Ecclésiaste 5
1 Prends garde à ton pied quand tu vas à la maison de Dieu; s’approcher pour écouter vaut mieux que d’offrir des victimes à la manière des insensés; car leur ignorance les conduit à faire mal.
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.
2 Ne sois pas pressé d’ouvrir la bouche, et que ton cœur ne se hâte pas d’exprimer une parole devant Dieu; car Dieu est au ciel, et toi sur la terre: que tes paroles soient donc peu nombreuses!
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].
3 Car de la multitude des occupations naissent les songes, et de la multitude des paroles, des propos d’insensé.
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.
4 Lorsque tu fais un vœu à Dieu, ne tarde pas à l’accomplir, car il n’y a pas de faveur pour les insensés: ce que tu voues, accomplis-le.
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.
5 Mieux vaut pour toi ne pas vouer, que vouer et ne pas accomplir.
It is better to not promise [anything] than to promise to do something, and [then] not doing it.
6 Ne permets pas à ta bouche de faire pécher ta chair, et ne dis pas en présence de l’envoyé de Dieu que c’est une inadvertance: pourquoi Dieu s’irriterait-il au sujet de tes paroles, et détruirait-il les œuvre de tes mains?
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.
7 Car, comme il y a des vanités dans la multitude des occupations, il y en a aussi dans beaucoup de paroles; c’est pourquoi crains Dieu.
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].
8 Si tu vois dans une province le pauvre opprimé, le droit et la justice violés, ne t’étonne pas de la chose; car un plus grand veille sur un grand, et de plus grands encore veillent sur eux.
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],
9 Un avantage pour le pays à tous égards, c’est un roi qui donne ses soins à l’agriculture.
and even the king forces the people to give him some of the crops that they harvest.
10 Celui qui aime l’argent n’est pas rassasié par l’argent, et celui qui aime les richesses n’en goûte pas le fruit; c’est encore là une vanité.
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.
11 Quand les biens se multiplient, ceux qui les mangent se multiplient aussi; et quel avantage en revient-il à leurs possesseurs, sinon qu’ils les voient de leurs yeux?
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).
12 Le sommeil du travailleur est doux, qu’il ait peu ou beaucoup à manger; mais la satiété du riche ne le laisse pas dormir.
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.
13 Il est un mal grave que j’ai vu sous le soleil: des richesses conservées pour son malheur par celui qui les possède:
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,
14 Ces richesses se perdent par quelque fâcheux événement, et, s’il a engendré un fils, il ne lui reste rien entre les mains.
[because] something happens that causes their money to be gone, and when they die, there is no money for their children to get/inherit.
15 Tel qu’il est sorti du sein de sa mère, il s’en retournera nu, comme il était venu; et il ne recevra rien pour son travail, qu’il puisse emporter dans sa main:
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.
16 C’est encore là un grave mal, qu’il s’en aille comme il est venu: et quel avantage lui revient-il d’avoir travaillé pour le vent?
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].
17 De plus, toute sa vie il mange dans les ténèbres; il a beaucoup de chagrin, de souffrance et d’irritation.
[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).
18 Voici donc ce que j’ai vu: c’est qu’il est bon et séant pour l’homme de manger et de boire, et de jouir du bien-être dans tout son travail, auquel il se livre sous le soleil, durant les jours de vie que Dieu lui donne; car c’est là sa part.
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.
19 De plus, pour tout homme à qui Dieu donne richesses et biens, avec pouvoir d’en manger, d’en prendre sa part et de se réjouir de son travail, c’est là un don de Dieu.
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.
20 Car alors il ne songe guère aux jours de sa vie, parce que Dieu répand la joie dans son cœur.
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.
