Job 39
1 “[Job], do you know at what time/season [of the year] the female mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the wild deer while their fawns were being born?
Sais-tu quand les chèvres sauvages font leurs petits? Observes-tu les biches quand elles mettent bas?
2 Do you know how many months pass from the time they become pregnant until their fawns are born?
Comptes-tu les mois pendant lesquels elles portent, Et connais-tu l’époque où elles enfantent?
3 [When they give birth, ] they crouch down so that the fawns do not [get hurt by] falling to the ground when they are born.
Elles se courbent, laissent échapper leur progéniture, Et sont délivrées de leurs douleurs.
4 The young fawns grow up in the open fields, and then they leave their mothers and do not return to them again.
Leurs petits prennent de la vigueur et grandissent en plein air, Ils s’éloignent et ne reviennent plus auprès d’elles.
5 “Who allows the wild donkeys to go wherever they want [DOU]?
Qui met en liberté l’âne sauvage, Et l’affranchit de tout lien?
6 I am the one who put them in the desert, in places where grass does not grow.
J’ai fait du désert son habitation, De la terre salée sa demeure.
7 They do not like the noise in the cities; [in the desert] they do not have to listen to the shouts of those who force donkeys to work.
Il se rit du tumulte des villes, Il n’entend pas les cris d’un maître.
8 They go to the hills to find food; there they search for grass to eat.
Il parcourt les montagnes pour trouver sa pâture, Il est à la recherche de tout ce qui est vert.
9 :Will a wild ox agree to work for you? Will it allow you to keep it penned up at night in the place where you put feed for your animals?
Le buffle veut-il être à ton service? Passe-t-il la nuit vers ta crèche?
10 And can you fasten it with a rope so that it will plow furrows/trenches in your fields?
L’attaches-tu par une corde pour qu’il trace un sillon? Va-t-il après toi briser les mottes des vallées?
11 Since it is very strong, can you trust it to work for you? Can you go away after you tell it what work it should do [and assume that it will do that work]?
Te reposes-tu sur lui, parce que sa force est grande? Lui abandonnes-tu le soin de tes travaux?
12 Can you rely on it to come back [from the field], bringing your grain to the place where you thresh it?
Te fies-tu à lui pour la rentrée de ta récolte? Est-ce lui qui doit l’amasser dans ton aire?
13 “[Think also about] the ostriches. [They] joyfully flap their wings, but they do not have wing feathers [that enable them to fly] like storks do.
L’aile de l’autruche se déploie joyeuse; On dirait l’aile, le plumage de la cigogne.
14 Ostriches lay their eggs on top of the ground [and then walk away], leaving the eggs to be warmed in the sand.
Mais l’autruche abandonne ses œufs à la terre, Et les fait chauffer sur la poussière;
15 Ostriches do not worry that some wild animal may step on the eggs and crush them [DOU].
Elle oublie que le pied peut les écraser, Qu’une bête des champs peut les fouler.
16 Ostriches act cruelly towards their chicks; they act as though the chicks belonged to some other ostrich. They are not concerned if [their chicks die], [and so] the laying of the eggs was in vain.
Elle est dure envers ses petits comme s’ils n’étaient point à elle; Elle ne s’inquiète pas de l’inutilité de son enfantement.
17 That is because I did not allow ostriches to be wise. I did not enable them to be intelligent.
Car Dieu lui a refusé la sagesse, Il ne lui a pas donné l’intelligence en partage.
18 But, when they get up and begin to run, they scornfully laugh at horses with their riders [because the horses cannot run as fast as the ostriches!]
Quand elle se lève et prend sa course, Elle se rit du cheval et de son cavalier.
19 And [think about] horses. [Job], are you the one who caused horses to be strong? Are you the one who put flowing (manes/long hair) on their necks?
Est-ce toi qui donnes la vigueur au cheval, Et qui revêts son cou d’une crinière flottante?
20 Are you the one who enabled them to leap forward like locusts? When they (snort/blow loudly through their noses), they cause people to be afraid.
Le fais-tu bondir comme la sauterelle? Son fier hennissement répand la terreur.
21 They paw the ground, rejoicing about being very strong, as they prepare to rush into a battle.
Il creuse le sol et se réjouit de sa force, Il s’élance au-devant des armes;
22 [It is as if] they laugh at the thought of being afraid. They are not afraid of anything! They do not run away when [the soldiers in the battle are fighting each other with] swords.
Il se rit de la crainte, il n’a pas peur, Il ne recule pas en face de l’épée.
23 The quivers containing the riders’ arrows rattle against the horses’ sides, and the spears and javelins flash [in the light of the sun].
Sur lui retentit le carquois, Brillent la lance et le javelot.
24 The horses paw the ground fiercely/excitedly, [wanting the battle to begin, ] and they rush into the battle when the trumpet is blown.
Bouillonnant d’ardeur, il dévore la terre, Il ne peut se contenir au bruit de la trompette.
25 They neigh [joyfully] when they hear someone blowing the trumpet. They can smell a battle even when they are far away, and they understand what it means when the commanders shout their commands [to their soldiers].
Quand la trompette sonne, il dit: En avant! Et de loin il flaire la bataille, La voix tonnante des chefs et les cris de guerre.
26 “[And think about big birds.] Are you the one who enabled hawks to spread their wings and fly to the south [for the winter]?
Est-ce par ton intelligence que l’épervier prend son vol, Et qu’il étend ses ailes vers le midi?
27 Do eagles fly high up [into the cliffs] to make their nests because you commanded them to do that?
Est-ce par ton ordre que l’aigle s’élève, Et qu’il place son nid sur les hauteurs?
28 They live in [holes in] those cliffs. They are safe in those high pointed rocks [because no animals can reach them there].
C’est dans les rochers qu’il habite, qu’il a sa demeure, Sur la cime des rochers, sur le sommet des monts.
29 As they watch carefully from there, they see far away the animals that they can kill (OR, dead bodies of animals).
De là il épie sa proie, Il plonge au loin les regards.
30 After an eagle kills an animal, the baby eagles drink the blood of that animal.”
Ses petits boivent le sang; Et là où sont des cadavres, l’aigle se trouve.
