Job 41
1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or tie up his jaws with a cord?
Tireras-tu le léviathan avec un hameçon, et avec une corde lui feras-tu y enfoncer sa langue?
2 Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
Lui mettras-tu un jonc dans le nez, et lui perceras-tu la mâchoire avec un crochet?
3 Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak soft words to you?
Te fera-t-il beaucoup de supplications, ou te dira-t-il des choses douces?
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 comme serviteur à toujours?
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 oiseau, et l’attacheras-tu pour tes jeunes filles?
6 Will the groups of fishermen bargain for him? Will they divide him up to trade among the merchants?
Des associés feront-ils trafic de lui? Le partageront-ils entre des marchands?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
Rempliras-tu sa peau de dards, et sa tête de harpons à poissons?
8 Put your hand on him just once, and you will remember the battle and do it no more.
Mets ta main sur lui: souviens-toi de la bataille, – n’y reviens pas!
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, on est déçu dans son attente; même à sa vue, n’est-on pas terrassé?
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 le réveiller; et qui est celui qui se présentera devant moi?
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 prévenu, et je lui rendrai? Tout ce qui est sous les cieux 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 me tairai pas sur ses membres, sur ce qui concerne ses forces et sur la beauté de sa structure.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double armor?
Qui a mis à découvert le dessus de son vêtement? Qui pénétrera dans sa double mâchoire?
14 Who can open the doors of his face— ringed with his teeth, which are a terror?
Qui ouvrira les portes de son museau? Autour de ses dents est la terreur!
15 his back is made up of rows of shields, tight together as with a close seal.
Il est magnifique par la force de ses boucliers étroitement unis comme par un sceau;
16 One is so near to another that no air can come between them.
L’un touche à l’autre, et le vent ne pénétrerait pas entre eux;
17 They are joined to each other; they stick together, so that they cannot be pulled apart.
L’un est attaché à l’autre, ils se tiennent et ne se séparent pas.
18 Light flashes out from his snorting; his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning dawn.
Ses éternuements font jaillir la lumière, et ses yeux sont comme les paupières de l’aurore.
19 Out of his mouth go burning torches, sparks of fire leap out.
Des flammes sortent de sa gueule; des étincelles de feu s’en échappent;
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’un pot qui bouillonne, comme d’une chaudière ardente;
21 His breath kindles coals into flame; fires go out from his mouth.
Son souffle allumerait des charbons, et une flamme sort de sa gueule.
22 In his neck is strength, and terror dances in front of him.
Dans son cou loge la force, et la frayeur danse devant lui.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together; they are firm on him; they cannot be moved.
Les plis de sa chair adhèrent ensemble: coulés sur lui, ils ne bougent pas;
24 His heart is as hard as a stone— indeed, as hard as a lower millstone.
Son cœur est dur comme une 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 forts ont peur, ils s’enfuient saisis d’épouvante.
26 If a sword strikes him, it does nothing— and neither does a spear, an arrow, or any other pointed weapon.
Quand on l’atteint de l’épée, elle n’a aucun effet, ni la lance, ni le dard, ni la cuirasse.
27 He thinks of iron as if it were straw, and of bronze as if it were rotten wood.
Il estime le fer comme de la paille, l’airain comme du bois vermoulu.
28 An arrow cannot make him flee; to him sling stones become chaff.
La flèche ne le met pas en fuite; les pierres de fronde se changent pour lui en du chaume.
29 Clubs are regarded as straw; he laughs at the whirring flight of a spear.
Il estime la massue comme du chaume, et il se rit du bruit du javelot.
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 lui sont des tessons pointus; il étend une herse sur la vase.
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’eau profonde comme une marmite, il fait de la mer comme un pot d’onguent;
32 He makes a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had gray hair.
Il fait briller après lui [son] sillage; on prendrait l’abîme pour des cheveux gris.
33 On earth there is no equal to him, who has been made to live without fear.
Il n’a pas son semblable sur la terre: il a été fait pour être sans peur.
34 He sees everything that is proud; he is king over all the sons of pride.”
Il regarde tout ce qui est élevé; il est roi sur tous les fiers animaux.
