Job 38
1 Then Yahweh spoke to Job from inside a great windstorm. He said to him,
Alors l'Éternel 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!
Qui est celui-ci qui obscurcit mes plans par des discours sans science?
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 vaillant homme, je t'interrogerai, 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 jetais les fondations de la terre? Dis-le, si tu as de 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 réglé les mesures, si tu le sais, ou qui a étendu le niveau sur elle?
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 en a-t-on fait plonger les bases, ou qui en a posé la pierre angulaire,
Quand les étoiles du matin poussaient ensemble des cris de joie, et les fils de Dieu, des acclamations?
8 “When the seas poured forth from inside the earth, who prevented the water from flooding over the land?
Et qui renferma la mer dans des portes, quand elle sortit en s'élançant du sein de la terre;
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 l'obscurité pour langes;
10 I set limits for the seas, and I put barriers [so that the water would not come over the land].
Quand j'établis ma loi sur elle, quand je lui mis 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: Tu viendras jusqu'ici, et tu n'iras pas plus loin; 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?
Depuis que tu es au monde, as-tu commandé au matin, as-tu marqué à l'aurore sa place,
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 que les méchants soient chassés?
14 When it becomes light after the dawn, the hills and the valleys become clear like the folds in a cloth.
La terre change de forme comme l'argile sous le cachet, et toutes choses se lèvent comme pour la vêtir.
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.
La lumière des méchants leur est ôtée, et le bras des menaçants est rompu.
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, et t'es-tu promené au fond 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 découvertes à toi? Et as-tu vu les portes de l'ombre de la mort?
18 Do you know how big the earth is? Tell me, if you know all these things!
As-tu compris l'étendue de la terre? Si tu sais tout cela, dis-le!
19 “Where is the road to the place where light comes from? And [can you tell me] where darkness lives?
Où est le chemin du séjour de la lumière? Et les ténèbres, où est leur demeure?
20 Can take me to its home? Do you know where the road is that goes there?
Car tu peux les ramener à leur domaine, et tu connais les sentiers 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; car alors tu étais né, et le nombre de tes jours est grand!
22 “Have you entered the place where I store the snow and the place where I keep the hail?
As-tu pénétré jusqu'aux trésors de neige? Et as-tu vu les trésors de 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 réserve pour les temps de détresse, pour le jour de la bataille 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 quels chemins se partage la lumière, 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 donné à l'averse ses canaux, et sa voie à l'éclair des tonnerres,
26 Who causes rain to fall in the desert, in places where no one lives?
Pour faire pleuvoir sur une terre sans habitants, sur un désert sans 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 des lieux déserts et désolés, et faire germer et sortir l'herbe?
28 Does the rain have a father? Does the dew [also] have a father?
La pluie a-t-elle un père? Ou, qui enfante les gouttes de 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 est sortie la glace? Et qui enfante le givre du ciel?
30 [In the winter, ] the water [freezes and] becomes hard, like a rock, and the surface of lakes becomes frozen.
Les eaux se dissimulent, changées en pierre, et la surface de l'abîme se prend.
31 “[Job], can you fasten the chains that hold the stars together in clusters/groups in the sky?
Peux-tu resserrer les liens des Pléiades, ou détacher 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?
Fais-tu sortir en leur temps les signes du zodiaque? Et conduis-tu 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? Ou disposes-tu de son pouvoir sur la terre?
34 “Can you shout to the clouds and cause rain to pour down on you?
Élèves-tu ta voix vers la nuée, pour que des eaux abondantes te couvrent?
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?’
Envoies-tu les éclairs? Partent-ils, 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 nues, 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 compte les nuages avec sagesse, qui incline les outres des cieux,
38 with the result that the dry ground becomes hard as the dry (clods/lumps of soil) [become wet and] stick together?
Quand la poussière se délaie et se met en fusion, et que les mottes s'agglomèrent?
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?
Chasses-tu pour le lion sa proie, et assouvis-tu la faim des lionceaux,
Quand ils se tapissent dans leurs repaires, quand ils sont 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 apprête la nourriture au corbeau, quand ses petits crient vers Dieu et volent çà et là, n'ayant rien à manger?
