and destroy all the works of thy hands.	5 Do not al ow your mouth to make a sinner of you, and do not say to the messenger that it was amistake. Why give God occasion to be angry with you and ruin al the work that you have done?
6 Where there are many dreams, there are many vanities, and words without number: but do thou fear God.	6 From too many illusions come futility and too much talk. Therefore, fear God.
7 If thou shalt see the oppressions of the poor, and violent judgments, and justice perverted in the province, wonder not at this matter: for he that is high hath another higher, and there are others still higher than these:	7 If in a province you see the poor oppressed, fair judgement and justice violated, do not be surprised, forover every official there watches a higher official, and over these, higher officials stil .
8 Moreover there is the king that reigneth over all the land subject to him.	8 But what the land yields is for the benefit of al , a king is served by the fields.
9 A covetous man shall not be satisfied with money: and he that loveth riches shall reap no fruit from them: so this also is vanity.	9 No one who loves money ever has enough, no one who loves luxury has any income; this, too, is futile.
10 Where there are great riches, there are also many to eat them. And what doth it profit the owner, but that he seeth the riches with his eyes?	10 Where goods abound, parasites abound: where is the owner's profit, apart from feasting his eyes?
11 Sleep is sweet to a labouring man, whether he eat lttle or much: but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.	11 The labourer's sleep is sweet, whether he has eaten little or much, but the surfeit of the rich wil not lethim sleep at al .
12 There is also another grievous evil, which I have seen under the sun: riches kept to the hurt of the owner.	12 Something grossly unjust I observe under the sun: riches stored and turning to loss for their owner.
13 For they are lost with very great affliction: he hath begotten a son, who shall be in extremity of want.	13 An unlucky venture, and those riches are lost; a son is born to him, and he has nothing to leave him.
14 As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, so shall he return, and shall take nothing away with him of his labour.	14 Naked from his mother's womb he came; as naked as he came wil he depart; not one of hisachievements can he take with him.
15 A most deplorable evil: as he came, so shall he return. What then doth it profit him that he hath laboured for the wind?	15 And something else grossly unjust: that as he came, so must he go; what profit can he show aftertoiling to earn the wind,
16 All the days of his life he eateth in darkness, and in many cares, and in misery, and sorrow.	16 as he spends the rest of his days in darkness, mourning, many sorrows, sickness and exasperation.
17 This therefore hath seemed good to me, that a man should eat and drink, and enjoy the fruit of his labour, wherewith he hath laboured under the sun, all the days of his life, which God hath given him: and this is his portion.	17 So my conclusion is this: true happiness lies in eating and drinking and enjoying whatever has beenachieved under the sun, throughout the life given by God: for this is the lot of humanity.
18 And every man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to enjoy his portion, and to rejoice of his labour: this is the gift of God.	18 And whenever God gives someone riches and property, with the ability to enjoy them and to findcontentment in work, this is a gift from God.
19 For he shall not much remember the days of his life, because God entertaineth his heart with delight,	19 For such a person wil hardly notice the passing of time, so long as God keeps his heart occupied withjoy.