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