Ecclésiaste 7
1 Mieux vaut une bonne réputation que les parfums précieux; 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 dans une maison de festin; car dans celle-là on est averti de la fin de tous les hommes, et le vivant pense à ce qui doit arriver.
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 la colère que le rire, parce que par la tristesse du visage est corrigé le cœur de celui qui pèche.
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 où est la tristesse; et le cœur des insensés où est 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 Mieux vaut être repris par un sage que d’être trompé par les flatteries 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 Parce que, comme est le pétillement des épines qui brûlent sous une marmite, ainsi est le rire de l’insensé; mais cela même est 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 trouble le sage, et elle détruira la force de son 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’un discours que le commencement. Mieux vaut un homme patient qu’un arrogant.
Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.
9 Ne sois pas prompt à te mettre en colère; parce que la colère repose dans le sein de l’insensé.
Do not quickly (lose your temper/react to things angrily), because it is foolish people [SYN] who become very angry.
10 Ne dis pas: Quelle est la cause, penses-tu, que les temps anciens furent meilleurs qu’ils ne sont maintenant? car insensée est une question de ce genre.
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 plus utile avec les richesses, et elle sert davantage à 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 comme la sagesse protège, l’argent protège aussi; mais l’instruction a cela de plus, ainsi que la sagesse, qu’elles donnent la vie à leur possesseur.
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 Considère les œuvres de Dieu: personne ne peut corriger celui qu’il méprise.
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 heureux, jouis des biens, et précautionne-toi contre le mauvais jour; car comme l’un, ainsi il a fait l’autre, sans que l’homme trouve contre lui de justes plaintes.
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 encore vu ceci dans les jours de ma vanité: le juste périt dans sa justice, et l’impie vit longtemps dans sa malice.
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 point juste à l’excès, ni plus sage qu’il n’est nécessaire, pour que tu ne deviennes pas insensible.
[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 N’agis pas en impie à l’excès; et ne sois pas insensé, afin que tu ne meures pas dans un temps qui n’est pas le tien.
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 soutiennes le juste; mais même ne retire pas de celui-là ta main, parce que celui qui craint Dieu ne néglige rien.
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 a rendu le sage plus fort que dix princes d’une cité.
If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential than the ten most powerful/influential men in your city.
20 Car il n’est pas d’homme juste sur la terre qui fasse le bien et ne pèche point.
There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.
21 Mais surtout, à toutes les paroles qui se disent, ne prête pas ton cœur; 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 ta conscience sait que toi-même tu as fréquemment maudit les autres.
You know that you have also cursed other people.
23 J’ai tout tenté avec la sagesse. J’ai dit: Je deviendrai sage, et la sagesse s’est retirée bien 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 Beaucoup plus loin qu’elle n’était, et grande est sa profondeur; qui la trouvera?
Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.
25 J’ai parcouru toutes choses avec mon esprit, afin de savoir, de considérer, et de chercher la sagesse et la raison des choses, et de connaître l’impiété de l’insensé et l’erreur des imprudents:
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 la femme plus amère que la mort; elle est un lacs de chasseur, son cœur est un filet, ses mains sont des chaînes. Celui qui plaît à Dieu lui échappera; mais celui qui est pécheur sera 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 Voilà ce que j’ai trouvé, dit l’Ecclésiaste, une chose et une autre, afin de trouver une 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 Que cherche encore mon âme, et que je n’ai pas trouvée. J’ai trouvé un homme entre mille; une femme entre toutes, je ne l’ai pas trouvée.
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 J’ai trouvé cela seulement, que Dieu a fait l’homme droit, et que celui-ci s’est embarrassé lui-même dans des questions infinies.
[But] I did learn one thing: When God created people, they were righteous, but they have found many ways to do many evil things.
