Eklezyas 2
1 Mwen te di nan tèt mwen: “Vini koulye a, mwen va teste ou ak plezi. Pou sa, fè kè ou kontan.” Epi sa osi se te vanite.
[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 Mwen te di de afè ri, “Sa se foli,” e de plezi, “Kisa l ap akonpli?”
[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 Mwen te fè ankèt ak panse m kòman pou eksite kò m ak diven pandan panse m ap gide m ak sajès ak jan pou kenbe foli, jiskaske mwen ta kapab wè sa ki bon ki genyen pou fis a lòm yo fè anba syèl la pandan ti kras ane ke y ap viv yo.
[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 te agrandi zèv mwen yo. Mwen te bati kay pou mwen; mwen te plante chan rezen pou mwen.
I did great things: I [caused] houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted.
5 Mwen te fè jaden ak bèl plas pou tèt mwen e mwen te plante ladann yo tout kalite pye fwi.
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 te fè gwo basen dlo pou tèt mwen pou awoze yon forè bwa ki t ap grandi.
I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
7 Mwen te achte esklav, ni mal ni femèl e mwen te genyen ki te fèt lakay mwen. Anplis mwen te genyen bann mouton avèk twoupo pi gran pase tout wa ki te Jérusalem avan m yo.
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 Anplis, mwen te ranmase ajan ak lò pou pwòp tèt mwen ansanm ak trezò a wa yo ak pwovens pa yo. Mwen te founi pou pwòp tèt mwen chantè, ni mal, ni femèl, e tout plezi a lòm yo—anpil konkibin.
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 Epi mwen te vin gran, pi gran pase tout wa ki te avan m Jérusalem yo. Konsa, sajès mwen te kanpe avè m.
So, I became greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was [very] wise.
10 Tout sa ke zye m te anvi, mwen pa t refize yo. Mwen pa t refize kè m okenn plezi li te vle, paske kè m te kontan akoz tout zèv mwen yo, e sa se te rekonpans pou tout travay mwen yo.
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 Konsa, mwen te konsidere tout zèv men m te konn fè yo, avèk travay ke m te fòse fè yo, men gade byen, tout te vanite ak kouri dèyè van, e pa t gen okenn avantaj anba solèy la.
[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 Konsa mwen te vire konsidere sajès, afè moun ensanse menm ak foli; paske se kisa yon nonm ki swiv wa sila a ka fè, sinon sa ki te konn fèt deja?
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 Epi mwen te wè ke sajès toujou genyen sou vanite, tankou limyè genyen sou tenèb.
And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,
14 Zye a mesye saj la anndan tèt li; men moun ensanse a mache nan tenèb. Sepandan, mwen konnen ke se menm desten ki va rive yo tou de.
[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 Konsa, mwen rive di tèt mwen: “Kon desten a moun ensanse a, se konsa l ap rive m. Alò, poukisa mwen te fòse fè anpil sajès?” Alò, pou sa mwen te di tèt mwen: “Sa, anplis, se vanite.”
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 Paske nanpwen okenn memwa k ap sonje nonm saj la, menm jan pou ensanse a, akoz nan tout jou k ap vini yo, tout moun va bliye yo nèt. Epi konsa, nonm saj la ak ensanse a mouri tou de!
Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten [DOU].”
17 Pou sa, mwen te rayi lavi, paske travay ki te fèt anba syèl la te yon doulè pou mwen; paske tout bagay se kòve ak kouri dèyè van.
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 Konsa, mwen te rayi tout fwi a travay mwen yo, pou sila mwen te fè efò anba solèy la; paske mwen ap oblije kite li bay nonm nan k ap swiv mwen an.
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 Epi se kilès ki konnen si li va saj, oswa moun fou? Malgre li va gen kontwòl sou tout fwi travay mwen. Pou sila mwen te fòse fè ak sajès yo, anba solèy la. Sa, anplis, se vanite.
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 Pou sa, mwen te pèdi espwa nèt a tout fwi a zèv mwen pou sila mwen te travay anba solèy la.
I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
21 Kote ki genyen yon nonm ki te travay ak sajès, konesans ak kapasite, alò, li va kite eritaj li a yon moun ki pa t travay pou yo. Sa osi se vanite ak yon gwo mal.
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 Paske se kisa ke yon nonm jwenn pou tout travay li, nan efò ke li te fòse fè anba solèy la?
So, it seems that people do not [RHQ] get much for all the hard work that they do and for worrying.
23 Paske tout jou li yo, travay li plen ak doulè ak chagren; menm nan lannwit tèt li pa jwenn repo. Sa tou, se vanite.
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 Nanpwen anyen pi bon pou yon nonm, ke manje, bwè, e di tèt li, ke travay li a bon. Sa a mwen konn wè tou, ke li sòti nan men 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 se kilès ki ka manje, e kilès ki ka jwenn plezi li plis pase m?
There is absolutely no one [RHQ] who is able to enjoy those things if God does not give those things to him.
26 Paske a yon nonm ki bon nan zye Bondye, Li te bay sajès, konesans ak lajwa; men a pechè a, Li te bay tach ranmase ak rasanble pou li kab bay a sila ki bon nan zye Bondye a. Sa anplis se vanite ak kouri dèyè van.
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.
