Eklezyas 2
1 Mwen di nan kè mwen: Bon! Ann al pran plezi nou! Ann al mennen lavi dous! Men, mwen jwenn sa a tou, sa pa vo anyen!
[Then] I said to myself, “Okay, I will try to do everything that I enjoy. I will find out whether doing what I enjoy can truly enable me to be happy.” But I found out that doing that was also useless/senseless.
2 Ala bagay sòt se lè yon moun ap plede ri! Pran plezi, sa pa rapòte anyen!
[So] I said [to myself], “It is foolish to laugh [all the time], and continually doing what I enjoy does not seem to bring any lasting benefit.”
3 Tèlman mwen t'ap chache gen konprann, mwen pran desizyon lage kò m' nan bwè bweson, nan viv tankou moun fou. Mwen di nan kè m': Ou pa janm konnen, se ka sa ki pi bon pou yon moun fè pandan de twa jou l'ap pase sou tè a.
[So], after thinking a lot about it, I decided to (cheer myself/cause myself to be happy) by drinking [a lot of] wine. [So] while I was still trying to be wise, I decided to do things that [many] people do to be happy during the short time that they are alive on the earth.
4 Mwen fè gwo zafè: Mwen bati yon bann kay, mwen plante anpil jaden rezen.
I did great things: I [caused] houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted.
5 Mwen fè jaden ak bèl lakou, mwen plante tout kalite pyebwa ki ka donnen ladan yo.
I [told my workers] to make gardens and parks. [Then] I [told them to] fill the gardens with many kinds of fruit trees.
6 Mwen fouye basen pou m' pran dlo, konsa m'a ka wouze tout pyebwa yo.
I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
7 Mwen achte fi kou gason pou sèvi m' esklav, san konte moun ki fèt esklav lakay mwen. Mwen te gen bèt ak zannimo pase tout moun ki janm viv nan lavil Jerizalèm.
I bought male and female slaves, and babies [who later became my slaves] were born in my palace. I also owned more livestock than any of the previous kings in Jerusalem had owned.
8 Mwen ranmase anpil bagay fèt an ajan ak an lò ansanm ak richès lòt chèf k'ap dirije nan pwovens yo. Mwen te gen moun pou chante pou mwen, fi kou gason. Mete sou sa, bagay gason pi renmen, mwen te gen fanm mezi mwen te bezwen.
I also accumulated large amounts of silver and gold [that were paid to me] from the treasures of kings and rulers of provinces. [I hired] men and women to sing for me, and I had many (concubines/slave wives) who gave me [much] pleasure [EUP].
9 Wi, pou grannèg mwen te grannèg, pi grannèg pase tout lòt moun ki janm viv nan lavil Jerizalèm. Men, mwen pa janm kite sa vire tèt mwen.
So, I became greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was [very] wise.
10 Mwen te gen tou sa mwen te vle. Mwen pa janm refize tèt mwen ankenn plezi. Mwen te kontan wè tou sa mwen te travay fè. Se kè kontan sa a ki tout rekonpans mwen.
I got everything [LIT] that I [SYN] saw and wanted. I did everything [LIT] that I thought would enable me to be happy. All those things that I [SYN] enjoyed were [like] a reward for all my hard work.
11 Apre sa, mwen kalkile sou tou sa m' te fè ak men m', sou tout traka mwen te bay kò m' pou m' te fè yo. Enben! Mwen jwenn sa pa t' vo anyen. Anyen pa rapòte anyen. Konsa, pa gen ankenn pwofi pou tou sa ou fè sou latè beni.
[But] then I thought about all the hard work that I [SYN] had done [to get all those things], and none of it seems to bring any lasting benefit [DOU]. It was all [like] chasing the wind.
12 Lè ou gade byen, kisa yon wa ka fè pase sa wa ki te anvan l' yo te fè? Apre sa, mwen pran kalkile sa sa vle di lè yon moun gen konprann, osinon lè yon moun sòt, ou ankò lè yon moun fou.
Then I started to think about being wise, and [also about] being foolish [DOU]. [I said to myself, “I certainly do not think that] [RHQ] the next king will be able to do anything better than I can.”
13 Mwen wè menm jan pito ou nan limyè pase ou nan fènwa, pito ou gen konprann pase ou pa genyen.
And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,
14 Moun ki gen konprann yo, se pa je pete klere yo ye. Moun ki pa gen konprann yo ap mache nan fènwa. Men, mwen konnen tou de ap fini menm jan.
[because] wise people [walk in the daylight and] [IDM] can see where they are going, but foolish people walk in the darkness [and cannot see where they are going].” But I [also] realized that both wise people and foolish people eventually die.
15 Mwen di nan kè mwen: Sa ki rive moun fou yo ap rive m' tou. Nan kondisyon sa a, sa m' te bezwen gen tout konprann sa yo? Kisa sa ap pwofite m'? Mwen di nan kè m': Sa a tou, sa pa vo anyen!
So I said to myself, “I am very wise, but I will [die at the end of my life], like foolish people do. So (how has it benefited me to be very wise?/it certainly has not benefited me to be very wise [RHQ]). I do not understand why [people consider that] it is valuable to be wise.
16 Pesonn p'ap janm chonje moun ki gen konprann yo ni tou yo p'ap chonje moun sòt yo. Pi devan, n'ap bliye yo tout. Nou tout gen pou mouri, kit nou gen bon konprann kit nou sòt.
Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten [DOU].”
17 Se konsa lavi pa di m' anyen ankò. Tou sa mwen fè sou latè se traka li ban mwen. Paske anyen pa vo anyen, anyen pa rapòte anyen.
So I hated being alive, because everything that we do here on the earth [MTY] distresses me. It all seems to be useless [like] chasing the wind.
18 Tout travay mwen te fè sou latè pa di m' anyen ankò, paske mwen konnen mwen gen pou m' kite yo pou sa k'ap vin dèyè.
I [also began to] hate all the hard work that I had done, because [when I die], everything [that I have acquired] will belong to the next king.
19 Se ka yon moun lespri, se ka yon moun sòt. Pesonn pa konnen. Men, se pou li m'ap kite tou sa mwen te travay di fè ak lespri mwen. Sa a ankò, sa pa vo anyen.
And (who/no one) knows [RHQ] whether he will be wise or whether he will be foolish. But even if he is foolish, he will acquire all the things that I worked very hard and wisely to get.
20 Se konsa mwen vin konprann tout travay di mwen te fè sou latè p'ap rapòte m' anyen. Sa vin dekouraje m'.
I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
21 Wi, yon nonm fè travay li avèk lespri, avèk konesans, avèk ladrès. Apre sa, se pou l' pati kite l' pou yon lòt ki pa leve ni lou ni lejè nan travay la. Sa a tou, sa pa vo anyen. Sa pa bon menm.
Some people work wisely and skillfully, using the things that they have learned. But [when they die], they leave everything, and someone who has not worked hard acquires those things. And that also [seemed to] be senseless and caused me to be discouraged.
22 Ou travay di, ou pran kont tèt chaje ou, ou pa dòmi pou ou ka fè sa w'ap fè a. Apre sa, kisa sa rapòte ou?
So, it seems that people do not [RHQ] get much for all the hard work that they do and for worrying.
23 Ou pase tout lavi ou nan lapenn, nan chagren. Menm lannwit lespri ou ap travay. Sa a tou, sa pa sèvi ou anyen.
Every day the work that they do causes them to experience pain and to be worried. And during the night, their minds are not able to rest. That also is very frustrating.
24 Pi bon bagay yon moun ka fè, se manje, se bwè, se jwi sa travay ou rapòte ou. Men la tou, mwen wè sa se travay Bondye.
[So I decided that] the best thing that we can do is to enjoy what we eat and drink, and [also] enjoy our work. And I realized that those things are what God intends for us.
25 Paske, san Bondye, ki moun ki ka manje? Ki moun ki ka bwè.
There is absolutely no one [RHQ] who is able to enjoy those things if God does not give those things to him.
26 Bondye bay moun ki fè l' plezi bon konprann, konesans ak kè kontan. Konsa tou, li fè mechan yo travay fè lajan sere pou l' ka bay moun ki fè l' plezi. La tou, sa pa vo anyen. Sa pa rapòte anyen.
God enables those who please him to be wise, to know [many things], and to enjoy [many things]. But if sinful people work hard and become rich, God [can] take their money away from them and give it to those who please him. But that also is something that is difficult for me to understand. [Their working hard seems] useless, [like] chasing the wind.
