Siracide 23

JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Seigneur, père et maître de ma vie, ne m'abandonne pas à leur caprice, ne me laisse pastrébucher par leur fait.	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 appliquera le fouet à mes pensées et à mon coeur la discipline de la sagesse, afin qu'onn'épargne pas mes erreurs et que mes péchés n'échappent pas?	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 De peur que mes erreurs ne se multiplient et que mes péchés ne surabondent, que je netombe aux mains de mes adversaires et que mon ennemi ne se moque de moi.	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, fais que mes regards ne soient pas altiers,	4 Lord, Father and God of my life: may you not abandon me to their plans.
5 détourne de moi l'envie,	5 Do not leave me with the haughtiness of my eyes. And avert all desire from me.
6 que la sensualité et la luxure ne s'emparent pas de moi, ne me livre pas au désir impudent.	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 Enfants, écoutez mon enseignement, celui qui le garde ne sera pas confondu.	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 est pris par ses propres lèvres, elles font choir le médisant et l'orgueilleux.	8 A sinner is held by his own emptiness. And the arrogant and those who speak evil will be scandalized by these things.
9 N'accoutume pas ta bouche à faire des serments, ne prends pas l'habitude de prononcer lenom du Saint.	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 toujours surveillé n'échappera pas aux coups, ainsi celuiqui jure et invoque le Nom à tort et à travers ne sera pas exempt de faute.	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 Un homme prodigue de serments est rempli d'impiété et le fléau ne s'éloignera pas de samaison. S'il pèche, sa faute sera sur lui; s'il a agi à la légère, il a péché doublement; s'il a fait un faux serment, ilne sera pas justifié, car sa maison sera pleine de calamités.	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 Il y a une manière de parler qui ressemble à la mort, qu'elle ne soit pas en usage dansl'héritage de Jacob, car les hommes pieux repoussent tout cela, ils 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 grossière où se trouve la parole du péché.	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 sièges au milieu des grands, de crainte quetu ne t'oublies en leur présence, que tu ne te conduises comme un sot, et que tu n'en arrives à souhaiter de n'êtrepas né et à maudire 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 Un homme accoutumé aux paroles répréhensibles ne se corrigera de 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'êtres multiplient les péchés et la troisième attire la colère:	16 For all these things will be taken away from the merciful, and they shall not wallow in offenses.
17 la passion brûlante comme un brasier: elle ne s'éteindra pas qu'elle ne soit assouvie;l'homme qui convoite sa propre chair: il n'aura de cesse que le feu ne le consume; à l'homme impudique toutenourriture est douce, il ne se calmera qu'à sa 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 sur sa propre couche et dit en son coeur: "Qui me voit? L'ombrem'environne, les murs me protègent, personne ne me voit, que craindrais-je? Le Très-Haut ne se souviendra pasde mes fautes."	18 When you sit in the midst of great men, remember your father and mother.
19 Ce qu'il craint ce sont les yeux des hommes, il ne sait pas que les yeux du Seigneur sont10.000 fois plus lumineux que le soleil, qu'ils observent toutes les actions des hommes et pénètrent dans lesrecoins 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 Avant qu'il créât, toutes choses lui étaient connues, elles le sont encore après leurachèvement.	20 The man who is accustomed to disgraceful words will not accept instruction, all the days of his life.
21 En pleine ville cet homme sera puni, quand il s'y attend le moins il sera pris.	21 Two kinds of persons abound in sins, and a third adds wrath and perdition.
22 Il en est de même de la femme infidèle à son mari qui lui apporte un héritier conçu d'unétranger.	22 A desirous soul is like a burning fire, it will not be quenched, until it devours something.
23 Tout d'abord elle a désobéi à la loi du Très-Haut, ensuite elle est coupable envers son mari;en troisième lieu elle s'est souillée par l'adultère et a conçu 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 Elle sera traduite devant l'assemblée et on examinera 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 n'auront pas de racines, ses branches ne porteront pas de fruit.	25 Every man who transgresses his own bed has contempt for his own soul. And so he says: “Who can see me?
26 Elle laissera un souvenir de malédiction et 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 Et ceux qui viennent après elle sauront que rien ne vaut la crainte du Seigneur et que rienn'est plus doux que de s'attacher aux commandements du Seigneur.	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.