Eklezyas 3
1 Gen yon lè pou chak bagay. Bondye fikse yon tan pou chak bagay k'ap fèt sou latè.
There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.
2 Li fikse lè pou ou fèt, lè pou ou mouri, lè pou ou plante, lè pou ou rekòlte,
There is a time to be born, and there is a time to die. There is a time to plant [seeds], and there is a time to harvest crops.
3 lè pou ou touye, lè pou ou geri, lè pou ou kraze, lè pou ou bati.
There is a time to kill [people], and there is a time to heal [people]. There is a time to tear things down, and there is a time to build things.
4 Li fikse lè pou ou kriye, lè pou ou ri, lè pou ou nan lapenn, lè pou ou fè fèt,
There is a time to cry, and there is a time to laugh. There is a time to mourn, and there is a time to dance [joyfully].
5 lè pou ou kouche ak madanm ou, lè pou ou pa kouche ak li, lè pou nou fè karès, lè pou nou pa fè karès.
There is a time to throw away stones [from a field], and there is a time to gather stones [to build walls/houses]. There is a time to embrace [people], and there is a time to not embrace [people].
6 Li fikse lè pou ou chache, lè pou ou pèdi, lè pou ou fè ekonomi, lè pou ou gaspiye lajan,
There is a time to search for things, and there is a time to stop searching for things. There is a time to keep/save things, and there is a time to throw things away.
7 lè pou ou dechire, lè pou ou koud, lè pou ou rete san pale, lè pou ou pale.
There is a time to tear [our old clothes], and there is a time to mend [clothes]. There is a time to say nothing, and there is a time when we should speak.
8 Li fikse lè pou ou renmen, lè pou ou rayi, lè pou nou fè lagè, lè pou nou fè lapè.
There is a time when we should love [things that people do], and there is a time when we should hate [things that people do]. There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.
9 Kisa yon nonm jwenn nan travay li?
(What do people gain from all the work that they do?/It seems that people gain very little from all the work that they do [RHQ]).
10 Mwen rive konnen ki kalite travay Bondye bay moun pou yo fè.
I have seen the work that God has given people to do.
11 Li fikse yon lè pou chak bagay byen fèt. Li mete nan kè moun lanvi pou yo konnen sa ki gen pou rive denmen. Men, li pa janm kite yo fin konprann nèt travay l'ap fè a.
God has appointed a time that is right/correct for everything to happen. He has [also] caused people to realize that there are things that will endure forever. But in spite of that, no one can completely understand everything that God has done, from the time that he starts doing things until he finishes them.
12 Mwen wè pi bon bagay yon moun ka fè nan lavi, se fè kè ou kontan epi se fè sa ou vin pou fè a byen.
I know that the best [LIT] thing for us people to do is to rejoice and to do good things [all] during the time that we are alive.
13 Tout moun fèt pou yo manje, pou yo bwè, pou yo jwi sa travay yo rapòte yo. Sa se kado Bondye ba yo.
And I also know that everyone should eat and drink, and enjoy the work that they do. Those are things that God gives to us.
14 Mwen konnen tou sa Bondye fè la pou toutan. Ou pa ka mete anyen sou li, ou pa ka wete anyen ladan l'. Bondye fè sa konsa pou lèzòm ka gen krentif pou li.
I [also] know that what God does endures forever. No one can add to what God does, and no one can take away from the things that God does. God does those things in order that people would revere him.
15 Sa ki rive koulye a te rive deja! Sa ki gen pou rive te rive deja tou! Bondye fè bagay ki te rive deja rive ankò!
Things that exist now have already existed previously, and things that will happen in the future have already happened previously; God causes the same things to happen many times.
16 Apre sa, mwen wè sou latè se mechanste ou jwenn kote pou ou ta jwenn jistis. Malveyans chita nan tribinal yo.
Furthermore, I saw that on this earth [MTY], even in the courts where we expect judges to make right decisions about what people had done, they did many wicked [DOU] things.
17 Mwen di nan kè mwen: Bondye ap jije ni bon yo ni mechan yo, paske chak bagay gen lè pa yo. Gen yon tan pou tou sa w'ap fè.
[So] I said to myself [SYN], “God will judge [both] righteous [people] and wicked [people]; there is a time [for him to do that], because there is a time for him to do everything.”
18 Mwen di nan kè mwen ankò: Bondye ap gade kote moun ye. L'ap fè yo wè yo pa pi bon pase zannimo.
And regarding humans, I [also] said to myself, “God is testing us, to show us that [in one way] people are no different than animals,
19 Lè ou gade byen, sò moun ak sò zannimo, se menm bagay la. Ni yonn ni lòt gen pou mouri. Se menm souf la k'ap bat nan tou de. Moun pa gen ankenn avantaj sou zannimo, paske lavi pa vo anyen ni pou yonn ni pou lòt.
because what happens to people happens to animals. Animals die, and people die. We all must breathe [to remain alive]. [With regard to that], people have no advantage over animals, so I have a difficult time understanding that.
20 Tou de pral menm kote Tou de soti nan pousyè tè a. Tou de ap tounen pousyè tè a ankò.
[People and animals] all die and are buried. We are all made of soil, and [when we die], our corpses become soil again.
21 Ki moun ki konnen si nanm moun moute anwo nan syèl epi nanm zannimo desann anba tè vre?
No one knows [RHQ] for sure that when we die, our souls/spirits go up to heaven and the souls/spirits of animals go down to the place where the dead are.”
22 Konsa, mwen wè pa gen pi bon bagay yon moun ka fè sou latè pase jwi sa travay li rapòte l'. Se sèlman sa li ka fè. Epitou, ki moun k'ap fè l' tounen pou l' ka konnen sa k'ap rive apre li fin mouri?
So I concluded that the best thing for [us] people to do is to be happy about the work that we do, because that is what God has given to us. I say that because no one of us [RHQ] knows what happens to us after we die.
