Proverbs 23
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Proverbes 23
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| When you take your seat at the feast with a ruler, give thought with care to what is before you; | Si tu es à table avec un grand, Fais attention à ce qui est devant toi; |
| And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food. | Mets un couteau à ta gorge, Si tu as trop d`avidité. |
| Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit. | Ne convoite pas ses friandises: C`est un aliment trompeur. |
| Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money. | Ne te tourmente pas pour t`enrichir, N`y applique pas ton intelligence. |
| Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven. | Veux-tu poursuivre du regard ce qui va disparaître? Car la richesse se fait des ailes, Et comme l`aigle, elle prend son vol vers les cieux. |
| Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat: | Ne mange pas le pain de celui dont le regard est malveillant, Et ne convoite pas ses friandises; |
| For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you. | Car il est comme les pensées de son âme. Mange et bois, te dira-t-il; Mais son coeur n`est point avec toi. |
| The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted. | Tu vomiras le morceau que tu as mangé, Et tu auras perdu tes propos agréables. |
| Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words. | Ne parle pas aux oreilles de l`insensé, Car il méprise la sagesse de tes discours. |
| Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father; | Ne déplace pas la borne ancienne, Et n`entre pas dans le champ des orphelins; |
| For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you. | Car leur vengeur est puissant: Il défendra leur cause contre toi. |
| Give your heart to teaching, and your ears to the words of knowledge. | Ouvre ton coeur à l`instruction, Et tes oreilles aux paroles de la science. |
| Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him. | N`épargne pas la correction à l`enfant; Si tu le frappes de la verge, il ne mourra point. |
| Give him blows with the rod, and keep his soul safe from the underworld. | En le frappant de la verge, Tu délivres son âme du séjour des morts. |
| My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart; | Mon fils, si ton coeur est sage, Mon coeur à moi sera dans la joie; |
| And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things. | Mes entrailles seront émues d`allégresse, Quand tes lèvres diront ce qui est droit. |
| Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day; | Que ton coeur n`envie point les pécheurs, Mais qu`il ait toujours la crainte de l`Éternel; |
| For without doubt there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. | Car il est un avenir, Et ton espérance ne sera pas anéantie. |
| Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way. | Écoute, mon fils, et sois sage; Dirige ton coeur dans la voie droite. |
| Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat: | Ne sois pas parmi les buveurs de vin, Parmi ceux qui font excès des viandes: |
| For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed. | Car l`ivrogne et celui qui se livre à des excès s`appauvrissent, Et l`assoupissement fait porter des haillons. |
| Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old. | Écoute ton père, lui qui t`a engendré, Et ne méprise pas ta mère, quand elle est devenue vieille. |
| Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense. | Acquiers la vérité, et ne la vends pas, La sagesse, l`instruction et l`intelligence. |
| The father of the upright man will be glad, and he who has a wise child will have joy because of him. | Le père du juste est dans l`allégresse, Celui qui donne naissance à un sage aura de la joie. |
| Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy. | Que ton père et ta mère se réjouissent, Que celle qui t`a enfanté soit dans l`allégresse! |
| My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways. | Mon fils, donne-moi ton coeur, Et que tes yeux se plaisent dans mes voies. |
| For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole. | Car la prostituée est une fosse profonde, Et l`étrangère un puits étroit. |
| Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men. | Elle dresse des embûches comme un brigand, Et elle augmente parmi les hommes le nombre des perfides. |
| Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark? | Pour qui les ah? pour qui les hélas? Pour qui les disputes? pour qui les plaintes? Pour qui les blessures sans raison? pour qui les yeux rouges? |
| Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine. | Pour ceux qui s`attardent auprès du vin, Pour ceux qui vont déguster du vin mêlé. |
| Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down: | Ne regarde pas le vin qui paraît d`un beau rouge, Qui fait des perles dans la coupe, Et qui coule aisément. |
| In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake. | Il finit par mordre comme un serpent, Et par piquer comme un basilic. |
| Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things. | Tes yeux se porteront sur des étrangères, Et ton coeur parlera d`une manière perverse. |
| Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support. | Tu seras comme un homme couché au milieu de la mer, Comme un homme couché sur le sommet d`un mât: |
| They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again. | On m`a frappé,... je n`ai point de mal!... On m`a battu,... je ne sens rien!... Quand me réveillerai-je?... J`en veux encore! |
