1 Mon fils, si tu t’es décidé à servir le Seigneur, prépare-toi à l’épreuve! | 1 Son, when you apply yourself to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare your soul for temptation. |
2 Garde un cœur droit et sois résolu, ne te démonte pas quand viennent les difficultés. | 2 Humble your heart, and persevere. Incline your ear, and accept words of understanding. And you should not hurry away in the time of distress. |
3 Attache-toi au Seigneur, ne t’écarte pas de lui; si tu fais ainsi, tu arriveras à bon port à la fin de tes jours. | 3 Endure steadfastly for God. Join yourself to God, and persevere, so that your life may increase in the very end. |
4 Accepte tout ce qui t’arrive et sois patient quand tu te retrouves à terre. | 4 Accept everything that will happened to you, and persevere in your sorrow, and have patience in your humiliation. |
5 Car on purifie l’or par le feu, et de même ceux qui plaisent à Dieu passent par le creuset de l’humiliation. | 5 For gold and silver are tested in fire, yet truly, acceptable men are tested in the furnace of humiliation. |
6 Aie confiance en lui et il prendra soin de toi; suis le droit chemin et espère en lui. | 6 Believe God, and he will restore you to health. And straighten your way, and hope in him. Observe his fear, and grow old in it. |
7 Vous qui craignez le Seigneur, attendez sa miséricorde; ne vous détournez pas de lui: vous tomberiez. | 7 You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy. And do not turn away from him, lest you fall. |
8 Vous qui craignez le Seigneur, ayez confiance en lui: vous ne perdrez pas votre récompense. | 8 You who fear the Lord, believe in him. And your reward will not be taken away. |
9 Vous qui craignez le Seigneur, attendez-vous à recevoir tout ce qui vaut la peine: espérez miséricorde et joie éternelle. | 9 You who fear the Lord, hope in him. And mercy will approach you, to your delight. |
10 Rappelez-vous ce qui est arrivé à vos ancêtres: qui a mis sa confiance dans le Seigneur et s’en est repenti? Qui a persévéré dans sa crainte et a été abandonné? Qui a fait appel à lui et n’a pas été écouté? | 10 You who fear the Lord, love him. And your hearts will be illuminated. |
11 Car le Seigneur est tendresse et miséricorde; il pardonne nos péchés et nous sauve au temps de la détresse. | 11 My sons, consider the nations of men, and know that not one of them hoped in the Lord and was confounded. |
12 Malheur aux lâches qui laissent tomber leurs bras, malheur au pécheur qui se refuse à choisir! | 12 For who has remained in his commandment and been abandoned? Or who has called upon him, and yet he despised him? |
13 Malheur aux lâches qui n’ont pas confiance! pour cette raison ils ne seront pas protégés. | 13 For God is upright and merciful, and he will forgive sins in the day of tribulation. And he is the Protector to all those who seek him in truth. |
14 Malheur à vous qui n’avez pas persévéré: que ferez-vous quand le Seigneur vous demandera des comptes? | 14 Woe to the duplicitous heart, and to the wicked lips, and to the hands that do evil, and to the sinner who walks the earth by two ways! |
15 Ceux qui craignent le Seigneur ne désobéissent pas à ses commandements; ceux qui sont fidèles à l’aimer marchent sur ses chemins. | 15 Woe to the dissolute in heart, who do not trust God! For, as a result, they will not be protected by him. |
16 Ceux qui craignent le Seigneur cherchent à lui plaire; ceux qui l’aiment se nourrissent de sa loi. | 16 Woe to those who have lost endurance, and who have abandoned upright ways, and who have turned aside to depraved ways! |
17 Ceux qui craignent le Seigneur gardent leur cœur disponible; ils s’humilient devant lui et disent: | 17 And what will they do when the Lord begins to examine them? |
18 “Tombons entre les mains du Seigneur plutôt qu’entre les mains des hommes, car sa miséricorde n’est pas moindre que sa puissance!” | 18 Those who fear the Lord will not be unbelieving toward his Word. And those who love him will keep to his way. |
| 19 Those who fear the Lord will seek the things that are well-pleasing to him. And those who love him will be filled with his law. |
| 20 Those who fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and they will sanctify their souls in his sight. |
| 21 Those who fear the Lord keep his commandments, and they will have patience even until his examination, |
| 22 saying: “If we do not do penance, then we will fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of men.” |
| 23 For according to his greatness, so also is his mercy with him. |