Eklezyas 8
1 Se moun ki gen bon konprann ki konnen jan pou l' bay esplikasyon. Lè yon moun gen bon konprann, sa fè kè l' kontan, tout pli nan fwon l' disparèt.
Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.
2 Se pou ou fè sa wa a bay lòd fè a, poutèt sèman ou te fè devan Bondye a.
Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
3 Pa prese wete kò ou devan li, pa pèsiste nan move pant lan, paske li ka fè ou sa li vle.
Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
4 Lè wa a pale, se fini. Pa gen moun ki pou mande l' poukisa l'ap fè sa l'ap fè a.
For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Moun ki fè sa yo ba li lòd fè a pa nan pwoblèm. Yo p'ap fè l' anyen. Yon nonm ki gen bon konprann konnen ki jan ak kilè pou l' fè sa li gen pou l' fè a.
Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
6 Chak bagay gen jan pou yo fè l' ak lè pou yo fè l'. Se la tout tèt chaje a ye.
For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
7 Pesonn pa konnen sa ki pral rive. Epi pa gen pesonn ki ka di nou sa ki pral rive.
Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
8 Pesonn pa mèt lavi l'. Lè jou a rive pou l' mouri, fòk li mouri. Pesonn pa ka ranvwaye jou lanmò li. Nou pa ka kouri pou batay sa a. Ata mechanste mechan yo pa ka sove yo.
As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
9 Mwen wè tou sa, lè m' t'ap kalkile sou sa k'ap pase sou latè. Moun ap dominen sou moun pou fè yo soufri.
All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.
10 Wi. Mwen wè yo antere mechan yo, yo kouche kadav yo anba tè. Mwen wè moun ki mache dwat yo pa menm jwenn kote pou moun antere yo. Tout moun nan lavil la bliye sa yo te fè. Tou sa ankò pa vo anyen, sa p'ap sèvi anyen.
Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.
11 Se paske yo pran twòp tan pou yo pini moun ki fè mal yo ki fè moun toujou anvi fè sa ki mal.
When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
12 Yon moun k'ap fè sa ki mal gen dwa fè san (100) krim, yonn sou lòt, epi l'ap toujou mache sou moun. Men, mwen konnen yo di tou: Si ou gen krentif pou Bondye, w'ap viv ak kè kontan, paske ou respekte Bondye.
Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.
13 Men se pa menm bagay la pou mechan an. L'ap malere, lavi li tankou yon lonbraj. L'ap mouri bonè, paske li pa gen krentif pou Bondye.
Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
14 Men tou sa se pawòl anlè. Gade sa k'ap pase sou latè: Gen moun ki mache dwat ki resevwa pinisyon mechan yo. Gen mechan ki resevwa rekonpans moun ki mache dwat yo. Mwen di tou sa pa vo anyen.
There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.
15 Se konsa mwen mache di se pou tout moun jwi lavi yo, paske sèl plezi yon nonm gen nan lavi a se manje, se bwè, se pran plezi. Se sa ase li ka fè pandan l'ap travay di nan lavi Bondye ba l' pou l' viv sou latè a.
So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
16 Chak fwa mwen pran desizyon pou m' chache konprann, chak fwa mwen pran kalkile sa k'ap pase sou latè, mwen wè ou te mèt pa janm dòmi lajounen kou lannwit,
When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—
17 ou p'ap janm ka konprann travay Bondye sou latè. Ou mèt fè sa ou vle, ou p'ap janm ka rive jwenn sa w'ap chache a. Moun ki gen bon konprann kwè yo konnen. Men yo pa konnen plis pase yon lòt.
I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.
