< Eklezyas 3 >

1 Gen yon lè apwente pou tout bagay. Epi gen yon tan pou chak sa ki rive anba syèl la—
Everything has its own time—a time for all that happens here:
2 Yon tan pou ne, yon tan pou mouri; yon tan pou plante, ak yon tan pou dechouke sa ki plante a.
A time of birth, and a time of death. A time of planting, and a time of harvest.
3 Yon tan pou touye e yon tan pou geri; yon tan pou demoli e yon tan pou bati.
A time of killing, and a time of healing. A time of tearing down, and a time of building up.
4 Yon tan pou kriye e yon tan pou ri; yon tan pou fè dèy e yon tan pou danse.
A time of crying, and a time of laughing. A time of mourning, and a time of dancing.
5 Yon tan pou voye wòch e yon tan pou ranmase wòch; yon tan pou anbrase e yon tan pou evite anbrase.
A time of throwing away stones, and a time of gathering up stones. A time of embracing, and a time of avoiding embracing.
6 Yon tan pou chache e yon tan pou pèdi. Yon tan pou konsève, e yon tan pou jete.
A time of searching, and a time of giving up searching. A time of keeping, and a time of throwing away.
7 Yon tan pou chire e yon tan pou koude; yon tan pou rete an silans e yon tan pou pale.
A time of tearing, and a time of mending. A time of keeping quiet, a time of speaking up.
8 Yon tan pou fè lanmou e yon tan pou rayisman; yon tan pou fè lagè e yon tan pou fè lapè.
A time of loving, and a time of hating. A time of warfare, and a time of peace.
9 Ki avantaj ouvriye a genyen nan tout efò ke li fè yo?
So what do you get for all your hard work?
10 Mwen te wè tach ke Bondye te bay a fis a lòm yo, avèk sila yo okipe tèt yo.
I have examined what God gives us to do.
11 Li te fè tout bagay bon nan tan li. Anplis, Li te mete letènite nan kè yo, pou ke lòm pa ka fin konprann travay Bondye te fè a soti nan kòmansman jis rive nan lafen.
Everything God does is beautifully timed, and even though he has also placed the idea of eternity in our minds, we can't fully understand what God does from beginning to end.
12 Mwen konnen ke pa gen pi bon bagay pou yo ta fè pase rejwi e fè byen pandan yo gen lavi a.
I concluded that there's nothing better than being happy and looking for the good in life.
13 Anplis, pou tout moun ki manje ak bwè yo wè bonte Bondye nan tout travay li yo—se don Bondye sa ye.
In addition everyone should eat and drink and enjoy their work—this is God's gift to us.
14 Mwen konnen ke tout sa Bondye fè va dire pou tout tan. Nanpwen anyen pou mete sou li e nanpwen anyen pou retire sou li, paske Bondye te tèlman travay pou lòm ta gen lakrent Li.
I also concluded that everything God does lasts forever: nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. God acts in this way so that people may stand in awe of him.
15 Sa ki egziste, te la deja e sa ki va ye, te ye deja. Konsa, Bondye chache jwenn sa ki fin pase.
Whatever was, is; and whatever will be, has been, and God examines the whole of time.
16 Anplis, mwen te wè anba solèy la ke nan plas lajistis gen mechanste; e nan plas ladwati gen mechanste.
I also observed that here on earth there was evil even in the place where there was supposed to be justice; even where things were meant to be right, there was evil.
17 Mwen te di a pwòp tèt mwen: “Bondye va jije ni sila ki dwat la, ni sila ki mechan an,” paske gen yon tan pou chak zèv ak chak bagay.
But then I thought to myself, “Ultimately God will judge both those who do right and those who do wrong, and every deed and action, at the appointed time.”
18 Mwen te di pwòp tèt mwen selon fis a lòm yo: “Anverite, Bondye te fè yo pase a leprèv pou yo ta wè ke se tankou bèt ke yo ye.”
I also thought to myself, “Regarding what happens to human beings—God proves to us that we're no better than animals.”
19 Paske desten a fis a lòm yo ak desten a bèt yo se menm. Tankou youn mouri, konsa lòt la mouri. Anverite, yo tout gen menm souf la, e nanpwen avantaj pou lòm sou bèt yo, paske tout se vanite.
For what happens to human beings is the same as what happens to animals—in the same way one dies, the other dies too. They all have the breath of life—so regarding any advantage human beings have over animals, there is none. Definitely this is very hard to understand!
20 Tout ale menm kote. Tout te sòti nan pousyè a, e tout ap retounen nan pousyè a.
They all end up in the same place—they all came from dust, and they all return to dust.
21 Se kilès ki ka konnen ke souf a lòm monte anwo e souf a bèt yo desann anba tè?
Who really knows whether the breath of life of human beings goes up above, and the breath of life of animals goes down below to the earth?
22 Mwen te wè ke nanpwen anyen ki pi bon pou lòm ta fè pase fè kè kontan nan tout sa li fè, paske se konsa sò a tonbe pou li. Paske se kilès ki ka fè l wè sa ki va vin rive apre li?
So I concluded that there's nothing better than for people to enjoy their work. This is what we are meant to do. For who can bring anyone back from the dead to show them what will happen after they die?

< Eklezyas 3 >