Eklezyas 8
1 Se kilès ki tankou nonm saj ki konnen sans a yon bagay? Sajès a yon nonm klere li e fè vizaj sevè li a vin briye.
Who [is] as the wise [man]? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.
2 Mwen di: “Swiv lòd wa a akoz sèman ki te fèt devan Bondye a.
I [counsel thee] to keep the king's commandment, and [that] in regard of the oath of God.
3 Pa prese abandone lòd li. Pa jwenn ou menm nan yon move konbinezon, paske l ap fè nenpòt sa ki fè li plezi.”
Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatever pleaseth him.
4 Akoz pawòl a wa a pote otorite, se kilès ki va di l: “Kisa w ap fè la a?”
Where the word of a king [is], [there is] power: and who may say to him, what doest thou?
5 Sila ki swiv yon kòmand wayal pa jwenn twoub; paske yon kè saj konnen tan ak mwayen ki bon pou aji.
He who keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
6 Paske gen yon tan ak mwayen ki bon pou chak plezi, malgre pwoblèm moun an peze lou sou li.
Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man [is] great upon him.
7 Si pa gen pèsòn ki konnen ki sa k ap vin rive, se kilès ki ka di li kilè li va rive.
For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
8 Nanpwen moun ki ka sèvi ak van pou anpeche van, ni ki gen otorite sou jou lanmò a; epi pa gen lese tonbe ni kite nan tan lagè, ni mal la kap fèt p ap delivre sila ki fè l yo.
[There is] no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death: and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
9 Tout sa mwen konn wè yo, e kon aplike panse m a tout zèv ki te fèt anba solèy la, kote moun sèvi otorite l sou lòt pou fè mal la.
All this have I seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: [there is] a time in which one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
10 Konsa, mwen konn wè mechan yo antere, menm sila ki te konn antre sòti nan lye sen yo, e ase vit yo vin bliye nèt nan menm vil kote yo te aji konsa a. Sa tou, se vanite.
And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this [is] also vanity.
11 Akoz jijman kont yon zak mechan pa rive ase vit; akoz sa, kè fis a lòm nan ki rete pami yo vin dedye nèt pou fè mal.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
12 Malgre yon pechè fè mal san fwa e mennen yon vi ki long, mwen toujou konnen ke sa prale byen pou sila ki gen lakrent Bondye yo, ki gen lakrent devan L yo.
Though a sinner doeth evil a hundred times, and his [days] are prolonged, yet surely I know that it will be well with them that fear God, who fear before him:
13 Men, sa pa prale byen pou moun mechan an, e li p ap pwolonje jou li yo tankou yon lonbraj, paske li pa gen lakrent Bondye.
But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
14 Gen yon vanite ki fèt sou latè, sa vle di, gen moun dwat ki vin viktim a mechan yo. Yon lòt kote, gen moun mechan an ki vin tonbe akoz zèv moun dwat yo. Mwen di sa anplis se vanite.
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there are just [men], to whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked [men], to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also [is] vanity.
15 Pou sa, mwen te rekòmande plezi; paske, pa gen anyen pou yon nonm anba solèy la fè sof ke manje, bwè, e fè plezi; epi sa va fè l kanpe nan travay di li diran tout jou lavi, ke Bondye te bay li anba solèy la.
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labor the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
16 Lè mwen te bay kè m pou aprann sajès ak pou m wè tach ki te konn fèt sou tè a, (malgre sa ta fè yon moun pa janm dòmi ni lajounen, ni lannwit),
When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also [there is that] neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes: )
17 konsa, lè mwen te wè tout zèv Bondye te fè, mwen te vin aprann ke lòm p ap kapab dekouvri travay ki te konn fèt anba syèl la. Malgre lòm ta chache ak tout dilijans, li p ap twouve li. Malgre yon nonm saj ta di: “Mwen konnen”, li p ap ka dekouvri li.
Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man may labor to seek [it] out, yet he shall not find [it]; yes further; though a wise [man] thinketh to know [it], yet shall he not be able to find [it].
