< Job 20 >

1 And Zophar the Naamathite answers and says:
Et Tsophar, le Naamathite, répondit et dit:
2 “Therefore my thoughts cause me to answer, And because of my sensations in me.
C’est pourquoi mes pensées m’inspirent une réponse, et à cause de ceci l’ardeur de mon esprit [agit] en moi:
3 I hear the discipline of my shame, And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer:
J’entends une réprimande qui me couvre de honte, et mon esprit me répond par mon intelligence.
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 mis sur la terre,
5 That the singing of the wicked [is] short, And the joy of the profane for a moment,
L’exultation des méchants est courte, et la joie de l’impie n’est que pour un moment?
6 Though his excellence goes up to the heavens, He strikes his head against a cloud—
Si sa hauteur s’élève jusqu’aux cieux, et que sa tête touche les nuées,
7 He perishes as his own dung forever, His beholders say, Where [is] he?
Il périra pour toujours comme ses ordures; ceux qui l’ont vu diront: 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 pas; il s’enfuit 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 l’a regardé et ne l’aperçoit plus, et son lieu ne le revoit plus.
10 His sons oppress the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.
Ses fils rechercheront la faveur des pauvres, et ses mains restitueront [ce que] sa violence [a ravi].
11 His bones have been full of his youth, and it lies down with him on the dust.
Ses os étaient pleins de sa jeunesse: elle se couchera avec lui sur la poussière.
12 Though he sweetens evil in his mouth, hides it under his tongue,
Si le mal est doux dans sa bouche, [et] qu’il le cache sous sa langue,
13 has pity on it, and does not forsake it, and keeps it back in the midst of his palate,
S’il l’épargne et ne l’abandonne pas, mais qu’il le retienne dans sa bouche,
14 his food is turned in his bowels, the bitterness of cobras [is] in his heart.
Son pain sera changé dans ses entrailles en un fiel d’aspic au-dedans de lui.
15 He has swallowed wealth, and vomits it. God drives it out from his belly.
Il a avalé les richesses, et il les vomira; Dieu les chassera de son ventre.
16 He sucks [the] gall of cobras, the tongue of a viper slays him.
Il sucera le venin des aspics, la langue de la vipère le tuera.
17 He does not look on streams, Flowing of brooks of honey and butter.
Il ne verra pas des ruisseaux, des rivières, des torrents de miel et de beurre.
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 le fruit de son travail, et ne l’avalera pas; il le restituera selon sa valeur, et ne s’en réjouira 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, délaissé les pauvres; il a pillé une maison qu’il n’avait pas bâtie.
20 For he has not known ease in his belly. With his desirable thing he does not deliver himself.
Parce qu’il n’a pas connu de repos dans son désir, il ne sauvera rien de ce qu’il a de plus cher.
21 There is not a remnant to his food, Therefore his good does not stay.
Rien n’a échappé à sa voracité: c’est pourquoi son bien-être ne durera pas.
22 In the fullness of his sufficiency he is constricted. Every perverse hand meets him.
Dans la plénitude de son abondance, il sera dans la détresse; toutes les mains des malheureux viendront 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.
Il arrivera que, pour remplir son ventre, [Dieu] enverra sur lui l’ardeur de sa colère, et la fera pleuvoir sur lui dans sa chair.
24 He flees from an iron weapon, A bow of bronze passes through him.
S’il fuit devant les armes de fer, un arc d’airain le transpercera.
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 [la flèche] et elle sort de son corps, et le fer étincelant de son fiel: les terreurs sont sur lui.
26 All darkness is hid for his treasures, A fire not blown consumes him, The remnant is broken in his tent.
Toutes les ténèbres sont réservées pour ses trésors; un feu qu’on ne souffle pas le dévorera, [et] se repaîtra de ce qui reste 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.
Le revenu de sa maison sera emporté; il s’écoulera au jour de Sa colère.
29 This [is] the portion of a wicked man from God. And an inheritance appointed him by God.”
Telle est, de la part de Dieu, la portion de l’homme méchant, et l’héritage qui lui est assigné par Dieu.

< Job 20 >