Ecclesiastes 3
1 Everything has its own time—a time for all that happens here:
Gen yon lè pou chak bagay. Bondye fikse yon tan pou chak bagay k'ap fèt sou latè.
2 A time of birth, and a time of death. A time of planting, and a time of harvest.
Li fikse lè pou ou fèt, lè pou ou mouri, lè pou ou plante, lè pou ou rekòlte,
3 A time of killing, and a time of healing. A time of tearing down, and a time of building up.
lè pou ou touye, lè pou ou geri, lè pou ou kraze, lè pou ou bati.
4 A time of crying, and a time of laughing. A time of mourning, and a time of dancing.
Li fikse lè pou ou kriye, lè pou ou ri, lè pou ou nan lapenn, lè pou ou fè fèt,
5 A time of throwing away stones, and a time of gathering up stones. A time of embracing, and a time of avoiding embracing.
lè pou ou kouche ak madanm ou, lè pou ou pa kouche ak li, lè pou nou fè karès, lè pou nou pa fè karès.
6 A time of searching, and a time of giving up searching. A time of keeping, and a time of throwing away.
Li fikse lè pou ou chache, lè pou ou pèdi, lè pou ou fè ekonomi, lè pou ou gaspiye lajan,
7 A time of tearing, and a time of mending. A time of keeping quiet, a time of speaking up.
lè pou ou dechire, lè pou ou koud, lè pou ou rete san pale, lè pou ou pale.
8 A time of loving, and a time of hating. A time of warfare, and a time of peace.
Li fikse lè pou ou renmen, lè pou ou rayi, lè pou nou fè lagè, lè pou nou fè lapè.
9 So what do you get for all your hard work?
Kisa yon nonm jwenn nan travay li?
10 I have examined what God gives us to do.
Mwen rive konnen ki kalite travay Bondye bay moun pou yo fè.
11 Everything God does is beautifully timed, and even though he has also placed the idea of eternity in our minds, we can't fully understand what God does from beginning to end.
Li fikse yon lè pou chak bagay byen fèt. Li mete nan kè moun lanvi pou yo konnen sa ki gen pou rive denmen. Men, li pa janm kite yo fin konprann nèt travay l'ap fè a.
12 I concluded that there's nothing better than being happy and looking for the good in life.
Mwen wè pi bon bagay yon moun ka fè nan lavi, se fè kè ou kontan epi se fè sa ou vin pou fè a byen.
13 In addition everyone should eat and drink and enjoy their work—this is God's gift to us.
Tout moun fèt pou yo manje, pou yo bwè, pou yo jwi sa travay yo rapòte yo. Sa se kado Bondye ba yo.
14 I also concluded that everything God does lasts forever: nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. God acts in this way so that people may stand in awe of him.
Mwen konnen tou sa Bondye fè la pou toutan. Ou pa ka mete anyen sou li, ou pa ka wete anyen ladan l'. Bondye fè sa konsa pou lèzòm ka gen krentif pou li.
15 Whatever was, is; and whatever will be, has been, and God examines the whole of time.
Sa ki rive koulye a te rive deja! Sa ki gen pou rive te rive deja tou! Bondye fè bagay ki te rive deja rive ankò!
16 I also observed that here on earth there was evil even in the place where there was supposed to be justice; even where things were meant to be right, there was evil.
Apre sa, mwen wè sou latè se mechanste ou jwenn kote pou ou ta jwenn jistis. Malveyans chita nan tribinal yo.
17 But then I thought to myself, “Ultimately God will judge both those who do right and those who do wrong, and every deed and action, at the appointed time.”
Mwen di nan kè mwen: Bondye ap jije ni bon yo ni mechan yo, paske chak bagay gen lè pa yo. Gen yon tan pou tou sa w'ap fè.
18 I also thought to myself, “Regarding what happens to human beings—God proves to us that we're no better than animals.”
Mwen di nan kè mwen ankò: Bondye ap gade kote moun ye. L'ap fè yo wè yo pa pi bon pase zannimo.
19 For what happens to human beings is the same as what happens to animals—in the same way one dies, the other dies too. They all have the breath of life—so regarding any advantage human beings have over animals, there is none. Definitely this is very hard to understand!
Lè ou gade byen, sò moun ak sò zannimo, se menm bagay la. Ni yonn ni lòt gen pou mouri. Se menm souf la k'ap bat nan tou de. Moun pa gen ankenn avantaj sou zannimo, paske lavi pa vo anyen ni pou yonn ni pou lòt.
20 They all end up in the same place—they all came from dust, and they all return to dust.
Tou de pral menm kote Tou de soti nan pousyè tè a. Tou de ap tounen pousyè tè a ankò.
21 Who really knows whether the breath of life of human beings goes up above, and the breath of life of animals goes down below to the earth?
Ki moun ki konnen si nanm moun moute anwo nan syèl epi nanm zannimo desann anba tè vre?
22 So I concluded that there's nothing better than for people to enjoy their work. This is what we are meant to do. For who can bring anyone back from the dead to show them what will happen after they die?
Konsa, mwen wè pa gen pi bon bagay yon moun ka fè sou latè pase jwi sa travay li rapòte l'. Se sèlman sa li ka fè. Epitou, ki moun k'ap fè l' tounen pou l' ka konnen sa k'ap rive apre li fin mouri?
