Ecclesiastes 4

VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Verti me ad alia, et vidi calumnias quæ sub sole geruntur, et lacrimas innocentium, et neminem consolatorem, nec posse resistere eorum violentiæ, cunctorum auxilio destitutos,	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 quam viventes ;	2 And those now dead, I declared more fortunate in death than are the living to be still alive.
3 et feliciorem utroque judicavi qui necdum natus est, nec vidit mala quæ 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 hominum, et industrias animadverti patere invidiæ proximi ; et in hoc ergo vanitas et cura superflua est.	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, dicens :	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 animi.	6 Better is one handful with tranquility than two with toil and a chase after wind!
7 Considerans, reperi 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 ejus divitiis ; nec recogitat, dicens : Cui laboro, et fraudo animam meam bonis ? In hoc quoque vanitas est et afflictio 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 ergo duos esse simul quam unum ; habent enim emolumentum societatis suæ.	9 Two are better than one: they get a good wage for their labor.
10 Si unus ceciderit, ab altero fulcietur. Væ soli, quia 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 Et 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 quispiam prævaluerit contra unum, duo resistunt ei ; funiculus triplex difficile rumpitur.	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 nescit prævidere in posterum.	13 Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows caution;
14 Quod de carcere catenisque interdum quis egrediatur ad regnum ; et alius, natus in regno, inopia consumatur.	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 adolescente secundo, qui consurget 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 est populi omnium qui fuerunt ante eum, et qui postea futuri sunt non lætabuntur in eo ; sed et hoc vanitas 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, et appropinqua ut audias. Multo enim melior est obedientia quam stultorum victimæ, qui nesciunt quid faciunt mali.	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.