Proverbes 6
1 Mon fils, si tu t’es rendu caution pour ton ami, si tu t’es engagé pour un étranger,
My son, if someone has borrowed money from a friend or a stranger, and if you have promised that you will pay the money back if that person is unable to pay back the money he borrowed,
2 si tu es lié par les paroles de ta bouche, si tu es pris par les paroles de ta bouche,
you may be trapped by what you have agreed to do, [because if the one who borrowed the money is not able to pay it back, you will have to pay it]. What you have said that you will do will be like a snare to you.
3 fais donc ceci, mon ami: dégage-toi! Puisque tu es tombé aux mains de ton prochain, va, prosterne-toi et presse-le vivement!
So, my son, I will tell you what you should do to escape from your difficulty, so that the moneylender does not get control over your [wealth: ] Humbly go to your friend and plead with him [to cancel the agreement]!
4 Ne donne ni sommeil à tes yeux, ni assoupissement à tes paupières;
Do not wait until tomorrow; [go immediately]! Do not rest until you [go and talk with him].
5 dégage-toi, comme la gazelle de la main du chasseur, comme l’oiseau de la main de l’oiseleur.
Save yourself, like a deer that escapes from a deer hunter [or] like a bird that flees from a bird hunter.
6 Va vers la fourmi ô paresseux; considère ses voies et deviens sage.
You lazy individual, learn something from [watching] the ants. Become wise from observing what they do.
7 Elle qui n’a ni chef, ni inspecteur de travaux, ni souverain,
They do not have a king or a governor or any [other] person who rules them [and forces them to work],
8 elle amasse en été de quoi manger, elle recueille pendant la moisson sa nourriture.
[but] they work hard [all] during the summer, gathering and storing food to eat during the winter.
9 Jusques à quand, ô paresseux, seras-tu couché, quand te lèveras-tu de ton sommeil?
[But], you lazy loafer, how long will you [continue to] sleep [RHQ]? Are you never going to get up from sleeping [and go to work]?
10 « Un peu de sommeil, un peu d’assoupissement, un peu croiser les mains sur son lit. »
You sleep a for a little time; [you say, “I will take] just a short nap.” You lie down and fold/lay your hands [across your chest] and rest;
11 Et ta pauvreté viendra comme un voyageur, et ta disette comme un homme en armes!
and suddenly you will become poor. It will be as though a bandit suddenly comes and takes all that you have.
12 Un homme pervers, un homme inique, marche la perversité dans la bouche;
[I will describe for you what] worthless and evil people [are like]. They constantly lie;
13 il cligne les yeux, gratte du pied, fait des signes avec les doigts.
by winking their eyes and moving their feet and making signs with their fingers, they signal [to their friends what they are intending/planning to do].
14 La perversité est dans son cœur, il médite le mal en tout temps, il suscite des querelles.
They plan to do evil things. They constantly cause strife/trouble.
15 Aussi sa ruine viendra subitement; il sera brisé tout d’un coup et sans remède.
But disasters will hit them suddenly; they will be crushed/ruined and nothing will be able to heal them.
16 Il y a six choses que hait Yahweh, il y en a sept qu’il a en horreur:
There are six, [maybe] seven, kinds of people that Yahweh hates. [They are]:
17 les yeux altiers, la langue menteuse, les mains qui font couler le sang innocent,
People who show by their eyes that they are very proud; people who lie [MTY]; people [SYN] who kill others [SYN] who have done nothing wrong;
18 le cœur qui médite des projets coupables, les pieds empressés à courir au mal,
people who plan to do evil deeds; people [SYN] who run quickly to do wrong things;
19 le faux témoin qui profère des mensonges, et celui qui sème la discorde entre frères.
people who easily tell lies in court; and people who cause strife between family members.
20 Mon fils, garde le précepte de ton père, et ne rejette pas l’enseignement de ta mère.
My son, obey my commands, and do not ignore what your mother has taught you.
21 Lie-les constamment sur ton cœur, attache-les à ton cou.
Remember the things that we have said. Those things should be [like a beautiful necklace] around your neck.
22 Il te dirigera dans ta marche, il te gardera dans ton sommeil; à ton réveil, il conversera avec toi.
[If you follow our advice, it will be as though] what we have taught you [PRS] will lead you, wherever you go. When you sleep, they will protect you. And when you wake up in the morning, they will teach/instruct you.
23 Car le précepte est une lampe, et la loi une lumière, et les avertissements qui instruisent sont le chemin de la vie.
These commands and what we teach you [will be like] a lamp to light your path [MET]. When we rebuke you and correct/punish you, we will be showing you the road to having [a good] life.
24 Ils te préserveront de la femme perverse, de la langue doucereuse de l’étrangère.
Heeding [PRS] these commands and things that we have taught you will enable you to keep away from immoral women and from [listening to] the enticing words of an adulterous woman.
25 Ne convoite pas sa beauté dans ton cœur, et qu’elle ne te séduise pas par ses paupières.
[Even] if such a woman is beautiful and has lovely eyes, do not desire to go with her. Do not let her persuade you to go with her (with her eyes/by the way she looks at you).
26 Car pour la courtisane on se réduit à un morceau de pain, et la femme mariée prend au piège une vie précieuse.
[Do not forget that] you can hire a prostitute for only a loaf of bread, but [if you sleep with] another man’s wife, (it may cost you/you may lose) your life.
27 Se peut-il qu’un homme mette du feu dans son sein, sans que ses vêtements s’enflamment?
Can you carry hot coals in your pocket and not be burned [RHQ]?
28 Ou bien un homme marchera-t-il sur des charbons ardents sans que ses pieds soient brûlés?
Can you walk on burning coals and not scorch/burn your feet?
29 Ainsi en est-il de celui qui va vers la femme de son prochain: quiconque la touche ne saurait rester impuni.
[No]! And in the same way, anyone who (sleeps with/has sex with) another man’s wife will [suffer for doing that]. [He will certainly] [LIT] be punished severely.
30 On ne méprise pas un voleur qui dérobe pour satisfaire sa faim, quand il n’a rien à manger:
We do not despise a thief if he steals some food because he is very hungry.
31 surpris, il rend sept fois autant, il donne tout ce qu’il a dans sa maison.
But [if he steals something and then] is caught [by the police], he will have to pay back (seven times as much as/much more than) he stole. He may need to sell everything that is in his house [to get enough money to pay it back].
32 Mais celui qui corrompt une femme est dépourvu de sens; il se perd lui-même, celui qui agit de la sorte;
[But] a man who commits adultery with some woman is very foolish, [because] he is destroying his own self/soul [by what he is doing].
33 il ne recueille que plaie et ignominie, et son opprobre ne s’effacera pas.
[That woman’s husband] will wound him badly, and [other people] will despise him. His shame will never end.
34 Car la jalousie excite la fureur de l’homme outragé; il est sans pitié au jour de la vengeance;
Because that woman’s husband will (be jealous/not want anyone else to sleep with her), he will become furious, and when he gets revenge, he will not act mercifully [toward the man who slept with his wife].
35 il n’a égard à aucune rançon; il n’ en veut pas, quand même tu multiplierais les présents.
And he will not accept any bribe/money, even if it is a big bribe, to (appease him/cause him to stop being angry).
