Proverbes 26
1 Comme la neige en été, et comme la pluie dans la moisson, ainsi la gloire ne sied pas à un sot.
Just [like] [SIM] [it is not appropriate for] snow [to fall] in summer time, or rain [to fall] at harvest time, it is not appropriate to praise/honor foolish people.
2 Comme le moineau qui va çà et là, et l’hirondelle qui vole, ainsi la malédiction sans cause n’arrivera point.
Like [SIM] birds that fly by [and do not alight/land on anything], if someone curses you, it cannot hurt you if you (do not deserve them/have not done to him what is wrong).
3 Le fouet est pour le cheval, la bride pour l’âne, et la verge pour le dos des sots.
It is necessary to whip a horse and to put a bridle on a donkey [to force them to go where we want them to go], and similarly [SIM] [it is often necessary to strike] foolish people with a stick [to cause them to do what is right].
4 Ne réponds pas au sot selon sa folie, de peur que toi aussi tu ne lui ressembles.
If a foolish person asks a foolish question, [do not answer him], because [if you answer his question], you are just as foolish as he is.
5 Réponds au sot selon sa folie, de peur qu’il ne soit sage à ses propres yeux.
If you give a foolish answer to someone who asks a foolish question, he will realize that he is (not very wise/foolish).
6 Celui qui envoie des messages par la main d’un sot, se coupe les pieds [et] boit l’injustice.
Anyone who asks a foolish person to take a message to someone [is himself doing something as foolish as] cutting off his own feet or drinking poison.
7 Les jambes du boiteux sont sans force: tel est un proverbe dans la bouche des sots.
A lame man cannot use his legs, and similarly [SIM] [it is useless for] a foolish person to speak [MTY] (proverbs/wise sayings).
8 Celui qui donne de la gloire à un sot, c’est comme un sachet de pierres précieuses dans un tas de pierres.
Tying a stone in a sling [so that it cannot be thrown at a target] is [as foolish as] [SIM] honoring a foolish person.
9 Une épine qui entre dans la main d’un homme ivre, tel est un proverbe dans la bouche des sots.
If a drunk person waves some thorns/brambles with his hand, [he is not able to accomplish anything useful by doing that] (OR, [he does not feel it when a thorn sticks in his hand]); similarly, if foolish people speak [MTY] proverbs, [they do not help anyone who hears them].
10 Le puissant use de violence envers tout le monde: il prend à gages le sot et il prend à gages les passants.
A man who shoots arrows [to try] to wound everybody who is near [is foolish]; similarly, anyone who hires a foolish person [who passes by is very foolish].
11 Comme le chien retourne à son vomissement, le sot répète sa folie.
A foolish person will foolishly do something stupid a second time; it is [like] [SIM] a dog returning to [eat] what it has vomited.
12 As-tu vu un homme sage à ses propres yeux? Il y a plus d’espoir pour un sot que pour lui.
[God] can help/bless foolish people more easily than he can help/bless people who are not wise [RHQ], but think that they are wise.
13 Le paresseux dit: Il y a un [lion] rugissant sur le chemin, un lion dans les rues.
Lazy people [just stay inside their houses and do nothing]; [they keep] saying “[I think] there is a lion in the street!”
14 La porte tourne sur ses gonds, et le paresseux sur son lit.
A door [continually] swings back and forth on its hinges [and does not go anywhere]; similarly [SIM], lazy people [just continually turn over] in their beds [and never do anything].
15 Le paresseux enfonce sa main dans le plat, il est las de la ramener à sa bouche.
Some people are extremely lazy; they put their hand in a dish [to get some food] but do not [even] lift the food up to their mouths.
16 Le paresseux est plus sage à ses yeux que sept [hommes] qui répondent avec bon sens.
Lazy people think that they are wiser than seven/several people who can answer [others’ questions] with good sense.
17 Il saisit un chien par les oreilles, celui qui, en passant, s’emporte pour une dispute qui n’est pas la sienne.
Anyone who (meddles/involves himself) in a quarrel that does not concern him is [as foolish as] [SIM] someone who tries to grab a passing dog by its ears.
18 Comme un fou qui jette des brandons, des flèches, et la mort,
Crazy people who shoot burning arrows to kill people
19 ainsi est l’homme qui trompe son prochain, et qui dit: N’était-ce pas pour plaisanter?
are as foolish as those who deceive someone else and [then] say, “I was only joking.”
20 Faute de bois, le feu s’éteint; et, quand il n’y a plus de rapporteurs, la querelle s’apaise.
If there is no [more] firewood [to put on the fire], the fire will go out; similarly [SIM], if there are no people who (gossip/tell people things that are not true), quarreling will end.
21 Du charbon sur le brasier et du bois sur le feu, ainsi est l’homme querelleur pour échauffer les disputes.
[Putting] charcoal on burning coals or [putting] wood on a fire [causes the fire to keep burning]; similarly, people who like to quarrel cause people to keep arguing.
22 Les paroles du rapporteur sont comme des friandises, et elles descendent jusqu’au-dedans des entrailles.
People [enjoy listening to what gossips say about others just like] [SIM] they enjoy tasty food; they [enjoy listening to what gossips tell them like] they enjoy swallowing tasty food.
23 Les lèvres brûlantes et le cœur mauvais sont comme de la litharge d’argent appliquée sur un vase de terre.
People who say nice things when they are thinking about doing evil things are like a nice glaze/covering on a [cheap] clay pot.
24 Celui qui hait se déguise par ses lèvres; mais au-dedans de lui il nourrit la fraude.
Those who hate someone and are saying [MTY] something very different from what they are thinking are hypocrites; they are only planning [to harm that person].
25 Quand il rend sa voix gracieuse, ne le crois point, car il y a sept abominations dans son cœur.
When they say nice things, do not believe them, because in their inner beings are many things that [Yahweh] hates.
26 La haine se cache-t-elle sous la dissimulation, sa méchanceté sera découverte dans la congrégation.
They try to deceive people to cause them to think that they do not hate [that person], but in a public meeting, the people will find out the evil things [that they have done].
27 Qui creuse une fosse y tombera, et la pierre retournera sur celui qui la roule.
Those who dig a deep pit [for other people to fall into] will fall into it themselves; rocks will roll down on those who start to cause rocks to roll down [to crush someone].
28 La langue fausse hait ceux qu’elle a écrasés, et la bouche flatteuse amène la ruine.
Those [MTY] who tell lies to others [really] hate them, and those who deceive [others] ruin them.
