Job 41
1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or tie up his jaws with a cord?
Tu tireras le Léviathan avec un hameçon? et tu serreras sa langue avec une corde?
2 Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
Mettras-tu un jonc dans ses narines, perceras-tu sa joue avec un crochet?
3 Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak soft words to you?
T'adressera-t-il beaucoup de prières, et 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 un accord avec toi, et le prendras-tu pour esclave à toujours?
5 Will you play with him as you would with a bird? Will you tie him up for your servant girls?
En joueras-tu comme d'un oiseau, et 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 associés en feront-ils commerce, le partageront-ils entre des marchands?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
Perceras-tu sa peau d'un dard, et sa tête d'un harpon?
8 Put your hand on him just once, and you will remember the battle and do it no more.
Mets ta main sur lui: tu te souviendras de la bataille, et tu n'y reviendras 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, tout espoir de le prendre est trompé; à son seul aspect on est jeté à terre!
10 None is so fierce that he dare stir Leviathan up; who, then, is he who can stand before me?
Il n'y a point d'homme si hardi qui l'ose réveiller; et qui se tiendra debout 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 fait des avances, 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 ses forces, et sur la beauté de sa stature.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double armor?
Qui a soulevé le dessus de son vêtement? Qui est entré dans sa double mâchoire?
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? La terreur est autour de ses dents.
15 his back is made up of rows of shields, tight together as with a close seal.
Ses puissants boucliers sont superbes; ils sont fermés, étroitement scellés.
16 One is so near to another that no air can come between them.
Ils se touchent l'un l'autre, le vent ne passe point entre eux.
17 They are joined to each other; they stick together, so that they cannot be pulled apart.
Ils sont adhérents l'un à l'autre; ils se tiennent, ils ne se séparent point.
18 Light flashes out from his snorting; his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning dawn.
Ses éternuements jettent un éclat de lumière, et ses yeux sont comme les paupières de l'aurore.
19 Out of his mouth go burning torches, sparks of fire leap out.
De sa bouche sortent des lueurs, et s'échappent 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.
De ses narines sort une fumée, comme d'un vase qui bout ou d'une chaudière.
21 His breath kindles coals into flame; fires go out from his mouth.
Son souffle enflammerait 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 réside la force, et la terreur marche devant lui.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together; they are firm on him; they cannot be moved.
Les fanons de sa chair sont adhérents; ils sont massifs, inébranlables.
24 His heart is as hard as a stone— indeed, as hard as a lower millstone.
Son cœur est massif comme une pierre, massif comme la meule de dessous.
25 When he raises himself up, even the gods become afraid; because of fear, they draw back.
Quand il se lève, les plus forts tremblent, ils défaillent d'effroi.
26 If a sword strikes him, it does nothing— and neither does a spear, an arrow, or any other pointed weapon.
Quand on l'approche, l'épée ne sert à rien, 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 regarde le fer comme de la paille, et l'airain comme du bois pourri.
28 An arrow cannot make him flee; to him sling stones become chaff.
La flèche ne le fait pas fuir, les pierres de la fronde sont pour lui comme du chaume;
29 Clubs are regarded as straw; he laughs at the whirring flight of a spear.
Comme du chaume, la massue; il se rit du frémissement des javelots.
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.
Son ventre a des tessons pointus: il étend une herse 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 le gouffre comme une chaudière, il rend la mer semblable à un vase de parfumeur.
32 He makes a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had gray hair.
Il laisse après lui une trace brillante, on dirait sur l'abîme une blanche chevelure.
33 On earth there is no equal to him, who has been made to live without fear.
Il n'a pas son pareil sur la terre; il a été fait pour ne rien craindre.
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 des plus fiers animaux.
