{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_8323/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_8323","id":"gutenberg_8323","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8323","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Ecclesiastes","Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"This eBook was produced by David Widger\nfrom etext #1581 prepared by Dennis McCarthy, Atlanta, Georgia\nand Tad Book, student, Pontifical North American College, Rome.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOLY BIBLE\n\n\n\n\nTranslated from the Latin Vulgate\n\n\nDiligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek,\nand Other Editions in Divers Languages\n\n\nTHE OLD TESTAMENT\nFirst Published by the English College at Douay\nA.D. 1609 & 1610\n\nand\n\nTHE NEW TESTAMENT\nFirst Published by the English College at Rheims\nA.D. 1582\n\n\nWith Annotations\n\n\nThe Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with\nthe Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner\nA.D. 1749-1752\n\n\n\n\n\nECCLESIASTES\n\nThis Book is called Ecclesiastes, or The Preacher, (in Hebrew,\nCoheleth,) because in it, Solomon, as an excellent preacher, setteth\nforth the vanity of the things of this world: to withdraw the hearts and\naffections of men from such empty toys.\n\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 1\n\nThe vanity of all temporal things.\n\n1:1. The words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king of Jerusalem.\n\n1:2. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes: vanity of vanities, and all\nis vanity.\n\n1:3. What hath a man more of all his labour, that he taketh under the\nsun?\n\n1:4. One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the\nearth standeth for ever.\n\n1:5. The sun riseth, and goeth down, and returneth to his place: and\nthere rising again,\n\n1:6. Maketh his round by the south, and turneth again to the north: the\nspirit goeth forward surveying all places round about, and returneth to\nhis circuits.\n\n1:7. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea doth not overflow:\nunto the place from whence the rivers come, they return, to flow again.\n\n1:8. All things are hard: man cannot explain them by word. The eye is\nnot filled with seeing, neither is the ear filled with hearing.\n\n1:9. What is it that hath been? the same thing that shall be. What is it\nthat hath been done? the same that shall be done.\n\n1:10. Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man able to say:\nBehold this is new: for it hath already gone before in the ages that\nwere before us.\n\n1:11. There is no remembrance of former things: nor indeed of those\nthings which hereafter are to come, shall there be any remembrance with\nthem that shall be in the latter end.\n\n1:12. I Ecclesiastes was king over Israel in Jerusalem,\n\n1:13. And I proposed in my mind to seek and search out wisely concerning\nall things that are done under the sun. This painful occupation hath God\ngiven to the children of men, to be exercised therein.\n\n1:14. I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold all\nis vanity, and vexation of spirit.\n\n1:15. The perverse are hard to be corrected, and the number of fools is\ninfinite.\n\n1:16. I have spoken in my heart, saying: Behold I am become great, and\nhave gone beyond all in wisdom, that were before me in Jerusalem: and my\nmind hath contemplated many things wisely, and I have learned.\n\n1:17. And I have given my heart to know prudence, and learning, and\nerrors, and folly: and I have perceived that in these also there was\nlabour, and vexation of spirit,\n\n1:18. Because in much wisdom there is much indignation: and he that\naddeth knowledge, addeth also labour.\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 2\n\nThe vanity of pleasures, riches, and worldly labours.\n\n2:1. I said in my heart: I will go, and abound with delights, and enjoy\ngood things. And I saw that this also was vanity.\n\n2:2. Laughter I counted error: and to mirth I said: Why art thou vainly\ndeceived?\n\n2:3. I thought in my heart, to withdraw my flesh from wine, that I might\nturn my mind to wisdom, and might avoid folly, till I might see what was\nprofitable for the children of men: and what they ought to do under the\nsun, all the days of their life.\n\n2:4. I made me great works, I built me houses, and planted vineyards,\n\n2:5. I made gardens, and orchards, and set them with trees of all kinds,\n\n2:6. And I made me ponds of water, to water therewith the wood of the\nyoung trees,\n\n2:7. I got me menservants, and maidservants, and had a great family: and\nherds of oxen, and great flocks of sheep, above all that were before me\nin Jerusalem:\n\n2:8. I heaped together for myself silver and gold, and the wealth of\nkings, and provinces: I made me singing men, and singing women, and the\ndelights of the sons of men, cups and vessels to serve to pour out wine:\n\n2:9. And I surpassed in riches all that were before me in Jerusalem: my\nwisdom also remained with me.\n\n2:10. And whatsoever my eyes desired, I refused them not: and I withheld\nnot my heart from enjoying every pleasure, and delighting itself in the\nthings which I had prepared: and esteemed this my portion, to make use\nof my own labour.\n\n2:11. And when I turned myself to all the works which my hands had\nwrought, and to the labours wherein I had laboured in vain, I saw in all\nthings vanity, and vexation of mind, and that nothing was lasting under\nthe sun.\n\n2:12. I passed further to behold wisdom, and errors and folly, (What is\nman, said I that he can follow the King his maker?)\n\n2:13. And I saw that wisdom excelled folly, as much as light differeth\nfrom darkness.\n\n2:14. The eyes of a wise man are in his head: the fool walketh in\ndarkness: and I learned that they were to die both alike.\n\n2:15. And I said in my heart: If the death of the fool and mine shall be\none, what doth it avail me, that I have applied myself more to the study\nof wisdom? And speaking with my own mind, I perceived that this also was\nvanity.\n\n2:16. For there shall be no remembrance of the wise no more than of the\nfool forever, and the times to come shall cover all things together with\noblivion: the learned dieth in like manner as the unlearned.\n\n2:17. And therefore I was weary of my life, when I saw that all things\nunder the sun are evil, and all vanity and vexation of spirit.\n\n2:18. Again I hated all my application wherewith I had earnestly\nlaboured under the sun, being like to have an heir after me,\n\n2:19. Whom I know not whether he will be a wise man or a fool, and he\nshall have rule over all my labours with which I have laboured and been\nsolicitous: and is there anything so vain?\n\n2:20. Wherefore I left off and my heart renounced labouring anymore\nunder the sun.\n\n2:21. For when a man laboureth in wisdom, and knowledge, and\ncarefulness, he leaveth what he hath gotten to an idle man: so this also\nis vanity, and a great evil.\n\n2:22. For what profit shall a man have of all his labour, and vexation\nof spirit, with which he hath been tormented under the sun?\n\n2:23. All his days are full of sorrows and miseries, even in the night\nhe doth not rest in mind: and is not this vanity?\n\n2:24. Is it not better to eat and drink, and to shew his soul good\nthings of his labours? and this is from the hand of God.\n\n2:25. Who shall so feast and abound with delights as I?\n\n2:26. God hath given to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, and\nknowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he hath given vexation, and\nsuperfluous care, to heap up and to gather together, and to give it to\nhim that hath pleased God: but this also is vanity, and a fruitless\nsolicitude of the mind.\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 3\n\nAll human things are liable to perpetual changes. We are to rest on\nGod's providence, and cast away fruitless cares.\n\n3:1. All things have their season, and in their times all things pass\nunder heaven.\n\n3:2. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to\npluck up that which is planted.\n\n3:3. A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy, and a time\nto build.\n\n3:4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to\ndance.\n\n3:5. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace,\nand a time to be far from embraces.\n\n3:6. A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to\ncast away.\n\n3:7. A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a\ntime to speak.\n\n3:8. A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of\npeace.\n\n3:9. What hath man more of his labour?\n\n3:10. I have seen the trouble, which God hath given the sons of men to\nbe exercised in it.\n\n3:11. He hath made all things good in their time, and hath delivered the\nworld to their consideration, so that man cannot find out the work which\nGod hath made from the beginning to the end.\n\n3:12. And I have known that there was no better thing than to rejoice,\nand to do well in this life.\n\n3:13. For every man that eateth and drinketh, and seeth good of his\nlabour, this is the gift of God.\n\n3:14. I have learned that all the works which God hath made, continue\nfor ever: we cannot add any thing, nor take away from those things which\nGod hath made that he may be feared.\n\n3:15. That which hath been made, the same continueth: the things that\nshall be, have already been: and God restoreth that which is past.\n\n3:16. I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness, and in\nthe place of justice iniquity.\n\n3:17. And I said in my heart: God shall judge both the just and the\nwicked, and then shall be the time of every thing.\n\n3:18. I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God would\nprove them, and shew them to be like beasts.\n\n3:19. Therefore the death of man, and of beasts is one, and the\ncondition of them both is equal: as man dieth, so they also die: all\nthings breathe alike, and man hath nothing more than beast: all things\nare subject to vanity.\n\nMan hath nothing more, etc... Viz., as to the life of the body.\n\n3:20. And all things go to one place: of earth they were made, and into\nearth they return together.\n\n3:21. Who knoweth if the spirit of the children of Adam ascend upward,\nand if the spirit of the beasts descend downward?\n\nWho knoweth, etc... Viz., experimentally: since no one in this life can\nsee a spirit. But as to the spirit of the beasts, which is merely\nanimal, and become extinct by the death of the beast, who can tell the\nmanner it acts so as to give life and motion, and by death to descend\ndownward, that is, to be no more?\n\n3:22. And I have found that nothing is better than for a man to rejoice\nin his work, and that this is his portion. For who shall bring him to\nknow the things that shall be after him?\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 4\n\nOther instances of human miseries.\n\n4:1. I turned myself to other things, and I saw the oppressions that are\ndone under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and they had no\ncomforter; and they were not able to resist their violence, being\ndestitute of help from any.\n\n4:2. And I praised the dead rather than the living:\n\n4:3. And I judged him happier than them both, that is not yet born, nor\nhath seen the evils that are done under the sun.\n\n4:4. Again I considered all the labours of men, and I remarked that\ntheir industries are exposed to the envy of their neighbour: so in this\nalso there is vanity, and fruitless care.\n\n4:5. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh,\nsaying:\n\n4:6. Better is a handful with rest, than both hands full with labour,\nand vexation of mind.\n\n4:7. Considering I found also another vanity under the sun:\n\n4:8. There is but one, and he hath not a second, no child, no brother,\nand yet he ceaseth not to labour, neither are his eyes satisfied with\nriches, neither doth he reflect, saying: For whom do I labour, and\ndefraud my soul of good things? in this also is vanity, and a grievous\nvexation.\n\n4:9. It is better therefore that two should be together, than one: for\nthey have the advantage of their society:\n\n4:10. If one fall he shall be supported by the other: woe to him that is\nalone, for when he  falleth, he hath none to lift him up.\n\n4:11. And if two lie together, they shall warm one another: how shall\none alone be warmed?\n\n4:12. And if a man prevail against one, two shall withstand him: a\nthreefold cord is not easily broken.\n\n4:13. Better is a child that is poor and wise, than a king that is old\nand foolish, who knoweth not to foresee for hereafter.\n\n4:14. Because out of prison and chains sometimes a man cometh forth to a\nkingdom: and another born king is consumed with poverty.\n\n4:15. I saw all men living, that walk under the sun with the second\nyoung man, who shall rise up in his place.\n\n4:16. The number of the people, of all that were before him is infinite:\nand they that shall come afterwards, shall not rejoice in him: but this\nalso is vanity, and vexation of spirit.\n\n4:17. Keep thy foot, when thou goest into the house of God, and draw\nnigh to hear. For much better is obedience, than the victims of fools,\nwho know not what evil they do.\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 5\n\nCaution in words. Vows are to be paid. Riches are often pernicious: the\nmoderate use of them is the gift of God.\n\n5:1. Speak not any thing rashly, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter\na word before God. For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore\nlet thy words be few.\n\n5:2. Dreams follow many cares: and in many words shall be found folly.\n\n5:3. If thou hast vowed any thing to God, defer not to pay it: for an\nunfaithful and foolish promise displeaseth him: but whatsoever thou hast\nvowed, pay it.\n\n5:4. And it is much better not to vow, than after a vow not to perform\nthe things promised.\n\n5:5. Give not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin: and say not before\nthe angel: There is no providence: lest God be angry at thy words, and\ndestroy all the works of thy hands.\n\n5:6. Where there are many dreams, there are many vanities, and words\nwithout number: but do thou fear God.\n\n5:7. If thou shalt see the oppressions of the poor, and violent\njudgments, and justice perverted in the province, wonder not at this\nmatter: for he that is high hath another higher, and there are others\nstill higher than these:\n\n5:8. Moreover there is the king that reigneth over all the land subject\nto him.\n\n5:9. A covetous man shall not be satisfied with money: and he that\nloveth riches shall reap no fruit from them: so this also is vanity.\n\n5:10. Where there are great riches, there are also many to eat them. And\nwhat doth it profit the owner, but that he seeth the riches with his\neyes?\n\n5:11. Sleep is sweet to a labouring man, whether he eat little or much:\nbut the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.\n\n5:12. There is also another grievous evil, which I have seen under the\nsun: riches kept to the hurt of the owner.\n\n5:13. For they are lost with very great affliction: he hath begotten a\nson, who shall be in extremity of want.\n\n5:14. As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, so shall he return,\nand shall take nothing away with him of his labour.\n\n5:15. A most deplorable evil: as he came, so shall he return. What then\ndoth it profit him that he hath laboured for the wind?\n\n5:16. All the days of his life he eateth in darkness, and in many cares,\nand in misery, and sorrow.\n\n5:17. This therefore hath seemed good to me, that a man should eat and\ndrink, and enjoy the fruit of his labour, wherewith he hath laboured\nunder the sun, all the days of his life, which God hath given him: and\nthis is his portion.\n\n5:18. And every man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and\nhath given him power to eat thereof, and to enjoy his portion, and to\nrejoice of his labour: this is the gift of God.\n\n5:19. For he shall not much remember the days of his life, because God\nentertaineth his heart with delight.\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 6\n\nThe misery of the covetous man.\n\n6:1. There is also another evil, which I have seen under the sun, and\nthat frequent among men:\n\n6:2. A man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and honour, and\nhis soul wanteth nothing of all that he desireth: yet God doth not give\nhim power to eat thereof, but a stranger shall eat it up. This is vanity\nand a great misery.\n\n6:3. If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, and attain\nto a great age, and his soul make no use of the goods of his substance,\nand he be without burial: of this man I pronounce, that the untimely\nborn is better than he.\n\n6:4. For he came in vain, and goeth to darkness, and his name shall be\nwholly forgotten.\n\n6:5. He hath not seen the sun, nor known the distance of good and evil:\n\n6:6. Although he lived two thousand years, and hath not enjoyed good\nthings: do not all make haste to one place?\n\n6:7. All the labour of man is for his mouth, but his soul shall not be\nfilled.\n\n6:8. What hath the wise man more than the fool? and what the poor man,\nbut to go thither, where there is life?\n\n6:9. Better it is to see what thou mayst desire, than to desire that\nwhich thou canst not know. But this also is vanity, and presumption of\nspirit.\n\n6:10. He that shall be, his name is already called: and it is known,\nthat he is a man, and cannot contend in judgment with him that is\nstronger than himself.\n\n6:11. There are many words that have much vanity in disputing.\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 7\n\nPrescriptions against worldly vanities: mortification, patience, and\nseeking wisdom.\n\n7:1. What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he\nknoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of\nhis pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell\nhim what shall be after him under the sun?\n\n7:2. A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death\nthan the day of one's birth.\n\n7:3. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of\nfeasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all, and the\nliving thinketh what is to come.\n\n7:4. Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the\ncountenance the mind of the offender is corrected.\n\nAnger... That is, correction, or just wrath and zeal against evil.\n\n7:5. The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of\nfools where there is mirth.\n\n7:6. It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by\nthe flattery of fools.\n\n7:7. For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the\nlaughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.\n\n7:8. Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of\nhis heart.\n\n7:9. Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the\npatient man than the presumptuous.\n\n7:10. Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.\n\n7:11. Say not: What thinkest thou is the cause that former times were\nbetter than they are now? for this manner of question is foolish.\n\n7:12. Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage\nto them that see the sun.\n\n7:13. For as wisdom is a defence, so money is a defence: but learning\nand wisdom excel in this, that they give life to him that possesseth\nthem.\n\n7:14. Consider the works of God, that no man can correct whom he hath\ndespised.\n\n7:15. In the good day enjoy good things, and beware beforehand of the\nevil day: for God hath made both the one and the other, that man may not\nfind against him any just complaint.\n\n7:16. These things also I saw in the days of my vanity: A just man\nperisheth in his justice, and a wicked man liveth a long time in his\nwickedness.\n\n7:17. Be not over just: and be not more wise than is necessary, lest\nthou become stupid.\n\nOver just... Viz., By an excessive rigour in censuring the ways of God\nin bearing with the wicked.\n\n7:18. Be not overmuch wicked: and be not foolish, lest thou die before\nthy time.\n\nBe not overmuch wicked... That is, lest by the greatness of your sin you\nleave no room for mercy.\n\n7:19. It is good that thou shouldst hold up the just, yea and from him\nwithdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God, neglecteth nothing.\n\n7:20. Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the\ncity.\n\n7:21. For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth\nnot.\n\n7:22. But do not apply thy heart to all words that are spoken: lest\nperhaps thou hear thy servant reviling thee.\n\n7:23. For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast often spoken evil\nof others.\n\n7:24. I have tried all things in wisdom. I have said: I will be wise:\nand it departed farther from me,\n\n7:25. Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?\n\n7:26. I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and consider,\nand seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the wickedness of the fool,\nand the error of the imprudent:\n\n7:27. And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the\nhunter's snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that\npleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall be\ncaught by her.\n\n7:28. Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after\nanother, that I might find out the account,\n\n7:29. Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it. One man among\na thousand I have found, a woman among them all I have not found.\n\n7:30. Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath\nentangled himself with an infinity of questions. Who is as the wise man?\nand who hath known the resolution of the word?\n\nOf the word... That is, of this obscure and difficult matter.\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 8\n\nTrue wisdom is to observe God's commandments. The ways of God are\nunsearchable.\n\n8:1. The wisdom of a man shineth in his countenance, and the most mighty\nwill change his face.\n\n8:2. I observe the mouth of the king, and the commandments of the oath\nof God.\n\n8:3. Be not hasty to depart from his face, and do not continue in an\nevil work: for he will do all that pleaseth him:\n\n8:4. And his word is full of power: neither can any man say to him: Why\ndost thou so?\n\n8:5. He that keepeth the commandment, shall find no evil. The heart of a\nwiser man understandeth time and answer.\n\n8:6. There is a time and opportunity for every business, and great\naffliction for man:\n\n8:7. Because he is ignorant of things past, and things to come he cannot\nknow by any messenger.\n\n8:8. It is not in man's power to stop the spirit, neither hath he power\nin the day of death, neither is he suffered to rest when war is at hand,\nneither shall wickedness save the wicked.\n\n8:9. All these things I have considered, and applied my heart to all the\nworks that are done under the sun. Sometimes one man ruleth over another\nto his own hurt.\n\n8:10. I saw the wicked buried: who also when they were yet living were\nin the holy place, and were praised in the city as men of just works:\nbut this also is vanity.\n\n8:11. For because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil,\nthe children of men commit evils without any fear.\n\n8:12. But though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and by patience be\nborne withal, I know from thence that it shall be well with them that\nfear God, who dread his face.\n\n8:13. But let it not be well with the wicked, neither let his days be\nprolonged, but as a shadow let them pass away that fear not the face of\nthe Lord.\n\n8:14. There is also another vanity, which is done upon the earth. There\nare just men to whom evils happen, as though they had done the works of\nthe wicked: and there are wicked men, who are as secure as though they\nhad the deeds of the just: but this also I judge most vain.\n\n8:15. Therefore I commended mirth, because there was no good for a man\nunder the sun, but to eat, and drink, and be merry, and that he should\ntake nothing else with him of his labour in the days of his life, which\nGod hath given him under the sun.\n\nNo good for a man, etc... Some commentators think the wise man here\nspeaks in the person of the libertine: representing the objections of\nthese men against divine providence, and the inferences they draw from\nthence, which he takes care afterwards to refute. But it may also be\nsaid, that his meaning is to commend the moderate use of the goods of\nthis world, preferably to the cares and solicitudes of worldlings, their\nattachment to vanity and curiosity, and presumptuously diving into the\nunsearchable ways of divine providence.\n\n8:16. And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to understand the\ndistraction that is upon earth: for there are some that day and night\ntake no sleep with their eyes.\n\n8:17. And I understood that man can find no reason of all those works of\nGod that are done under the sun: and the more he shall labour to seek,\nso much the less shall he find: yea, though the wise man shall say, that\nhe knoweth it, he shall not be able to find it.\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 9\n\nMan knows not certainty that he is in God's grace. After death no more\nwork or merit.\n\n9:1. All these things have I considered in my heart, that I might\ncarefully understand them: there are just men and wise men, and their\nworks are in the hand of God: and yet man knoweth not whether he be\nworthy of love, or hatred:\n\n9:2. But all things are kept uncertain for the time to come, because all\nthings equally happen to the just and to the wicked, to the good and to\nthe evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him that offereth victims,\nand to him that despiseth sacrifices. As the good is, so also is the\nsinner: as the perjured, so he also that sweareth truth.\n\n9:3. This is a very great evil among all things that are done under the\nsun, that the same things happen to all men: whereby also the hearts of\nthe children of men are filled with evil, and with contempt while they\nlive, and afterwards they shall be brought down to hell.\n\n9:4. There is no man that liveth always, or that hopeth for this: a\nliving dog is better than a dead lion.\n\n9:5. For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know nothing\nmore, neither have they a reward any more: for the memory of them is\nforgotten.\n\nKnow nothing more... Viz., as to the transactions of this world, in\nwhich they have now no part, unless it be revealed to them; neither have\nthey any knowledge or power now of doing any thing to secure their\neternal state, (if they have not taken care of it in their lifetime:)\nnor can they now procure themselves any good, as the living always may\ndo, by the grace of God.\n\n9:6. Their love also, and their hatred, and their envy are all perished,\nneither have they any part in this world, and in the work that is done\nunder the sun.\n\n9:7. Go then, and eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with\ngladness: because thy works please God.\n\n9:8. At all times let thy garments be white, and let not oil depart from\nthy head.\n\n9:9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest, all the days of thy\nunsteady life, which are given to thee under the sun, all the time of\nthy vanity: for this is thy portion in life, and in thy labour wherewith\nthou labourest under the sun.\n\n9:10. Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither\nwork, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither\nthou art hastening.\n\n9:11. I turned me to another thing, and I saw that under the sun, the\nrace is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the\nwise, nor riches to the learned, nor favour to the skilful: but time and\nchance in all.\n\n9:12. Man knoweth not his own end: but as fishes are taken with the\nhook, and as birds are caught with the snare, so men are taken in the\nevil time, when it shall suddenly come upon them.\n\n9:13. This wisdom also I have seen under the sun, and it seemed to me to\nbe very great:\n\n9:14. A little city, and few men in it: there came against it a great\nking, and invested it, and built bulwarks round about it, and the siege\nwas perfect.\n\n9:15. Now there was found in it a man poor and wise, and he delivered\nthe city by his wisdom, and no man afterward remembered that poor man.\n\n9:16. And I said that wisdom is better than strength: how then is the\nwisdom of the poor man slighted, and his words not heard?\n\n9:17. The words of the wise are heard in silence, more than the cry of a\nprince among fools.\n\n9:18. Better is wisdom, than weapons of war: and he that shall offend in\none, shall lose many good things.\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 10\n\nObservations on wisdom and folly, ambition and detraction.\n\n10:1. Dying flies spoil the sweetness of the ointment. Wisdom and glory\nis more precious than a small and shortlived folly.\n\n10:2. The heart of a wise man is in his right hand, and the heart of a\nfool is in his left hand.\n\n10:3. Yea, and the fool when he walketh in the way, whereas he himself\nis a fool, esteemeth all men fools.\n\n10:4. If the spirit of him that hath power, ascend upon thee, leave not\nthy place: because care will make the greatest sins to cease.\n\n10:5. There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were by an\nerror proceeding from the face of the prince:\n\n10:6. A fool set in high dignity, and the rich sitting beneath.\n\n10:7. I have seen servants upon horses: and princes walking on the\nground as servants.\n\n10:8. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that breaketh a\nhedge, a serpent shall bite him.\n\n10:9. He that removeth stones, shall be hurt by them: and he that\ncutteth trees, shall be wounded by them.\n\n10:10. If the iron be blunt, and be not as before, but be made blunt,\nwith much labour it shall be sharpened: and after industry shall follow\nwisdom.\n\n10:11. If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that\nbackbiteth secretly.\n\n10:12. The words of the mouth of a wise man are grace: but the lips of a\nfool shall throw him down headlong.\n\n10:13. The beginning of his words is folly, and the end of his talk is a\nmischievous error.\n\n10:14. A fool multiplieth words. A man cannot tell what hath been before\nhim: and what shall be after him, who can tell him?\n\n10:15. The labour of fools shall afflict them that know not how to go to\nthe city.\n\n10:16. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and when the\nprinces eat in the morning.\n\n10:17. Blessed is the land, whose king is noble, and whose princes eat\nin due season for refreshment, and not for riotousness.\n\n10:18. By slothfulness a building shall be brought down, and through the\nweakness of hands, the house shall drop through.\n\n10:19. For laughter they make bread, and wine that the living may feast:\nand all things obey money.\n\n10:20. Detract not the king, no not in thy thought; and speak not evil\nof the rich man in thy private chamber: because even the birds of the\nair will carry thy voice, and he that hath wings will tell what thou\nhast said.\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 11\n\nExhortation to works of mercy, while we have time, to diligence in good,\nand to the remembrance of death and judgment.\n\n11:1. Cast thy bread upon the running waters: for after a long time thou\nshalt find it again.\n\n11:2. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight: for thou knowest not\nwhat evil shall be upon the earth.\n\n11:3. If the clouds be full, they will pour out rain upon the earth. If\nthe tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it\nshall fall, there shall it be.\n\nIf the tree fall, etc... The state of the soul is unchangeable when once\nshe comes to heaven or hell: and a soul that departs this life in the\nstate of grace, shall never fall from grace: as on the other side, a\nsoul that dies out of the state of grace, shall never come to it. But\nthis does not exclude a place of temporal punishments for such souls as\ndie in the state of grace: yet not so as to be entirely pure: and\ntherefore they shall be saved, indeed, yet so as by fire. 1 Cor. 3.13,\n14, 15.\n\n11:4. He that observeth the wind, shall not sow: and he that considereth\nthe clouds, shall never reap.\n\n11:5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the\nbones are joined together in the womb of her that is with child: so thou\nknowest not the works of God, who is the maker of all.\n\n11:6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening let not thy hand\ncease: for thou knowest not which may rather spring up, this or that:\nand if both together, it shall be the better.\n\n11:7. The light is sweet, and it is delightful for the eyes to see the\nsun.\n\n11:8. If a man live many years, and have rejoiced in them all, he must\nremember the darksome time, and the many days: which when they shall\ncome, the things past shall be accused of vanity.\n\n11:9. Rejoice therefore, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart be\nin that which is good in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of\nthy heart, and in the sight of thy eyes: and know that for all these God\nwill bring thee into judgment.\n\n11:10. Remove anger from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh.\nFor youth and pleasure are vain.\n\nEcclesiastes Chapter 12\n\nThe Creator is to be remembered in the days of our youth: all worldly\nthings are vain: we should fear God and keep his commandments.\n\n12:1. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the time of\naffliction come, and the years draw nigh of which thou shalt say: They\nplease me not:\n\n12:2. Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars be\ndarkened, and the clouds return after the rain:\n\nBefore the sun, etc... That is, before old age: the effects of which\nupon all the senses and faculties are described in the following verses,\nunder a variety of figures.\n\n12:3. When the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men\nshall stagger, and the grinders shall be idle in a small number, and\nthey that look through the holes shall be darkened:\n\n12:4. And they shall shut the doors in the street, when the grinder's\nvoice shall be low, and they shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and\nall the daughters of music shall grow deaf.\n\n12:5. And they shall fear high things, and they shall be afraid in the\nway, the almond tree shall flourish, the locust shall be made fat, and\nthe caper tree shall be destroyed: because man shall go into the house\nof his eternity, and the mourners shall go round about in the street.\n\n12:6. Before the silver cord be broken, and the golden fillet shrink\nback, and the pitcher be crushed at the fountain, and the wheel be\nbroken upon the cistern,\n\n12:7. And the dust return into its earth, from whence it was, and the\nspirit return to God, who gave it.\n\n12:8. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all things are vanity.\n\n12:9. And whereas Ecclesiastes was very wise, he taught the people, and\ndeclared the things that he had done: and seeking out, he set forth many\nparables.\n\n12:10. He sought profitable words, and wrote words most right, and full\nof truth.\n\n12:11. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails deeply fastened\nin, which by the counsel of masters are given from one shepherd.\n\n12:12. More than these, my son, require not. Of making many books there\nis no end: and much study is an affliction of the flesh.\n\n12:13. Let us all hear together the conclusion of the discourse. Fear\nGod, and keep his commandments: for this is all man:\n\nAll man... The whole business and duty of man.\n\n12:14. And all things that are done, God will bring into judgment for\nevery error, whether it be good or evil.\n\nError... Or, hidden and secret thing.","title":"The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Book 23: Ecclesiastes: The Challoner Revision","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":6540}