Ecclésiaste 7
1 Une bonne réputation vaut mieux que le bon parfum, et le jour de la mort 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 Mieux vaut aller dans une maison de deuil que d’aller dans une maison de festin; car c’est là la fin de tout homme, et celui qui vit prend la chose à cœur.
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 Mieux vaut le chagrin que le rire; car avec un visage triste le cœur peut être content.
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 de deuil, et le cœur des insensés dans la maison de 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 Mieux vaut entendre la réprimande du sage que d’entendre 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 bruit des épines sous la chaudière, ainsi est le rire des insensés. C’est encore là 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’oppression rend insensé le sage, et les présents corrompent le cœur.
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; mieux vaut un esprit patient qu’un esprit hautain.
Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.
9 Ne te hâte pas en ton esprit de t’irriter, car l’irritation 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 dis pas: D’où vient que les jours passés étaient meilleurs que ceux-ci? Car ce n’est point par sagesse que tu demandes cela.
Do not say, “Things were a lot better [RHQ] previously,” because it is people who are not wise who say that.
11 La sagesse vaut autant qu’un héritage, et même plus 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 à l’ombre de la sagesse on est abrité comme à l’ombre de l’argent; mais un avantage de la science, c’est que la sagesse fait vivre ceux qui la possèdent.
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 Regarde l’œuvre de Dieu: qui pourra redresser ce qu’il a courbé?
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 du bonheur, sois heureux, et au jour du malheur, réfléchis: Dieu a fait l’un comme l’autre, afin que l’homme ne découvre en rien ce qui sera 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 J’ai vu tout cela pendant les jours de ma vanité. Il y a tel juste qui périt dans sa justice, et il y a tel méchant qui prolonge son existence 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 juste à l’excès, et ne te montre pas 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 sois pas méchant à l’excès, et ne sois pas insensé: pourquoi mourrais-tu avant ton temps?
If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young.
18 Il est bon que tu retiennes ceci, et que tu ne négliges point cela; car celui qui craint Dieu échappe à toutes ces choses.
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 rend le sage plus fort 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 Non, il n’y a sur la terre point d’homme juste qui fasse le bien et qui ne pèche jamais.
There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.
21 Ne fais donc pas attention à toutes les paroles qu’on dit, 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 ton cœur a senti bien des fois que tu as toi-même maudit les autres.
You know that you have also cursed other people.
23 J’ai éprouvé tout cela par la sagesse. J’ai dit: Je serai sage. Et la sagesse est restée 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 loin, ce qui est profond, profond, qui peut l’atteindre?
Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.
25 Je me suis appliqué dans mon cœur à connaître, à sonder, et à chercher la sagesse et la raison des choses, et à connaître la folie de la méchanceté et la stupidité de la sottise.
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 Et j’ai trouvé plus amère que la mort la femme dont le cœur est un piège et un filet, et dont les mains sont des liens; celui qui est agréable à Dieu lui échappe, mais le pécheur est pris 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 ce que j’ai trouvé, dit l’Ecclésiaste, en examinant les choses une à une pour en saisir la raison;
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 voici ce que mon âme cherche encore, et que je n’ai point trouvé. J’ai trouvé un homme entre mille; mais je n’ai pas trouvé une femme entre elles toutes.
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 Seulement, voici ce que j’ai trouvé, c’est que Dieu a fait les hommes droits; mais ils ont cherché beaucoup de détours.
[But] I did learn one thing: When God created people, they were righteous, but they have found many ways to do many evil things.
