Ecclesiastes 6
1 I have seen something [else here] on this earth that troubles people.
II est un mal que j’ai constaté sous le soleil et qui est fréquent parmi le genre humain:
2 God enables some people to get a lot of money and possessions and to be honored; they have everything [LIT] that they want. But God [sometimes] does not allow them to continue to enjoy those things. Someone else gets them and enjoys them. That seems senseless and unfair.
Voici un homme à qui Dieu a donné richesse, biens et honneurs; il ne manque personnellement de rien qu’il puisse désirer. Mais Dieu ne le laisse pas maître de jouir de ces avantages: c’est un étranger qui en jouira. Quelle vanité et quelle souffrance amère!
3 Someone might have 100 children and live for many years. But if he is not able to enjoy the things that he has acquired, and if he is not buried [properly after he dies], [I say that] a child that is dead when it is born is more fortunate.
Qu’un homme donne le jour à cent fils et vive de longues années, quel que soit le nombre de ses jours, s’il ne doit pas savourer son bonheur, et qu’une tombe même lui soit refusée, je dis que l’avorton est plus favorisé que lui.
4 That dead baby’s birth is meaningless; it does not even have a name. It goes directly to the place where there is only darkness.
Car celui-ci arrive comme un vain souffle, s’en va dans la nuit, et son nom demeure enseveli dans les ténèbres.
5 It does not [live to] see the sun or know anything. But it finds more rest than rich people do [who are alive].
Il n’a même pas vu ni connu le soleil; il jouit d’un repos qu’ignorait l’autre.
6 Even if people could live for 2,000 years, if they do not enjoy the things that God gives to them, [it would have been better for them never to have been born]. [All people who live a long time] certainly [RHQ] all go to the same place— [to the grave].
A quoi servirait même de vivre deux fois mille ans, si on n’a pas su ce que c’est d’être heureux? Finalement tout n’aboutit-il pas au même terme?
7 People work hard to [earn enough money to buy] food to eat [MTY], but [often] they never get enough to eat.
Tout le labeur de l’homme est au profit de sa bouche, et jamais son désir n’est assouvi.
8 So it seems that [RHQ] wise people do not receive more lasting benefits than foolish people do. And it seems that [RHQ] poor people do not benefit from knowing how to conduct their lives.
Quelle supériorité le sage a-t-il donc sur le fou? Où est l’avantage du malheureux, habile à marcher à rebours de la vie?
9 It is better to enjoy the things that we already have [MTY] than to constantly want more things; continually wanting more things is [senseless], [like] the wind.
Mieux vaut se satisfaire par les yeux que de laisser dépérir sa personne; cela aussi est vanité et pâture de vent.
10 All the things that exist [on the earth] have been given names. And everyone knows what people are like, [so] it is useless to argue with someone (OR, with God) who is stronger than we are.
Ce qui vient à naître a dès longtemps reçu son nom; d’avance est déterminée la condition de l’homme; il ne pourra tenir tête à un plus fort que lui.
11 The more [that we] talk, the more [often we say things that are] senseless, so it certainly does not [RHQ] benefit us to talk a lot.
Certes, il est bien des discours qui augmentent les insanités; quel avantage offrent-ils à l’homme?
12 We live for only a short time; we disappear like [SIM] a shadow disappears [in the sunlight]. No one [RHQ] knows what is best for us while we are alive, and no one [RHQ] knows what will happen to us after we die [EUP].
Qui sait, en effet, ce qui est avantageux pour l’homme durant sa vie, au cours de ces quelques années de sa vaine existence, qu’il voit fuir comme une ombre? Qui peut annoncer à l’homme ce qui se passera après lui, sous le soleil?
