Job 41
1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or tie up his jaws with a cord?
Tireras-tu Léviathan avec un hameçon, et lui serreras-tu la langue avec une corde?
2 Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
Lui passeras-tu un jonc dans les narines, et lui perceras-tu la mâchoire avec un anneau?
3 Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak soft words to you?
T’adressera-t-il d’ardentes prières, te dira-t-il de douces paroles?
4 Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?
Fera-t-il une alliance avec toi, le prendras-tu toujours à ton service?
5 Will you play with him as you would with a bird? Will you tie him up for your servant girls?
Joueras-tu avec lui comme avec un passereau, l’attacheras-tu pour amuser tes filles?
6 Will the groups of fishermen bargain for him? Will they divide him up to trade among the merchants?
Les pêcheurs associés en font-ils le commerce, le partagent-ils entre les marchands?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
Cribleras-tu sa peau de dards, perceras-tu sa tête du harpon?
8 Put your hand on him just once, and you will remember the battle and do it no more.
Essaie de mettre la main sur lui: souviens-toi du combat, et tu n’y reviendras plus.
9 See, the hope of anyone who does that is a lie; will not anyone be thrown down to the ground just by the sight of him?
Voici que le chasseur est trompé dans son attente; la vue du monstre suffit à le terrasser.
10 None is so fierce that he dare stir Leviathan up; who, then, is he who can stand before me?
Nul n’est assez hardi pour provoquer Léviathan: qui donc oserait me résister en face?
11 Who has first given anything to me in order that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole sky is mine.
Qui m’a obligé, pour que j’aie à lui rendre? Tout ce qui est sous le ciel est à moi.
12 I will not keep silent concerning Leviathan's legs, nor about the matter of his strength, nor about his graceful form.
Je ne veux pas taire ses membres, sa force, l’harmonie de sa structure.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double armor?
Qui jamais a soulevé le bord de sa cuirasse? Qui a franchi la double ligne de son râtelier?
14 Who can open the doors of his face— ringed with his teeth, which are a terror?
Qui a ouvert les portes de sa gueule? Autour de ses dents habite la terreur.
15 his back is made up of rows of shields, tight together as with a close seal.
Superbes sont les lignes de ses écailles, comme des sceaux étroitement serrés.
16 One is so near to another that no air can come between them.
Chacune touche sa voisine; un souffle ne passerait pas entre elles.
17 They are joined to each other; they stick together, so that they cannot be pulled apart.
Elles adhèrent l’une à l’autre, elles sont jointes et ne sauraient se séparer.
18 Light flashes out from his snorting; his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning dawn.
Ses éternuements font jaillir la lumière, ses yeux sont comme les paupières de l’aurore.
19 Out of his mouth go burning torches, sparks of fire leap out.
Des flammes jaillissent de sa gueule, il s’en échappe des étincelles de feu.
20 Out of his nostrils goes smoke like a boiling pot on a fire that has been fanned to be very hot.
Une fumée sort de ses narines, comme d’une chaudière ardente et bouillante.
21 His breath kindles coals into flame; fires go out from his mouth.
Son souffle allume les charbons, de sa bouche s’élance la flamme.
22 In his neck is strength, and terror dances in front of him.
Dans son cou réside la force, devant lui bondit l’épouvante.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together; they are firm on him; they cannot be moved.
Les muscles de sa chair tiennent ensemble; fondus sur lui, inébranlables.
24 His heart is as hard as a stone— indeed, as hard as a lower millstone.
Son cœur est dur comme la pierre, dur comme la meule inférieure.
25 When he raises himself up, even the gods become afraid; because of fear, they draw back.
Quand il se lève, les plus braves ont peur, l’épouvante les fait défaillir.
26 If a sword strikes him, it does nothing— and neither does a spear, an arrow, or any other pointed weapon.
Qu’on l’attaque avec l’épée, l’épée ne résiste pas, ni la lance, ni le javelot, ni la flèche.
27 He thinks of iron as if it were straw, and of bronze as if it were rotten wood.
Il tient le fer pour de la paille, l’airain comme un bois vermoulu.
28 An arrow cannot make him flee; to him sling stones become chaff.
La fille de l’arc ne le fait pas fuir, les pierres de la fronde sont pour lui un fétu;
29 Clubs are regarded as straw; he laughs at the whirring flight of a spear.
la massue, un brin de chaume; il se rit du fracas des piques.
30 His lower parts are like sharp pieces of broken pottery; he leaves a spreading trail in the mud as if he were a threshing sledge.
Sous son ventre sont des tessons aigus: on dirait une herse qu’il étend sur le limon.
31 He makes the deep to foam up like a pot of boiling water; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
Il fait bouillonner l’abîme comme une chaudière, il fait de la mer un vase de parfums.
32 He makes a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had gray hair.
Il laisse après lui un sillage de lumière, on dirait que l’abîme a des cheveux blancs.
33 On earth there is no equal to him, who has been made to live without fear.
Il n’a pas son égal sur la terre, il a été créé pour ne rien craindre.
34 He sees everything that is proud; he is king over all the sons of pride.”
Il regarde en face tout ce qui est élevé, il est le roi des plus fiers animaux.
