Ecclésiaste 7
1 Un bon nom vaut mieux qu'un bon parfum, et le jour de la mort vaut mieux que le jour de la naissance.
[Having] a good reputation [MTY] is better than fine perfume, and the day that we die is better than the day that we are born.
2 Il vaut mieux aller dans la maison du deuil que dans la maison du festin, car telle est la fin de tous les hommes, et les vivants doivent y prendre garde.
It is better to go to a house where people are mourning [about someone who has died] than to go to a house where people are feasting, because everyone will die some day, and people who are alive should think seriously [IDM] about that.
3 La tristesse vaut mieux que le rire, car c'est par la tristesse du visage que le cœur se bonifie.
It is better to be sad than to be [always] laughing, because being sad can cause us to think more about how we should conduct our lives [IDM].
4 Le cœur des sages est dans la maison du deuil, mais le cœur des insensés est dans la maison de la joie.
Wise [people] who go to where others are mourning think about [the fact that some day they also will] die, but foolish people [PRS] [do not think about that]; they are always [MTY] laughing.
5 Il vaut mieux entendre la réprimande des sages que d'écouter le chant des insensés.
It is better to pay attention to [someone who is wise] you than to listen to the songs of a foolish person.
6 Car, comme le craquement des épines sous une marmite, ainsi est le rire des insensés. Et cela aussi est une vanité.
By [listening to] foolish people laughing we will not [learn any more than by listening to] the crackling of thorns [being burned] under a pot. Listening to fools is senseless.
7 L'extorsion rend le sage insensé, et le pot-de-vin détruit l'intelligence.
When wise people say to others, “You must pay me a lot of money for me to protect you,” that causes those wise people to become foolish, and [accepting] bribes causes people to become unable to do what is fair/just.
8 Mieux vaut la fin d'une chose que son commencement. Le patient en esprit est meilleur que l'orgueilleux en esprit.
Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.
9 Ne te hâte pas dans ton esprit de te mettre en colère, car la colère repose dans le sein des insensés.
Do not quickly (lose your temper/react to things angrily), because it is foolish people [SYN] who become very angry.
10 Ne dites pas: « Pourquoi les jours d'autrefois étaient-ils meilleurs que ceux-ci? » Car vous ne posez pas de questions judicieuses à ce sujet.
Do not say, “Things were a lot better [RHQ] previously,” because it is people who are not wise who say that.
11 La sagesse est aussi bonne qu'un héritage. Oui, elle est plus excellente pour ceux qui voient le soleil.
Being wise is better than inheriting [valuable things]; being wise provides lasting benefits for every person on the earth [MTY].
12 Car la sagesse est une défense, comme l'argent est une défense; mais l'excellence de la connaissance est que la sagesse préserve la vie de celui qui la possède.
We are [sometimes] protected by being wise like we are [sometimes] protected by having a lot of money, but being wise is better [than having a lot of money], [because] being wise prevents us from [doing foolish things that would] cause us to die.
13 Considérez l'œuvre de Dieu, car qui peut redresser ce qu'il a rendu tortueux?
Think [carefully about] what God has done. Certainly no one can [RHQ] cause to become straight the things that God has caused to be crooked.
14 Au jour de la prospérité, sois joyeux, et au jour de la détresse, considère; oui, Dieu a fait l'un à côté de l'autre, afin que l'homme ne découvre rien après lui.
When things are going well for you, be happy, and when things are not going well for you, remember that God is the one who causes good things to happen and who also causes disasters.
15 Tout cela, je l'ai vu dans mes jours de vanité: il y a un juste qui périt dans sa justice, et il y a un méchant qui vit longtemps dans sa méchanceté.
During all the time that I have been alive I have seen a lot of [HYP] things that seem senseless. I have seen righteous people die [while they are still young], and I have seen wicked people remain alive for a very long time in [spite of] their continuing to be wicked.
16 Ne sois pas trop juste, ni trop sage. Pourquoi te détruirais-tu?
[So] do not think that you are very righteous and do not think that you are very wise, [because if you think those things], you will destroy yourself.
17 Ne soyez pas trop méchants, ni trop sots. Pourquoi mourrais-tu avant ton heure?
If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young.
18 Il est bon que vous vous saisissiez de cela. Oui, ne retire pas non plus ta main de cela; car celui qui craint Dieu sortira de tout cela.
Continue to avoid doing what is evil and doing what is foolish; avoid doing both of those things by continually revering God.
19 La sagesse est une force pour l'homme sage, plus que dix chefs qui sont dans une ville.
If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential than the ten most powerful/influential men in your city.
20 Certes, il n'y a pas sur la terre un seul homme juste qui fasse le bien et ne pèche pas.
There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.
21 Ne fais pas non plus attention à toutes les paroles qui sont prononcées, de peur que tu n'entendes ton serviteur te maudire;
Do not pay attention [IDM] to everything that people say, because if you do that, you might hear your servant cursing you.
22 car souvent ton propre cœur sait que tu as toi-même maudit les autres.
You know that you have also cursed other people.
23 Tout cela, je l'ai prouvé par la sagesse. J'ai dit: « Je serai sage »; mais c'était loin de moi.
I said [to myself] that I would use my wisdom to study all the things [that I have written about], but I was not able to do it successfully.
24 Ce qui est, est éloigné et très profond. Qui peut le découvrir?
Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.
25 Je me suis retourné, et mon cœur a cherché à connaître et à sonder, à rechercher la sagesse et le plan des choses, et à savoir que la méchanceté est une stupidité, et que la folie est une déraison.
But I decided to investigate things and by my wisdom try to understand the reason for everything. I also wanted to understand why people act wickedly and why they act very foolishly.
26 Je trouve plus amère que la mort la femme dont le cœur est un piège et des embûches, dont les mains sont des chaînes. Celui qui plaît à Dieu lui échappera, mais le pécheur sera pris au piège par elle.
[One thing I learned was that] (allowing a woman to seduce you/having sex with a woman to whom you are not married) is worse than dying. A woman who tries to seduce men is [as dangerous as] a trap [MET]. [If you allow her to put] her arms [around you, it will be as though she will be fastening you with] chains. Women like that will capture sinful men, but men who please God will escape from such women.
27 « Voici, j'ai trouvé cela, dit le prédicateur, à l'un l'autre, pour trouver une explication
This is what I have learned: I tried to learn more and more about things to try to find out the reason for everything,
28 que mon âme cherche encore, mais que je n'ai pas trouvée. J'ai trouvé un homme parmi mille, mais je n'ai pas trouvé une femme parmi toutes celles-là.
and I continued to try to learn more, but I could not find [all that I was searching for]. [But] one thing that I found out was that among 1,000 [people] I found one righteous man, but I did not find even one righteous woman.
29 Voici, je n'ai trouvé que ceci: que Dieu a fait les hommes droits; mais ils cherchent beaucoup d'inventions. »
[But] I did learn one thing: When God created people, they were righteous, but they have found many ways to do many evil things.
