HOLY BIBLE: Ecclesiastes 8 (original) (raw)

9 καὶ σὺν πᾶν τοῦτο εἶδον καὶ ἔδωκα τὴν καρδίαν μου εἰς πᾶν ποίημα ὃ πεποίηται ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον τὰ ὅσα ἐξουσιάσατο ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ τοῦ κακῶσαι αὐτόν 10 καὶ τότε εἶδον ἀσεβεῖς εἰς τάφους εἰσαχθέντας καὶ ἐκ τόπου ἁγίου ἐπορεύθησαν καὶ ἐπῃνέθησαν ἐν τῇ πόλει ὅτι οὕτως ἐποίησαν καί γε τοῦτο ματαιότης 11 ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν γινομένη ἀντίρρησις ἀπὸ τῶν ποιούντων τὸ πονηρὸν ταχύ διὰ τοῦτο ἐπληροφορήθη καρδία υἱῶν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὸ πονηρόν 12 ὃς ἥμαρτεν ἐποίησεν τὸ πονηρὸν ἀπὸ τότε καὶ ἀπὸ μακρότητος αὐτῷ ὅτι καί γε γινώσκω ἐγὼ ὅτι ἔσται ἀγαθὸν τοῖς φοβουμένοις τὸν θεόν ὅπως φοβῶνται ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ 13 καὶ ἀγαθὸν οὐκ ἔσται τῷ ἀσεβεῖ καὶ οὐ μακρυνεῖ ἡμέρας ἐν σκιᾷ ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν φοβούμενος ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ

9 This, too, I have marked, as I gave heed to all that befalls us, here beneath the sun. There are times when man rules over man to his undoing.[2] 10 I have seen godless men go peacefully to the grave, that had lived their lives out in haunts of holiness, and won the name of good men from their fellow citizens; here, too, is frustration.[3] 11 Because sentence is not pronounced upon the evil-doers without more ado, men are emboldened to live sinfully. 12 And yet, though the sinner presume on the divine patience that has borne with a hundred misdeeds, I know well enough that blessings are for those who fear God, who fear his frown. 13 Never a blessing for sinners; never be it said they lived out their full span of days! Reckless of God’s frown, see, they pass like a shadow, and are gone!

9

Omnia hæc consideravi,
et dedi cor meum in cunctis operibus quæ fiunt sub sole.
Interdum dominatur homo homini in malum suum.

10
Vidi impios sepultos,
qui etiam cum adhuc viverent
in loco sancto erant,
et laudabantur in civitate
quasi justorum operum.
Sed et hoc vanitas est. 11
Etenim quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia,
absque timore ullo
filii hominum perpetrant mala. 12
Attamen peccator ex eo quod centies facit malum,
et per patientiam sustentatur;
ego cognovi quod erit bonum timentibus Deum,
qui verentur faciem ejus. 13
Non sit bonum impio,
nec prolongentur dies ejus,
sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini.

[1] vv. 2-7: It is not clear whether we are concerned, in this passage, with an earthly king or a heavenly.

[2] ‘His undoing’; according to the Latin, the ruler’s own; more probably, in the original, the reference was to that of the subject.

[3] The Hebrew text here is obscure, and the Latin differs from it in some points.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd