1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

1 Omnia hæc tractavi in corde meo,
ut curiose intelligerem.
Sunt justi atque sapientes,
et opera eorum in manu Dei;
et tamen nescit homo utrum amore an odio dignus sit.

2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

2 Sed omnia in futurum servantur incerta,
eo quod universa æque eveniant justo et impio,
bono et malo, mundo et immundo,
immolanti victimas et sacrificia contemnenti.
Sicut bonus, sic et peccator;
ut perjurus, ita et ille qui verum dejerat.

3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

3 ¶ Hoc est pessimum inter omnia quæ sub sole fiunt:
quia eadem cunctis eveniunt.
Unde et corda filiorum hominum implentur malitia
et contemptu in vita sua,
et post hæc ad inferos deducentur.

4 ¶ For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

4 Nemo est qui semper vivat, et qui hujus rei habeat fiduciam;
melior est canis vivus leone mortuo.

5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

5 Viventes enim sciunt se esse morituros;
mortui vero nihil noverunt amplius,
nec habent ultra mercedem,
quia oblivioni tradita est memoria eorum.

6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

6 Amor quoque, et odium, et invidiæ simul perierunt;
nec habent partem in hoc sæculo,
et in opere quod sub sole geritur.

7 ¶ Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.

7 Vade ergo, et comede in lætitia panem tuum,
et bibe cum gaudio vinum tuum,
quia Deo placent opera tua.

8 Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.

8 Omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida,
et oleum de capite tuo non deficiat.

9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

9 Perfruere vita cum uxore quam diligis,
cunctis diebus vitæ instabilitatis tuæ,
qui dati sunt tibi sub sole omni tempore vanitatis tuæ:
hæc est enim pars in vita
et in labore tuo quo laboras sub sole.

10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

10 Quodcumque facere potest manus tua,
instanter operare,
quia nec opus, nec ratio, nec sapientia, nec scientia
erunt apud inferos, quo tu properas.

11 ¶ I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

11 ¶ Verti me ad aliud, et vidi sub sole
nec velocium esse cursum,
nec fortium bellum,
nec sapientium panem,
nec doctorum divitias,
nec artificum gratiam;
sed tempus casumque in omnibus.

12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

12 Nescit homo finem suum;
sed sicut pisces capiuntur hamo,
et sicut aves laqueo comprehenduntur,
sic capiuntur homines in tempore malo,
cum eis extemplo supervenerit.

13 ¶ This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

13 Hanc quoque sub sole vidi sapientiam,
et probavi maximam:

14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

14 civitas parva, et pauci in ea viri;
venit contra eam rex magnus, et vallavit eam,
exstruxitque munitiones per gyrum, et perfecta est obsidio.

15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

15 Inventusque est in ea vir pauper et sapiens,
et liberavit urbem per sapientiam suam;
et nullus deinceps recordatus est hominis illius pauperis.

16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

16 Et dicebam ego meliorem esse sapientiam fortitudine.
Quomodo ergo sapientia pauperis contempta est,
et verba ejus non sunt audita?

17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

17 Verba sapientium audiuntur in silentio,
plus quam clamor principis inter stultos.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

18 Melior est sapientia quam arma bellica;
et qui in uno peccaverit, multa bona perdet.