Job 38
1 Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
L’Eternel 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 dénigre les desseins de Dieu par des discours dépourvus de sens?
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 donc 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 lorsque je fondais la terre? Dis-le, si tu en as quelque connaissance.
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 a fixé ses dimensions, si tu le sais, ou qui a tendu sur elle le 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 sont assis ses piliers, ou qui a lancé sa pierre angulaire,
tandis que les étoiles du matin chantaient en chœur, et que tous les fils de Dieu poussaient des cris de joie?
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, quand elle sortit jaillissante 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 la nuée pour vêtement et une brume épaisse pour langes;
10 I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
quand je brisai son élan par mes barrières et lui posai des verrous et des portes,
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: "Jusqu’ici tu viendras et 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 jamais de ta vie donné des ordres au matin, assigné 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 bords de la terre et en rejette les méchants en une secousse?
14 When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
Quand elle paraît, la terre se transforme comme l’argile sous le sceau, et les choses se présentent comme un riche 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.
Les méchants sont privés de leur lumière à eux, et leur bras déjà levé est 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?
As-tu pénétré jusqu’aux sources de la mer, as-tu circulé au fonds 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 dévoilées devant toi? As-tu vu l’entrée du royaume des ombres?
18 Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
As-tu mesuré l’immense étendue de la terre? Dis-le, si tu sais tout cela.
19 “Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
Quel chemin mène à la demeure de la lumière, et où est l’habitation des ténèbres,
20 Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
pour que tu les conduises dans leur domaine et reconnaisses les avenues de leur maison?
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! Car tu étais né dès lors, et grand est le nombre de tes jours!
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 aperçu les dépôts 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 en réserve pour les temps de détresse, pour le jour du combat et de la guerre?
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?
Quelle est la voie par où se disperse la lumière, par où le vent d’Est se répand 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 creusé des rigoles à l’averse, une route à l’éclair sonore,
26 Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
pour arroser des régions inhabitées, 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 abreuver les terres incultes et sauvages et faire pousser l’herbe nouvelle des prairies?
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’a enfanté?
30 [In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
Les eaux se condensent comme la pierre et la surface des eaux se contracte.
31 “[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
Est-ce toi qui noues les bandeaux des Pléiades ou qui relâches les liens de l’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 paraître les planètes en leur temps et qui diriges la Grande-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? Est-ce toi qui règles sa force d’action sur la terre?
34 “Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
Te suffit-il d’élever ta voix vers la nuée, pour qu’elle t’envoie des masses d’eau?
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 commandes aux éclairs de partir? Te disent-ils: "Nous voici?"
36 Who enables the clouds to know when they should cause rain to fall?
Qui a mis de la sagesse, dans la brume sombre, ou qui a donné au météore l’intelligence?
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 pourrait dénombrer les nuages avec sagacité, et qui incline les amphores du ciel,
38 with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
de manière à agréger la poussière en une masse compacte et à coller ensemble les glèbes de la terre?
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 poursuis la proie pour le lion, qui assouvis la voracité des lionceaux,
lorsqu’ils sont tapis dans leurs tanières ou se tiennent aux aguets dans les fourrés?
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 et errent çà et là faute de nourriture?
