Job 20
1 And Zophar the Naamathite answers and says:
Alors Sophar de Naama prit la parole et dit:
2 “Therefore my thoughts cause me to answer, And because of my sensations in me.
C’est pourquoi mes pensées me suggèrent une réponse, et, à cause de mon agitation, j’ai hâte de la donner.
3 I hear the discipline of my shame, And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer:
J’ai entendu des reproches qui m’outragent; dans mon intelligence, mon esprit trouvera la réplique.
4 Have you known this from antiquity? Since the placing of man on earth?
Sais-tu bien que, de tout temps, depuis que l’homme a été placé sur la terre,
5 That the singing of the wicked [is] short, And the joy of the profane for a moment,
le triomphe des méchants a été court, et la joie de l’impie d’un moment?
6 Though his excellence goes up to the heavens, He strikes his head against a cloud—
Quand il porterait son orgueil jusqu’au ciel, et que sa tête toucherait aux nues,
7 He perishes as his own dung forever, His beholders say, Where [is] he?
comme son ordure, il périt pour toujours; ceux qui le voyaient disent: « Où est-il? »
8 He flees as a dream, and they do not find him, And he is driven away as a vision of the night,
Il s’envole comme un songe, et on ne le trouve plus; il s’efface comme une vision de la nuit.
9 The eye has not seen him, and does not add. And his place does not behold him again.
L’œil qui le voyait ne le découvre plus; sa demeure ne l’apercevra plus.
10 His sons oppress the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.
Ses enfants imploreront les pauvres, de ses propres mains il restituera ses rapines.
11 His bones have been full of his youth, and it lies down with him on the dust.
Ses os étaient pleins de ses iniquités cachées; elles dormiront avec lui dans la poussière.
12 Though he sweetens evil in his mouth, hides it under his tongue,
Parce que le mal a été doux à sa bouche, qu’il l’a caché sous sa langue,
13 has pity on it, and does not forsake it, and keeps it back in the midst of his palate,
qu’il l’a savouré sans l’abandonner, et l’a retenu au milieu de son palais:
14 his food is turned in his bowels, the bitterness of cobras [is] in his heart.
sa nourriture tournera en poison dans ses entrailles, elle deviendra dans son sein le venin de l’aspic.
15 He has swallowed wealth, and vomits it. God drives it out from his belly.
Il a englouti des richesses, il les vomira; Dieu les retirera de son ventre.
16 He sucks [the] gall of cobras, the tongue of a viper slays him.
Il a sucé le venin de l’aspic, la langue de la vipère le tuera.
17 He does not look on streams, Flowing of brooks of honey and butter.
Il ne verra jamais couler les fleuves, les torrents de miel et de lait.
18 He is giving back [what] he labored for, and does not consume [it]; As a bulwark [is] his exchange, and he does not exult.
Il rendra ce qu’il a gagné et ne s’en gorgera pas, dans la mesure de ses profits, et il n’en jouira pas.
19 For he oppressed—he forsook the poor, He has taken a house away violently, And he does not build it.
Car il a opprimé et délaissé les pauvres, il a saccagé leur maison, et ne l’a point rétablie:
20 For he has not known ease in his belly. With his desirable thing he does not deliver himself.
son avidité n’a pu être rassasiée, il n’emportera pas ce qu’il a de plus cher.
21 There is not a remnant to his food, Therefore his good does not stay.
Rien n’échappait à sa voracité; aussi son bonheur ne subsistera pas.
22 In the fullness of his sufficiency he is constricted. Every perverse hand meets him.
Au sein de l’abondance, il tombe dans la disette; tous les coups du malheur viennent sur lui.
23 It comes to pass, at the filling of his belly, He sends forth against him The fierceness of His anger, Indeed, He rains on him in his eating.
Voici pour lui remplir le ventre: Dieu enverra sur lui le feu de sa colère, elle pleuvra sur lui jusqu’ en ses entrailles.
24 He flees from an iron weapon, A bow of bronze passes through him.
S’il échappe aux armes de fer, l’arc d’airain le transperce.
25 One has drawn, And it comes out from the body, And a glittering weapon proceeds from his gall. Terrors [are] on him.
Il arrache le trait, il sort de son corps, l’acier sort étincelant de son foie; les terreurs de la mort tombent sur lui.
26 All darkness is hid for his treasures, A fire not blown consumes him, The remnant is broken in his tent.
Une nuit profonde engloutit ses trésors; un feu que l’homme n’a pas allumé le dévore, et consume tout ce qui restait dans sa tente.
27 The heavens reveal his iniquity, And earth is raising itself against him.
Les cieux révéleront son iniquité, et la terre s’élèvera contre lui.
28 The increase of his house is removed, Poured forth in a day of His anger.
L’abondance de sa maison sera dispersée, elle disparaîtra au jour de la colère.
29 This [is] the portion of a wicked man from God. And an inheritance appointed him by God.”
Telle est la part que Dieu réserve au méchant, et l’héritage que lui destine Dieu.
