Pwovèb 23
1 Lè chèf envite ou manje sou menm tab ak li, pa janm bliye ki moun li ye.
When you sit to eat with a ruler, Diligently consider that which [is] before you,
2 Si ou se yon moun ki gen bon lapeti, kontwole bouch ou.
And you have put a knife to your throat, If you [are] a man of appetite.
3 Pa pote lanvi sou bon ti manje l'ap ofri ou yo. Se ka yon pèlen li tann pou ou.
Have no desire to his delicacies, seeing it [is] lying food.
4 Pa touye tèt ou ap kouri dèyè lajan pou ou vin rich. Wete lide ou sou sa.
Do not labor to make wealth, Cease from your own understanding, Do you cause your eyes to fly on it? Then it is not.
5 Paske, anvan ou bat je ou, li gen tan disparèt. Ou ta di lajan gen zèl. Li rete konsa, li vole, li ale.
For wealth makes wings to itself, It flies to the heavens as an eagle.
6 Pa chita pou ou manje sou menm tab ak moun ki tikoulout. Pa pote lanvi sou manje l'ap ofri ou.
Do not eat the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his delicacies,
7 Li chich ata ak tèt pa li, ale wè avè ou. L'ap di ou: Manje non, monchè! Bwè non! Men se pa ak tout kè li l'ap di ou sa.
For as he has thought in his soul, so he [is]. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, And his heart [is] not with you.
8 W'a vonmi tou sa ou te manje a. Tout bèl pawòl ou te di l' yo p'ap sèvi ou anyen.
You vomit up your morsel you have eaten, And have marred your words that [are] sweet.
9 Pa chache fè yon moun san konprann konprann anyen. Li p'ap tande anyen nan sa w'ap di l' la. Lèfini, l'ap meprize ou met sou li.
Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he treads on the wisdom of your words.
10 Pa janm deplase bòn tè kote yo te ye depi lontan an. Pa antre sou jaden ki pou timoun san papa.
Do not remove a border of ancient times, And do not enter into fields of the fatherless,
11 Se Bondye k'ap defann yo, li gen anpil pouvwa. L'a plede kòz yo kont ou.
For their Redeemer [is] strong, He pleads their cause with you.
12 Mete tèt ou an plas lè y'ap moutre ou kichòy. Louvri zòrèy ou lè yon moun ki gen konesans ap pale.
Bring your heart to instruction, And your ear to sayings of knowledge.
13 Ou pa bezwen pè bat yon timoun. Yon bèl kal, sa p'ap touye l'.
Do not withhold discipline from a youth, When you strike him with a rod he does not die.
You strike him with a rod, And you deliver his soul from Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
15 Pitit mwen, si ou gen bon konprann, mwen p'ap manke kontan.
My son, if your heart has been wise, My heart rejoices, even mine,
16 M'a kontan anpil lè m'a tande bon pawòl k'ap soti nan bouch ou.
And my reins exult when your lips speak uprightly.
17 Pa pote lanvi sou moun k'ap fè sa ki mal. Nan tou sa w'ap fè, toujou gen krentif pou Bondye.
Do not let your heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of YHWH all the day.
18 Paske gen denmen. Se pa pou gremesi w'ap tann sa w'ap tann lan.
For is there a posterity? Then your hope is not cut off.
19 Louvri zòrèy ou, gason mwen, pou ou ka gen bon konprann, pou ou ka mache dwat. Kalkile byen kote w'ap mete pye ou, pou ou ka mache dwat.
Hear, my son, and be wise, And make your heart blessed in the way,
20 Pa fè zanmi avèk moun k'ap bwè twòp, ak moun k'ap fè safte.
Do not become drunk with wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21 Paske moun k'ap fè metye bwè ak moun ki afre ap vin pòv. Si ou pase tout tan ou ap dòmi, talè konsa w'ap mache yon men devan yon men dèyè.
For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clothes with rags.
22 Pitit mwen, koute papa ou ki fè ou. Pa meprize manman ou lè li fin granmoun.
Listen to your father, who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she has become old.
23 Verite, konesans, lespri ak bon konprann, se bagay ou mèt peye chè pou ou genyen. Men, pa janm vann sa.
Buy truth, and do not sell, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
24 Papa ki gen yon pitit k'ap mache dwat ap toujou kontan. Manman ki fè yon pitit ki gen bon konprann ap toujou gen kè kontan.
The father of the righteous rejoices greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoices in him.
25 Fè kè papa ou ak manman ou kontan. Fè kè manman ki fè ou la kontan.
Your father and your mother rejoice, Indeed, she bearing you is joyful.
26 Pitit mwen, louvri zòrèy ou pou tande sa m'ap di ou. Louvri je ou byen pou ou wè jan m'ap viv.
Give, my son, your heart to me, And let your eyes watch my ways.
27 Fanm jennès se tankou yon twou pèlen, fanm adiltè se tankou yon pi jis jis.
For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
28 Tankou vòlò, y'ap pare pèlen pou ou. Yo fè anpil gason pèdi tèt yo.
She also, as catching prey, lies in wait, And she increases the treacherous among men.
29 Ki moun ki nan tèt chaje, ki nan lapenn? Ki moun ki toujou nan kont, ki tou tan ap plenyen? Ki moun k'ap pran kou san rezon, ki gen je yo tou wouj?
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaint? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
30 Se moun k'ap bwè twòp gwòg, moun k'ap kouri dèyè tranpe.
Those lingering by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31 Pa kite bweson pran nanm ou, ou te mèt wè jan li bèl, jan li klè nan vè a. Lè ou bwè l', li desann dous nan gòj ou.
Do not see wine when it shows itself red, When it gives its color in the cup, It goes up and down through the upright.
32 Men, pita ou santi se tankou yon move sèpan ki mòde ou, yon sèpan aspik ki pike ou.
Its latter end—it bites as a serpent, And it stings as a viper.
33 W'ap wè tout bagay ap vire devan je ou, w'ap depale.
Your eyes see strange women, And your heart speaks perverse things.
34 W'ap santi tankou si ou te sou lanmè: w'ap tankou si ou te sou tèt yon ma batiman.
And you have been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.
35 Lè sa a w'a di: Gen lè yo bat mwen, mwen pa santi sa. Gen lè yo te ban m' kou, mwen pa konn sa. Kilè m'a leve la a? Mwen ta pran yon ti kou ankò.
“They struck me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!”
