Ecclésiaste 5
1 Prends garde où tu mets le pied dans le temple du Seigneur, et approche pour écouter; ton offrande sera plus agréable que les dons des insensés, car ils ignoreront qu'ils font le 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 hâte point d'ouvrir la bouche; que ton cœur ne soit pas pressé de proférer des paroles en présence de Dieu. Car Dieu est au plus haut du ciel, et toi tu es sur la terre; c'est pourquoi parle sobrement.
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 naît d'un excès d'inquiétude, et la voix de l'insensé naît de l'intempérance de sa langue.
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 auras fait un vœu au Seigneur, ne tarde pas à t'en acquitter; car le bon vouloir n'est pas dans les insensés. Rends donc à Dieu tout ce que tu Lui auras voué.
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 n'avoir point fait de vœu, que d'en faire et ne point 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; ne dis pas devant Dieu que tu ne savais pas, de peur que Dieu ne S'irrite de tes paroles, et qu'Il ne détruise les œuvres 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 Tout cela encore est abondance de songes, de vanités et de paroles; pour toi, 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 en une contrée le pauvre trompé, le jugement et la justice rendus par violence, n'en sois point surpris; car c'est un grand qui surveille un grand, et il y a plus grands encore au-dessus d'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 L'abondance de la terre est pour tous, quand, sous un roi les champs sont cultivés.
and even the king forces the people to give him some of the crops that they harvest.
10 Celui qui aime l'argent ne sera pas rassasié par l'argent; et celui qui aime le profit, le sera-t-il dans l'abondance?
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 s'accroît la richesse, il y a plus de gens pour la manger; et quel profit acquiert celui qui la possède? Seulement il a le pouvoir de le voir le premier 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 dormir est doux au serviteur, qu'il ait mangé peu ou beaucoup; quant à celui qui regorge de richesses, rien ne le laisse sommeiller.
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 une maladie que j'ai vue sous le soleil: c'est la richesse gardée par celui qui la garde à son 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 Ses richesses périront au milieu de cruelles inquiétudes; il a un fils, et il ne lui laissera rien dans la 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 Nu il est sorti du sein de sa mère; comme il est venu il s'en ira, sans rien recueillir de son labeur, pour l'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 Et cela encore est une maladie mauvaise; car comme il est venu il s'en ira de même; et quel est donc ce profit pour lequel il a travaillé en l'air?
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 Et ainsi il a passé tous ses jours dans les ténèbres, dans la tristesse, dans la colère, dans la maladie et dans la haine.
[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 Voilà ce que j'ai vu de bien: c'est que l'homme mange et boive, et qu'il voie prospérer tout son labeur pour lequel il aura travaillé sous le soleil, tous les jours de sa vie que Dieu lui a donnés; car tel est son partage.
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 Or tout homme à qui Dieu a donné richesse, possession, pouvoir de manger ses biens, de jouir de sa part, de se complaire en son labeur, a reçu 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 celui-là ne se souviendra guère de la succession des jours de sa vie; Dieu l'en a distrait par 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.
