Ecclésiaste 5
1 Prends garde à ton pied, quand tu vas dans la maison de Dieu, et approche-toi pour entendre, plutôt que pour donner le sacrifice des sots; car ils ne savent pas qu’ils font 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 te presse point de ta bouche, et que ton cœur ne se hâte point de proférer une parole devant Dieu; car Dieu est dans les cieux, et toi sur la terre: c’est pourquoi, que tes paroles soient 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 le songe vient de beaucoup d’occupations, et la voix du sot de beaucoup de paroles.
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 Quand tu auras voué un vœu à Dieu, ne tarde point à l’acquitter; car il ne prend pas plaisir aux sots: ce que tu auras voué, 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 que tu ne fasses point de vœu, que d’en faire un et de ne pas l’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 point devant l’ange que c’est une erreur. Pourquoi Dieu se courroucerait-il à ta voix, et détruirait-il l’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 dans la multitude des songes il y a des vanités, et aussi dans beaucoup de paroles; mais 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 le pauvre opprimé et le droit et la justice violentés dans une province, ne t’étonne pas de cela; car il y en a un qui est haut au-dessus des hauts, [et] qui y prend garde, et il y en a de plus hauts qu’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 La terre est profitable à tous égards, le roi même est asservi à la glèbe.
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 point rassasié par l’argent, et celui qui aime les richesses ne l’est pas par le revenu. Cela aussi est 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 Avec l’augmentation des biens, ceux qui les mangent augmentent aussi; et quel profit en a le maître, sauf qu’ il les voit de ses 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 est doux pour celui qui travaille, qu’il mange peu ou beaucoup; mais le rassasiement 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 y a un mal douloureux que j’ai vu sous le soleil: les richesses sont conservées à leurs maîtres pour leur détriment,
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 – ou ces richesses périssent par quelque circonstance malheureuse, et il a engendré un fils, et il n’a rien en sa main.
[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 Comme il est sorti du ventre de sa mère, il s’en retournera nu, s’en allant comme il est venu, et de son travail il n’emportera rien qu’il puisse prendre 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 Et cela aussi est un mal douloureux, que, tout comme il est venu, ainsi il s’en va; et quel profit a-t-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 Il mange aussi tous les jours de sa vie dans les ténèbres et se chagrine beaucoup, et est malade et irrité.
[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 ce que j’ai vu de bon et de beau: c’est de manger et de boire et de jouir du bien-être dans tout le travail dont [l’homme] se tourmente sous le soleil tous les jours de sa vie, que Dieu lui a donnés; 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 Et encore tout homme auquel Dieu donne de la richesse et des biens, et le pouvoir d’en manger et d’en prendre sa part, et de se réjouir en 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 il ne se souviendra pas beaucoup des jours de sa vie; car Dieu lui a donné une réponse dans la joie de 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.
