Qoelet 4

NOVA VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Verti me ad alia et vidi calumnias, quae sub sole geruntur, et eccelacrimae oppressorum, et nemo consolator; et ex parte opprimentium violentia, etnemo consolator.	1 Again I considered all the oppressions that take place under the sun: the tears of the victims with none to comfort them! From the hand of their oppressors comes violence, and there is none to comfort them!
2 Et laudavi magis mortuos, qui iam defuncti sunt, quamviventes, qui adhuc vitam agunt,	2 And those now dead, I declared more fortunate in death than are the living to be still alive.
3 et feliciorem utroque iudicavi, qui necdumnatus est nec vidit opera mala, quae sub sole fiunt.	3 And better off than both is the yet unborn, who has not seen the wicked work that is done under the sun.
4 Rursum contemplatus sum omnes labores et omnem successum operis, et hoc essezelum in proximum suum. Et in hoc ergo vanitas et afflictio spiritus.	4 Then I saw that all toil and skillful work is the rivalry of one man for another. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
5 Stultus complicat manus suas et comedit carnes suas.	5 "The fool folds his arms and consumes his own flesh"--
6 Melior est pugillus cum requie quam plena utraque manus cum labore et afflictione spiritus.	6 Better is one handful with tranquility than two with toil and a chase after wind!
7 Iterum repperi et aliam vanitatem sub sole:	7 Again I found this vanity under the sun:
8 unus est et secundum non habet,non filium, non fratrem, et tamen laborare non cessat, nec satiantur oculi eiusdivitiis, nec recogitat dicens: “ Cui laboro et fraudo animam meam bonis?”.In hoc quoque vanitas est et occupatio pessima.	8 a solitary man with no companion; with neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his toil, and riches do not satisfy his greed. "For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good things?" This also is vanity and a worthless task.
9 Melius est duos esse simulquam unum: habent enim emolumentum in labore suo,	9 Two are better than one: they get a good wage for their labor.
10 quia si unus ceciderit, abaltero fulcietur. Vae soli! Cum ceciderit, non habet sublevantem se.	10 If the one falls, the other will lift up his companion. Woe to the solitary man! For if he should fall, he has no one to lift him up.
11 Insuper,si dormierint duo, fovebuntur mutuo; unus quomodo calefiet?	11 So also, if two sleep together, they keep each other warm. How can one alone keep warm?
12 Et, si quispiampraevaluerit contra unum, duo resistent ei. Et fu niculus triplex non citorumpitur.	12 Where a lone man may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord is not easily broken.
13 Melior est puer pauper et sapiens rege sene et stulto, qui iam nescit erudiri.	13 Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows caution;
14 Ille enim de domo carceris exivit, ut regnaret, etiamsi in regno istius natussit pauper.	14 for from a prison house one comes forth to rule, since even in his royalty he was poor at birth.
15 Vidi cunctos viventes, qui ambulant sub sole, cum adulescenteillo secundo, qui consurgebat pro eo.	15 Then I saw all those who are to live and move about under the sun with the heir apparent who will succeed to his place.
16 Infinitus numerus erat populi, omnium,quos ipse praecedebat; sed qui postea futuri sunt, non laetabuntur in eo. Et hocvanitas et afflictio spiritus.	16 There is no end to all these people, to all over whom he takes precedence; yet the later generations will not applaud him. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
17 Custodi pedem tuum ingrediens domum Dei, nam accedere, ut audias, melius estquam cum stulti offerunt victimas: multo enim melior est oboedientia quamstultorum victimae, qui nesciunt se malum facere.	17 Guard your step when you go to the house of God. Let your approach be obedience, rather than the fools' offering of sacrifice; for they know not how to keep from doing evil.