Proverbs 23
1 When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face,
Lè chèf envite ou manje sou menm tab ak li, pa janm bliye ki moun li ye.
2 and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.
Si ou se yon moun ki gen bon lapeti, kontwole bouch ou.
3 Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.
Pa pote lanvi sou bon ti manje l'ap ofri ou yo. Se ka yon pèlen li tann pou ou.
4 Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.
Pa touye tèt ou ap kouri dèyè lajan pou ou vin rich. Wete lide ou sou sa.
5 Do not raise your eyes toward wealth that you are not able to have. For they will make themselves wings, like those of an eagle, and they will fly in the sky.
Paske, anvan ou bat je ou, li gen tan disparèt. Ou ta di lajan gen zèl. Li rete konsa, li vole, li ale.
6 Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.
Pa chita pou ou manje sou menm tab ak moun ki tikoulout. Pa pote lanvi sou manje l'ap ofri ou.
7 For, like a seer and an interpreter of dreams, he presumes what he does not know. “Eat and drink,” he will say to you; and his mind is not with you.
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.
8 The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.
W'a vonmi tou sa ou te manje a. Tout bèl pawòl ou te di l' yo p'ap sèvi ou anyen.
9 Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.
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.
10 Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
Pa janm deplase bòn tè kote yo te ye depi lontan an. Pa antre sou jaden ki pou timoun san papa.
11 For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.
Se Bondye k'ap defann yo, li gen anpil pouvwa. L'a plede kòz yo kont ou.
12 Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.
Mete tèt ou an plas lè y'ap moutre ou kichòy. Louvri zòrèy ou lè yon moun ki gen konesans ap pale.
13 Do not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
Ou pa bezwen pè bat yon timoun. Yon bèl kal, sa p'ap touye l'.
Okontrè, si ou bat li, w'a sove nanm li pou l' pa mouri. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.
Pitit mwen, si ou gen bon konprann, mwen p'ap manke kontan.
16 And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.
M'a kontan anpil lè m'a tande bon pawòl k'ap soti nan bouch ou.
17 Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
Pa pote lanvi sou moun k'ap fè sa ki mal. Nan tou sa w'ap fè, toujou gen krentif pou Bondye.
18 For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.
Paske gen denmen. Se pa pou gremesi w'ap tann sa w'ap tann lan.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.
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.
20 Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.
Pa fè zanmi avèk moun k'ap bwè twòp, ak moun k'ap fè safte.
21 For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.
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.
22 Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.
Pitit mwen, koute papa ou ki fè ou. Pa meprize manman ou lè li fin granmoun.
23 Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.
Verite, konesans, lespri ak bon konprann, se bagay ou mèt peye chè pou ou genyen. Men, pa janm vann sa.
24 The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him.
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.
25 Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.
Fè kè papa ou ak manman ou kontan. Fè kè manman ki fè ou la kontan.
26 My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
Pitit mwen, louvri zòrèy ou pou tande sa m'ap di ou. Louvri je ou byen pou ou wè jan m'ap viv.
27 For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.
Fanm jennès se tankou yon twou pèlen, fanm adiltè se tankou yon pi jis jis.
28 She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.
Tankou vòlò, y'ap pare pèlen pou ou. Yo fè anpil gason pèdi tèt yo.
29 Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?
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?
30 Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?
Se moun k'ap bwè twòp gwòg, moun k'ap kouri dèyè tranpe.
31 Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,
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.
32 but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
Men, pita ou santi se tankou yon move sèpan ki mòde ou, yon sèpan aspik ki pike ou.
33 Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.
W'ap wè tout bagay ap vire devan je ou, w'ap depale.
34 And you will be like someone sleeping in the middle of the sea, and like a pilot, fast asleep, who has lost his hold on the helm.
W'ap santi tankou si ou te sou lanmè: w'ap tankou si ou te sou tèt yon ma batiman.
35 And you will say: “They have beaten me, but I did not feel pain. They have dragged me, and I did not realize it. When will I awaken and find more wine?”
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.
