Ecclesiastes 5
1 When you enter God’s temple, you should be sure to listen carefully. Doing that is better than offering sacrifices to God [and then not obeying him], which is foolish.
Sois circonspect dans ta démarche quand tu te rends dans la maison de Dieu: s’en approcher pour obéir vaut mieux que les sacrifices offerts par les sots, car ceux-ci ne savent que faire le mal.
2 Think carefully before you speak [MTY] or before you promise God that you will do something [IDM]. [Do not forget that] God is in heaven [and he is all-powerful] and you are here on the earth, so think carefully before you [make any promises to God].
N’Ouvre pas la bouche avec précipitation; que ton cœur ne soit pas prompt à proférer quelque parole devant Dieu, car Dieu est au ciel, et toi, tu es sur la terre; c’est pourquoi tes propos doivent être peu nombreux.
3 If you are continually thinking [and worrying] about things, you will have bad dreams about them and not rest [well]. And the more you talk, the more likely it will be that you will say things that are foolish.
Car les songes naissent de l’abondance des soucis, et la voix du sot se reconnaît à l’abondance de ses paroles.
4 When you solemnly promise God that you will do something, do not be foolish by delaying in doing it, because God is not pleased with foolish people. Do [all] the things that you promise God that you will do.
Lorsque tu fais un vœu à Dieu, ne tarde pas à t’en acquitter, car il n’aime pas les sots. Paie ce que tu as promis par ton vœu.
5 It is better to not promise [anything] than to promise to do something, and [then] not doing it.
Tu ferais mieux de t’abstenir de tout vœu que d’en faire un et de ne pas l’accomplir.
6 Do not sin by promising to do something and then not doing it. And [when you promise God to do something and do not do it], do not say to God’s priest that it was a mistake for you to promise to do that. If you do that, God will certainly [RHQ] become very angry with you, and he will take from you everything that you [SYN] have worked to acquire.
Ne permets pas à ta bouche de charger ta personne d’un péché; et ne prétends pas devant le messager de Dieu qu’il y avait inadvertance de ta part: pourquoi Dieu devra-t-il s’irriter au son de ta voix et ruiner l’œuvre de tes mains?
7 Promising to do something and not doing it is like [SIM] a dream that has no value; instead, revere God [by doing what you promised him that you would do].
Tel serait le fruit de ce tas de songes et de niaiseries et de ce flux de paroles: crains plutôt Dieu.
8 Do not be surprised if you see poor [people] being (oppressed/treated cruelly) [by powerful/influential people], or if you see judges making unjust decisions throughout the land. [That happens] because the people who do that are supervised [and cheated by] more important officials [DOU],
Si tu remarques dans le pays l’oppression du pauvre et l’escamotage de la justice et du droit, ne sois pas trop surpris du fait: c’est qu’un fonctionnaire élevé est contrôlé par un supérieur et qu’au-dessus d’eux il est encore des fonctionnaires.
9 and even the king forces the people to give him some of the crops that they harvest.
La terre a des avantages sur tout le reste: un roi même est dans la dépendance des champs.
10 Everyone who tries to [get as much] money as they can will never think that they have enough. They will never be satisfied with the money that they have. That also is senseless.
Qui aime l’argent n’est jamais rassasié d’argent; qui aime l’opulence n’en a aucun profit: cela aussi est vanité!
11 The more money that we have, the more people want us to spend our money to buy things for them. So people who have a lot of money do not [RHQ] benefit from it; they see [MTY] it when they get it, but it soon (disappears/is completely spent).
La fortune augmente-t-elle, ceux qui la dévorent augmentent du même coup. Quel autre avantage y a-t-il pour son possesseur que d’en repaître sa vue?
12 Those who work hard sleep peacefully [at night], even if they do not have much food to eat. But rich [people] do not sleep well, because [they worry] about their money.
Doux est le sommeil du laboureur, qu’il mange peu ou prou tandis que la satiété ne laisse pas dormir le riche.
13 I have seen [another] terrible thing that happens here on the earth [MTY]: People save [up all] their money and become rich, [but] they are not helped by saving a lot of money,
II est un mal cuisant que j’ai constaté sous le soleil c’est la richesse amassée pour le malheur de celui qui la possède.
14 [because] something happens that causes their money to be gone, and when they die, there is no money for their children to get/inherit.
Cette richesse se perd-elle par quelque fâcheuse circonstance, le fils à qui il aura donné le jour n’aura rien dans les mains.
15 When we are born, we do not bring anything with us, and when we die, we take nothing with us from all that we have earned by our working hard.
Et lui-même, sorti nu du sein de sa mère, il s’en ira tel qu’il était venu et il ne prendra rien du fruit de son travail qu’il puisse emporter dans sa main.
16 That also seems senseless. People bring nothing [into the world when they are born], and they leave [this world] taking nothing with them. They have worked hard, but they receive no lasting benefit [MET].
C’Est déjà là un mal profond qu’il faille s’en aller comme on est venu à quoi lui sert-il d’avoir travaillé pour le vent?
17 [Furthermore, rich people] are always miserable [MET] and sad, and depressed/discouraged and often sick and (resentful/thinking that what has happened to them is unfair).
II consume tous ses jours dans les ténèbres: multiples sont ses ennuis, ses souffrances et ses impatiences.
18 So, the best thing for people to do here on the earth during the few years that God allows them to be alive is to eat and drink and to enjoy their work, because those are the things that God has given to them.
Or donc, ce que j’ai reconnu comme bon, comme convenable, c’est de manger et de boire, de jouir du bien-être dû à toutes les peines qu’on se donne sous le soleil, au cours de l’existence que Dieu nous octroie: c’est là notre lot.
19 If people are rich and have a lot of possessions, and are able to (enjoy/be happy with) the things that they have and to enjoy their work, those things are [also] gifts from God.
En effet, supposez un homme que Dieu a comblé de richesses et de biens et rendu maître d’en jouir, d’en prendre sa bonne part et d’être en liesse, grâce à son travail: ce sera un don de Dieu!
20 Those people do not worry much about [everything that has happened] during the time that they have been alive, because God enables them to be happy doing everything that they do.
Car celui-là ne songera pas beaucoup aux jours de son existence, puisque Dieu voit avec plaisir la joie de son cœur.
