Siracide 23

BIBLES DES PEUPLES	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Seigneur, Père et maître de ma vie, ne m’abandonne pas au caprice de mes lèvres, ne permets pas que je tombe à cause de mes paroles.	1 Lord, Father and Ruler of my life: may you not abandon me to their counsel, nor permit me to fall by them.
2 Qui donc dressera au fouet mes pensées, imposera à mon entendement la discipline de la sagesse, sans m’épargner dans mes égarements ni laisser passer mes péchés?	2 They would impose scourges over my thoughts and over the discipline of wisdom in my heart. And they would not spare me from their ignorances, nor would they allow their own offenses to become apparent.
3 Car autrement je répéterais mes erreurs, mes péchés se reproduiraient, et je tomberais aux mains de mes adversaires pour la joie de mes ennemis.	3 And they intend that my ignorances would increase, and my offenses be multiplied, and my sins abound. And so I would fall in the sight of my adversaries, and be rejoiced over by my enemy.
4 Seigneur, Père et Dieu de ma vie, ne permets pas que je regarde de haut,	4 Lord, Father and God of my life: may you not abandon me to their plans.
5 et préserve-moi de la cupidité!	5 Do not leave me with the haughtiness of my eyes. And avert all desire from me.
6 Que les plaisirs et le sexe ne s’emparent pas de moi; ne me livre pas à des passions impures!	6 Take the desire of the body from me, and do not allow sexual desire to take hold of me, and do not permit an irreverent and senseless mind within me.
7 Mes enfants, apprenez à contrôler votre langage; qui se surveille ne tombera pas par surprise!	7 O sons: listen to the doctrine of my mouth. For those who observe it will not perish by the lips, nor be scandalized into wicked works.
8 Le pécheur se prendra à ses propres paroles, le médisant et l’orgueilleux tomberont dans leurs pièges.	8 A sinner is held by his own emptiness. And the arrogant and those who speak evil will be scandalized by these things.
9 Ne dis pas à tout instant: “Je le jure!” Ne prends pas sans cesse le Très-Haut à témoin.	9 Do not allow your mouth to become accustomed to swearing oaths. For in this, there are many pitfalls.
10 Car, de même qu’un domestique que l’on surveille de près n’échappera pas à la bastonnade, ainsi celui qui jure et invoque continuellement son nom ne sera pas trouvé sans péché.	10 Truly, do not allow the naming of God to be continually in your mouth, and do not treat as if common the names of the holy ones. For you will not escape punishment by them.
11 Qui multiplie les serments accumule les transgressions: le châtiment ne s’éloignera pas de sa maison. S’il y manque par négligence, il a déjà péché; si c’est consciemment, le péché est double; s’il a fait un faux serment, il ne sera pas pardonné: sa maison sera accablée de malheurs.	11 Just as a servant, continually interrogated, will not be without a bruise, so everyone who swears oaths and takes God’s name will not be entirely free from sin.
12 Certaines conversations mériteraient la mort: elles sont inadmissibles chez les descendants de Jacob. Les vrais fidèles s’en abstiennent et ne se vautrent pas dans le péché.	12 A man who swears many oaths will be filled with iniquity, and scourges will not depart from his house.
13 N’habitue pas ta bouche à l’impureté: ce serait pécher en paroles.	13 And if he fails to fulfill it, his offense will be over him, and if he pretends he fulfilled it, he offends doubly.
14 Souviens-toi de ton père et de ta mère quand tu es assis au milieu des grands, de peur de te laisser aller en leur présence et de te conduire comme un sot! C’est alors que tu voudrais n’être jamais né et tu maudirais le jour de ta naissance.	14 And if he swears an oath insincerely, he will not be justified. For his house will be filled with retribution for him.
15 L’homme habitué à insulter ne s’en corrigera pas de toute sa vie.	15 There is yet another kind of talk which faces death; let it not be found in the inheritance of Jacob.
16 Deux sortes d’hommes multiplient les péchés, et la troisième provoque la colère du Seigneur:	16 For all these things will be taken away from the merciful, and they shall not wallow in offenses.
17 La passion qui brûle comme un feu ardent ne s’éteindra pas avant d’être satisfaite. L’homme qui commet l’impureté dans son corps ne s’arrêtera pas avant que ce feu ne l’ait dévoré. Pour l’homme impudique toute satisfaction est bonne, il ne se calmera pas avant la mort.	17 Do not allow your mouth to become accustomed to undisciplined speech. For in this, there is the sin of words.
18 L’homme qui pèche contre le mariage se dit en lui-même: “Qui me verra? Il fait sombre autour de moi, les murs me cachent, nul ne me regarde; pourquoi m’inquiéter? Le Très-Haut ne va pas prendre note de mes péchés.”	18 When you sit in the midst of great men, remember your father and mother.
19 Il ne craint que les yeux des hommes, oubliant les yeux du Seigneur, mille fois plus lumineux que le soleil, qui observent toutes nos conduites et voient jusque dans les lieux les plus secrets!	19 Otherwise, God may forget you, when you are in their sight, and then you would be repeatedly ridiculed and would suffer disgrace, and you might wish that you had never been born, and you might curse the day of your nativity.
20 Toutes choses lui étaient présentes avant d’être créées, et elles le seront encore quand elles auront disparu.	20 The man who is accustomed to disgraceful words will not accept instruction, all the days of his life.
21 Un tel homme sera châtié sur la place publique; il sera pris là où il ne s’attendait pas.	21 Two kinds of persons abound in sins, and a third adds wrath and perdition.
22 Il en sera de même pour la femme qui trompe son mari et lui apporte un héritier conçu d’un autre.	22 A desirous soul is like a burning fire, it will not be quenched, until it devours something.
23 D’abord elle a désobéi à la loi du Très-Haut, ensuite elle a péché contre son mari, et troisièmement elle s’est souillée par un adultère, ayant des enfants d’un étranger.	23 And a man who is wicked in the desires of his flesh will not desist until he has kindled a fire.
24 Cette femme sera amenée devant l’assemblée et l’on fera une enquête sur ses enfants.	24 To a man of fornication, all bread is sweet; he will not tire of transgression, to the very end.
25 Ses enfants seront des plantes sans racines, leurs rameaux ne porteront aucun fruit.	25 Every man who transgresses his own bed has contempt for his own soul. And so he says: “Who can see me?
26 On ne se souviendra de leur mère que pour maudire, sa honte ne sera jamais effacée.	26 Darkness surrounds me, and the walls enclose me, and no one catches sight of me. Whom should I fear? The Most High will not remember my offenses.”
27 Ainsi les autres sauront que la crainte du Seigneur est la seule chose qui vaille, et que rien n’est plus doux que d’observer ses commandements.	27 And he does not understand that God’s eye sees all things. For fear within a man such as this drives away from him both the fear of God and the eyes of those men who fear God.
	28 And he does not acknowledge that the eyes of the Lord are much brighter than the sun, keeping watch over all the ways of men, even to the depths of the abyss, and gazing into the hearts of men, even to the most hidden parts.
	29 For all things, before they were created, were known to the Lord God. And even after their completion, he beholds all things.
	30 This man will be punished in the streets of the city, and he will be chased like a young horse. And in a place that he does not suspect, he will be captured.
	31 And because he did not understand the fear of the Lord, he will be in disgrace before all men,
	32 as will be every woman, too, who abandons her husband and establishes an inheritance by marriage to another man.
	33 For first, she was unbelieving of the law of the Most High. Second, she offended against her husband. Third, she fornicated by adultery, and so established her children by another man.
	34 This woman will be led into the assembly, and she will be stared at by her children.
	35 Her children will not take root, and her branches will not produce fruit.
	36 She will leave behind her memory as a curse, and her infamy will not be wiped away.
	37 And those who are left behind will acknowledge that there is nothing better than the fear of God, and that there is nothing sweeter than to have respect for the commandments of the Lord.
	38 It is a great glory to follow the Lord. For length of days will be received from him.