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] 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 Se pou ou fè sa wa a bay lòd fè a, poutèt sèman ou te fè devan Bondye a.
I [counsel thee] to keep the king's commandment, and [that] in regard of the oath of God.
3 Pa prese wete kò ou devan li, pa pèsiste nan move pant lan, paske li ka fè ou sa li vle.
Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatever pleaseth him.
4 Lè wa a pale, se fini. Pa gen moun ki pou mande l' poukisa l'ap fè sa l'ap fè a.
Where the word of a king [is], [there is] power: and who may say to him, what doest thou?
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.
He who keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
6 Chak bagay gen jan pou yo fè l' ak lè pou yo fè l'. Se la tout tèt chaje a ye.
Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man [is] great upon him.
7 Pesonn pa konnen sa ki pral rive. Epi pa gen pesonn ki ka di nou sa ki pral rive.
For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
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.
[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 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 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 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.
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 Se paske yo pran twòp tan pou yo pini moun ki fè mal yo ki fè moun toujou anvi fè sa ki 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 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.
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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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].
