Job 38
1 Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
Alors Yahweh répondit à Job du sein de la tempête, et dit:
2 “(Who are you to question what I plan to do?/You have no right/authority to question what I plan to do.) [RHQ] You are speaking ignorantly!
Quel est celui qui obscurcit ainsi le plan divin, par des discours sans intelligence?
3 I want to ask you [some] questions, so, just like men prepare themselves for a difficult task [MET], prepare to answer my questions.
Ceins tes reins, comme un homme: je vais t’interroger, et tu m’instruiras.
4 (“Where were you/Were you there with me) [long ago] when I (laid the foundations of/created) the earth? Since you know so much, tell me [where you were at that time].
Où étais-tu quand je posais les fondements de la terre? Dis-le, si tu as l’intelligence.
5 Do you know how I decided how large the earth would be? Do you know who stretched a measuring tape around the earth? Surely [since you think that you know so much, ] you should know that!
Qui en a fixé les dimensions? Le sais-tu? Qui a tendu sur elle cordeau?
6 What supports the pillars on which the earth rests? When the stars [that shine early] in the morning sang together, and someone put in place the stone that causes the earth to stay in its place, and all the angels shouted joyfully [when they saw that happening], who laid that cornerstone? [Did you?]
Sur quoi ses bases reposent-elles, ou qui en a posé la pierre angulaire,
quand les astres du matin chantaient en chœur, et que tous les fils de Dieu poussaient des cris d’allégresse?
8 “When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
Qui a fermé la mer avec des portes, lorsqu’elle sortit impétueuse du sein maternel;
9 It was I, [not you, ] who caused clouds to come over the seas and caused it to become very dark [under those clouds].
quand je lui donnai les nuages pour vêtements, et pour langes d’épais brouillards;
10 I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
quand je lui imposai ma loi, que je lui mis des portes et des verrous,
11 [I pointed to the shore] and said to the water, ‘I permit you to come up to here, but I do not permit you to come any farther. Your powerful waves must stop there!’
et que je lui dis: « Tu viendras jusqu’ici, non au delà; ici s’arrêtera l’orgueil de tes flots »?
12 “Job, have you [ever] commanded the morning [to begin]? Have you [ever] told the dawn to start a new day?
As-tu, depuis que tu existes, commandé au matin? As-tu indiqué sa place à l’aurore,
13 Have you [ever] told the dawn to spread out over the whole earth, with the result that wicked people run away from the light?
pour qu’elle saisisse les extrémités de la terre et qu’elle en secoue les méchants;
14 When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
pour que la terre prenne forme, comme l’argile sous le cachet, et qu’elle se montre parée comme d’un vêtement;
15 When it becomes daylight, the wicked do not have the darkness [that they like]; [in the daylight] they no longer are able to raise up their arms, ready to hurt people.
pour que les malfaiteurs soient privés de leur lumière, et que le bras levé pour le crime soit brisé?
16 “[Job, ] have you traveled to the springs [in the bottom of the ocean] from which the water in the seas comes? Have you investigated/explored the very bottom of the oceans?
Es-tu descendu jusqu’aux sources de la mer, t’es-tu promené dans les profondeurs de l’abîme?
17 Has someone shown you the gates to the place where dead people are, the gates to the place where it is very dark?
Les portes de la mort se sont-elles ouvertes devant toi, as-tu vu les portes du sombre séjour?
18 Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
As-tu embrassé l’étendue de la terre? Parle, si tu sais toutes ces choses.
19 “Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
Où est le chemin qui conduit au séjour de la lumière, et où se trouve la demeure des ténèbres?
20 Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
Tu pourrais les saisir en leur domaine, tu connais les sentiers de leur séjour!...
21 I am sure that you know these things, because you [talk as though you] were born before the time when all things were created; you [must] be very old!
Tu le sais sans doute, puisque tu étais né avant elles; le nombre de tes jours est si grand!...
22 “Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
Es-tu entré dans les trésors de la neige? As-tu vu les réservoirs de la grêle,
23 I store the snow and the hail [in order that I can use them to help my people] when [they have] troubles, in times when [they are fighting] wars [DOU].
que je tiens prêts pour le temps de la détresse, pour les jours de la guerre et du combat?
24 And where is the road to the place from which I cause the lightning to flash? Where is the place from where the east wind begins to blow over all the earth?
Par quelle voie la lumière se divise-t-elle, et le vent d’orient se répand-il sur la terre?
25 Who created the channels in which the rain comes down from the sky? Who makes the roads for the thunder/lightning?
Qui a ouvert des canaux aux ondées, et tracé une route aux feux du tonnerre,
26 Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
afin que la pluie tombe sur une terre inhabitée, sur le désert où il n’y a pas d’hommes;
27 Who sends the rain that gives moisture/water to areas where nothing has grown, with the result that grass begins to grow again?
pour qu’elle arrose la plaine vaste et vide, et y fasse germer l’herbe verte!
28 Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
La pluie a-t-elle un père? Qui engendre les gouttes de la rosée?
29 And from whose womb does ice come [in the (winter/cold season)]? Who gives birth to the frost that comes down from the sky?
De quel sein sort la glace? Et le givre du ciel, qui l’enfante,
30 [In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
pour que les eaux durcissent comme la pierre, et que la surface de l’abîme se solidifie?
31 “[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
Est-ce toi qui serres les liens des Pléiades, ou pourrais-tu relâcher les chaînes d’Orion?
32 Can you tell the stars when they should shine? Can you guide [the stars in the groups in the northern sky whose names are] the Big Bear and the Little Bear?
Est-ce toi qui fais lever les constellations en leur temps, qui conduis l’Ourse avec ses petits?
33 Do you know the laws that the stars must obey? Can you cause those same laws to rule [everything here] on the earth?
Connais-tu les lois du ciel, règles-tu ses influences sur la terre?
34 “Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
Elèves-tu ta voix jusque dans les nues, pour que des torrents d’eau tombent sur toi?
35 Can you cause flashes of lightning to come down and strike where you want it to strike? Do those flashes say to you, ‘Where do you want us to strike next?’
Est-ce toi qui lâches les éclairs pour qu’ils partent, et te disent-ils: « Nous voici! »
36 Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
Qui a mis la sagesse dans les nuées, ou qui a donné l’intelligence aux météores?
37 And who is skilled/wise enough to be able to count the clouds? Who can tilt the jugs of water in the sky [to cause the rain to fall],
Qui peut exactement compter les nuées, incliner les urnes du ciel,
38 with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
pour que la poussière se forme en masse solide et que les glèbes adhèrent ensemble?
39 “When a lioness and her cubs crouch in their dens or hide in a thicket, [waiting for some animal to pass by that they can kill, ] can you find animals for a lioness to kill so that [she and] her cubs can [eat the meat and] not be hungry any more?
Est-ce toi qui chasses pour la lionne sa proie, qui rassasies la faim des lionceaux,
quand ils sont couchés dans leur tanière, qu’ils se tiennent en embuscade dans le taillis?
41 Who provides dead animals for crows, when the baby crows are calling out to me [for food], [when they are so weak] because of their lack of food [that] they (stagger around/can hardly stand up) [in their nests]?”
Qui prépare au corbeau sa pâture, quand ses petits crient vers Dieu, qu’ils errent çà et là, sans nourriture?
