Ecclesiastes · Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Ecclesiastes 7 Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he knoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun?
1 MEJOR es la [buena] fama que el buen ungüento; y el día de la muerte que el día del nacimiento.
2 A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
2 Mejor es ir á la casa del luto que á la casa del convite: porque aquello es el fin de todos los hombres; y el que vive parará mientes.
3 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all, and the living thinketh what is to come.
3 Mejor es el enojo que la risa: porque con la tristeza del rostro se enmendará el corazón.
4 Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.
4 El corazón de los sabios, en la casa del luto; mas el corazón de los insensatos, en la casa del placer.
5 The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth.
5 Mejor es oir la reprensión del sabio, que la canción de los necios.
6 It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools.
6 Porque la risa del necio es como el estrépito de las espinas debajo de la olla. Y también esto es vanidad.
7 For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity.
7 Ciertamente la opresión hace enloquecer al sabio: y el presente corrompe el corazón.
8 Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart.
8 Mejor es el fin del negocio que su principio: mejor es el sufrido de espíritu que el altivo de espíritu.
9 Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the patient man than the presumptuous.
9 No te apresures en tu espíritu á enojarte: porque la ira en el seno de los necios reposa.
10 Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.
10 Nunca digas: ¿Qué es la causa que los tiempos pasados fueron mejores que éstos? Porque nunca de esto preguntarás con sabiduría.
11 Say not: What thinkest thou is the cause that former times were better than they are now? for this manner of question is foolish.
11 Buena es la ciencia con herencia; y más á los que ven el sol.
12 Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage to them that see the sun.
12 Porque escudo es la ciencia, y escudo es el dinero: mas la sabiduría excede en que da vida á sus poseedores.
13 For as wisdom is a defence, so money is a defence: but learning and wisdom excel in this, that they give life to him that possesseth them.
13 Mira la obra de Dios; porque ¿quién podrá enderezar lo que él torció?
14 Consider the works of God, that no man can correct whom he hath despised.
14 En el día del bien goza del bien; y en el día del mal considera. Dios también hizo esto delante de lo otro, porque el hombre no halle nada tras de él.
15 In the good day enjoy good things, and beware beforehand of the evil day: for God hath made both the one and the other, that man may not find against him any just complaint.
15 Todo esto he visto en los días de mi vanidad. Justo hay que perece por su justicia, y hay impío que por su maldad alarga [sus días].
16 These things also I saw in the days of my vanity: A just man perisheth in his justice, and a wicked man liveth a long time in his wickedness.
16 No seas demasiado justo, ni seas sabio con exceso: ¿por qué te destruirás?
17 Be not over just: and be not more wise than is necessary, lest thou become stupid.
17 No hagas mal mucho, ni seas insensato: ¿por qué morirás antes de tu tiempo?
18 Be not overmuch wicked: and be not foolish, lest thou die before thy time.
18 Bueno es que tomes esto, y también de estotro no apartes tu mano; porque el que á Dios teme, saldrá con todo.
19 It is good that thou shouldst hold up the just, yea and from him withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God, neglecteth nothing.
19 La sabiduría fortifica al sabio más que diez poderosos la ciudad en que fueron.
20 Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the city.
20 Ciertamente no hay hombre justo en la tierra, que haga bien y nunca peque.
21 For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not.
21 Tampoco apliques tu corazón á todas las cosas que se hablaren, porque no oigas á tu siervo que dice mal de ti:
22 But do not apply thy heart to all words that are spoken: lest perhaps thou hear thy servant reviling thee.
22 Porque tu corazón sabe, como tú también dijiste mal de otros muchas veces.
23 For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast often spoken evil of others.
23 Todas estas cosas probé con sabiduría, diciendo: Hacerme he sabio: mas ella se alejó de mí.
24 I have tried all things in wisdom. I have said: I will be wise: and it departed farther from me,
24 Lejos está lo que fué; y lo muy profundo ¿quién lo hallará?
25 Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?
25 Yo he rodeado con mi corazón por saber, y examinar, é inquirir la sabiduría, y la razón; y por conocer la maldad de la insensatez, y el desvarío del error;
26 I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the wickedness of the fool, and the error of the imprudent:
26 Y yo he hallado más amarga que la muerte la mujer, la cual es redes, y lazos su corazón; sus manos [como] ligaduras. El que agrada á Dios escapará de ella; mas el pecador será preso en ella.
27 And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the hunter’s snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall be caught by her.
27 He aquí, esto he hallado, dice el Predicador, [pesando] las cosas una por una para hallar la razón;
28 Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after another, that I might find out the account,
28 Lo que aun busca mi alma, y no encuentro: un hombre entre mil he hallado; mas mujer de todas éstas nunca hallé.
29 Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it. One man among a thousand I have found, a woman among them all I have not found.
29 He aquí, solamente he hallado esto: que Dios hizo al hombre recto, mas ellos buscaron muchas cuentas.
30 Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions. Who is as the wise man? and who hath known the resolution of the word?
30 Not in this translation
Cross references (29)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Revelation 14:13; Proverbs 22:1; Ecclesiastes 4:2; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:21–23
- 2 Psalm 90:12; Hebrews 9:27; Deuteronomy 32:29; Deuteronomy 32:46; Philippians 3:19
- 3 2 Corinthians 7:9–11; Romans 5:3–4; James 4:8–10; John 16:20–22; Hebrews 12:10–11
- 4 Matthew 8:14–16; Luke 7:12–13; 1 Samuel 25:36; Nehemiah 2:2–5; Jeremiah 51:39
- 5 Proverbs 15:31–32; Psalm 141:5; Revelation 3:19; Proverbs 13:18; Proverbs 17:10
- 6 Psalm 58:9; Psalm 118:12; Ecclesiastes 2:2; Luke 6:25; Jude 12–13
- 7 Deuteronomy 16:19; Exodus 23:8; Proverbs 17:23; Ecclesiastes 4:1; Isaiah 1:23
- 8 Hebrews 10:36; Psalm 126:5–6; Proverbs 14:29; 1 Peter 1:13; James 5:11
- 9 James 1:19; Proverbs 14:17; Proverbs 16:32; Ephesians 4:26–27; Proverbs 26:23–26
- 10 Psalm 14:2–3; Genesis 6:11–12; Romans 1:22–32; Isaiah 50:1; Judges 6:13
- 11 Ecclesiastes 11:7; 1 Timothy 6:17–19; Proverbs 8:10–11; Ecclesiastes 2:13; Ecclesiastes 9:15–18
- 12 Proverbs 8:35; Proverbs 2:7; Proverbs 3:18; Proverbs 11:4; Judges 9:15
- 13 Ecclesiastes 1:15; Job 12:14; Psalm 107:43; Isaiah 14:27; Ecclesiastes 3:11
- 14 Ecclesiastes 3:4; Ecclesiastes 3:22; Deuteronomy 8:3; Ecclesiastes 12:13; James 5:13
- 15 Ecclesiastes 8:12–14; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Psalm 73:3–13; Matthew 23:34–35; Ecclesiastes 9:1–2
- 16 Romans 12:3; Proverbs 25:16; Colossians 2:18; James 3:13–17; Matthew 6:1–7
- 17 Proverbs 10:27; Job 22:16; Psalm 55:23; Acts 12:23; Acts 5:10
- 18 Ecclesiastes 12:13; Ecclesiastes 11:6; Malachi 4:2; Ecclesiastes 8:12; Luke 1:50
- 19 Proverbs 21:22; Colossians 1:9–11; Ecclesiastes 9:13–18; Proverbs 24:5; 2 Samuel 20:16–22
- 20 Romans 3:23; Isaiah 53:6; 1 John 1:8–10; James 3:2; Proverbs 20:9
- 21 Proverbs 30:10; Isaiah 29:21; 2 Samuel 16:10; 2 Samuel 19:19; 1 Corinthians 13:5–7
- 22 James 3:9; Matthew 15:19; Matthew 18:32–35; 1 Kings 2:44; John 8:7–9
- 23 Romans 1:22; 1 Corinthians 1:20; Genesis 3:5; 1 Kings 11:1–8; 1 Kings 3:11–12
- 24 Romans 11:33; Isaiah 55:8–9; 1 Timothy 6:16; Psalm 139:6; Job 28:28
- 25 Ecclesiastes 10:13; Joshua 7:13; Ecclesiastes 2:15; Proverbs 17:12; Ecclesiastes 3:16–17
- 26 Proverbs 22:14; Proverbs 5:3–5; Proverbs 2:16; Proverbs 2:18–19; Ecclesiastes 2:26
- 27 Ecclesiastes 12:8–10; Ecclesiastes 1:1–2
- 28 Job 33:23; Psalm 12:1; 1 Kings 11:1–3; Isaiah 26:9; Ecclesiastes 7:23–24
- 29 Jeremiah 4:22; Genesis 6:11–12; Mark 7:8–9; Titus 3:3; Genesis 5:1
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… about eating and drinking, which he often repeats, and very much commends, does not savor the dainties of carnal pleasures, is made plain enough when he says, "It is better to go into the house of mourning than to go into the house of feasting." And a little after He says, "The heart of the wise is in the house …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
For God, according to the Preacher, made man upright, and they have themselves sought out many inventions.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… is better to go into the house of mourning than to go into the house of feasting." And a little after He says, "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, and the heart of the simple in the house of feasting." But I think that more worthy of quotation from this book which relates to both …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)