Job 12
1 Then Job said [to his three friends],
Alors Job prit la parole et dit:
2 “You (talk as though/You think) [SAR] that you are the people [whom everyone should listen to], and that when you die, there will be no more wise people.
Vraiment vous êtes aussi sages que tout un peuple, et avec vous mourra la sagesse!
3 But I have as much good sense as you do; I am (not less wise than/certainly as wise as [LIT]) you. Certainly everyone knows [RHQ] all that you have said.
Moi aussi, j’ai de l’intelligence comme vous, je ne vous le cède en rien, et qui ne sait les choses que vous dites?
4 My friends all laugh at me now. Previously I habitually requested God to help me, and he answered/helped me. I am righteous, a very godly man [DOU], but everyone laughs at me.
Je suis la risée de mes amis, moi qui invoquais Dieu et à qui Dieu répondait; leur risée, moi le juste, l’innocent!...
5 Those [like you] who have no troubles make fun of me; they cause those [like me] who are already suffering to have more troubles.
Honte au malheur! C’est la devise des heureux; le mépris attend celui dont le pied chancelle.
6 Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].
La paix cependant règne sous la tente des brigands, la sécurité pour ceux qui provoquent Dieu, et qui n’ont d’autre dieu que leur bras.
7 “But ask the wild animals [what they know about God], and [if they could speak] they would teach you. [If you could] ask the birds, they would tell you.
Mais, de grâce, interroge les bêtes, et elles t’instruiront, les oiseaux du ciel, et ils te l’apprendront;
8 [If you could] ask the creatures [that crawl] on the ground, or the fish in the sea, they would tell you [about God].
ou bien parle à la terre, et elle t’enseignera; les poissons même de la mer te le raconteront.
9 All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
Qui ne sait, parmi tous ces êtres, que la main de Yahweh a fait ces choses,
10 He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
qu’il tient dans sa main l’âme de tout ce qui vit, et le souffle de tous les humains?
11 And when we [SYN] hear what other people [like you] say, we [RHQ] think carefully about what they say [to determine what is good and what is bad], like we [SYN] taste food [to determine what is good and what is bad].
L’oreille ne discerne-t-elle pas les paroles, comme le palais savoure les aliments?
12 Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
Aux cheveux blancs appartient la sagesse, la prudence est le fruit des longs jours.
13 but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
En Dieu résident la sagesse et la puissance, à lui le conseil et l’intelligence.
14 If he tears [something] down, no one can rebuild it; if he puts someone in prison, no one can open [the prison doors to allow that person to escape].
Voici qu’il renverse et l’on ne rebâtit pas; il ferme la porte sur l’homme, et on ne lui ouvre pas.
15 When he prevents rain from falling, everything dries up. When he causes a lot of rain to fall, [the result is that] there are floods.
Voici qu’il arrête les eaux, elles tarissent; il les lâche, elles bouleversent la terre.
16 He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.
A lui la force et la prudence, à lui celui qui est égaré et celui qui égare.
17 He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
Il emmène captifs les conseillers des peuples, et il ôte le sens aux juges.
18 He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].
Il délie la ceinture des rois, et ceint leurs reins d’une corde.
19 He takes from priests the sacred clothes that they wear, [with the result that they no longer can do their work], and takes power from those who rule others.
Il traîne les prêtres en captivité, et renverse les puissants.
20 He [sometimes] causes those whom others trust to be unable to speak, and he causes old men to no longer have good sense.
Il ôte la parole aux hommes les plus habiles, et il enlève le jugement aux vieillards.
21 He causes those who have authority to be despised, and he causes those who are powerful to no longer have any power/strength.
Il verse le mépris sur les nobles, et il relâche la ceinture des forts.
22 He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
Il met à découvert les choses cachées dans les ténèbres, et produit à la lumière l’ombre de la mort.
23 He causes some nations to become very great, and [later] he destroys them; he causes the territory of some nations to become much larger, and [later] he causes them to be defeated and their people to be scattered.
Il fait croître les nations, et il les anéantit; il les étend et il les resserre.
24 He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
Il ôte l’intelligence aux chefs des peuples de la terre, et les égare dans des déserts sans chemin;
25 They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”
ils tâtonnent dans les ténèbres, loin de la lumière; il les fait errer comme un homme ivre.
