< Ecclesiastes 8 >
1 Who is as the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
Se moun ki gen bon konprann ki konnen jan pou l' bay esplikasyon. Lè yon moun gen bon konprann, sa fè kè l' kontan, tout pli nan fwon l' disparèt.
2 I say, Keep the king's command, and that because of the oath of God.
Se pou ou fè sa wa a bay lòd fè a, poutèt sèman ou te fè devan Bondye a.
3 Be not hasty to go out of his presence. Persist not in an evil matter, for he does whatever pleases him.
Pa prese wete kò ou devan li, pa pèsiste nan move pant lan, paske li ka fè ou sa li vle.
4 For the king's word has power, and who may say to him, What are thou doing?
Lè wa a pale, se fini. Pa gen moun ki pou mande l' poukisa l'ap fè sa l'ap fè a.
5 He who keeps a commandment shall know no evil thing. And a wise man's heart discerns the time and decision.
Moun ki fè sa yo ba li lòd fè a pa nan pwoblèm. Yo p'ap fè l' anyen. Yon nonm ki gen bon konprann konnen ki jan ak kilè pou l' fè sa li gen pou l' fè a.
6 For to every purpose there is a time and decision, although the distress of man is great upon him.
Chak bagay gen jan pou yo fè l' ak lè pou yo fè l'. Se la tout tèt chaje a ye.
7 For he knows not that which shall be, for who can tell him how it shall be?
Pesonn pa konnen sa ki pral rive. Epi pa gen pesonn ki ka di nou sa ki pral rive.
8 There is no man who has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, nor has he power over the day of death. And there is no discharge in war. Neither shall wickedness deliver him who is given to it.
Pesonn pa mèt lavi l'. Lè jou a rive pou l' mouri, fòk li mouri. Pesonn pa ka ranvwaye jou lanmò li. Nou pa ka kouri pou batay sa a. Ata mechanste mechan yo pa ka sove yo.
9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his hurt.
Mwen wè tou sa, lè m' t'ap kalkile sou sa k'ap pase sou latè. Moun ap dominen sou moun pou fè yo soufri.
10 So I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were praised in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity.
Wi. Mwen wè yo antere mechan yo, yo kouche kadav yo anba tè. Mwen wè moun ki mache dwat yo pa menm jwenn kote pou moun antere yo. Tout moun nan lavil la bliye sa yo te fè. Tou sa ankò pa vo anyen, sa p'ap sèvi anyen.
11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
Se paske yo pran twòp tan pou yo pini moun ki fè mal yo ki fè moun toujou anvi fè sa ki mal.
12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and prolongs his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with those who fear God, who fear before him.
Yon moun k'ap fè sa ki mal gen dwa fè san (100) krim, yonn sou lòt, epi l'ap toujou mache sou moun. Men, mwen konnen yo di tou: Si ou gen krentif pou Bondye, w'ap viv ak kè kontan, paske ou respekte Bondye.
13 But it shall not be well with a wicked man, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he did not fear before God.
Men se pa menm bagay la pou mechan an. L'ap malere, lavi li tankou yon lonbraj. L'ap mouri bonè, paske li pa gen krentif pou Bondye.
14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked, again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.
Men tou sa se pawòl anlè. Gade sa k'ap pase sou latè: Gen moun ki mache dwat ki resevwa pinisyon mechan yo. Gen mechan ki resevwa rekonpans moun ki mache dwat yo. Mwen di tou sa pa vo anyen.
15 Then I commended joy, because a man has no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be cheerful. For that shall abide with him in his labor all the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
Se konsa mwen mache di se pou tout moun jwi lavi yo, paske sèl plezi yon nonm gen nan lavi a se manje, se bwè, se pran plezi. Se sa ase li ka fè pandan l'ap travay di nan lavi Bondye ba l' pou l' viv sou latè a.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is he who sees sleep with his eyes neither day nor night),
Chak fwa mwen pran desizyon pou m' chache konprann, chak fwa mwen pran kalkile sa k'ap pase sou latè, mwen wè ou te mèt pa janm dòmi lajounen kou lannwit,
17 then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. Because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he shall not find it. Yea moreover, though a wise man thinks to know it, yet he shall not be able to find it.
ou p'ap janm ka konprann travay Bondye sou latè. Ou mèt fè sa ou vle, ou p'ap janm ka rive jwenn sa w'ap chache a. Moun ki gen bon konprann kwè yo konnen. Men yo pa konnen plis pase yon lòt.