Habacuc 1
1 Sentence dont Habacuc, le prophète, eut la vision.
[I am] Habakkuk, a prophet. This is the [message that Yahweh] gave to me in a vision.
2 Jusques à quand, Yahweh, t’implorerai-je, sans que tu m’entendes, crierai-je vers toi à la violence, sans que tu me délivres?
[I said, ] “Yahweh, how long must I continue to call [to you] for help before you respond? I cry out to you [for help], saying that [people are acting] violently [everywhere], but you do not rescue us!
3 Pourquoi me fais-tu voir l’iniquité, et contemples-tu la souffrance? La dévastation et la violence sont devant moi, il y a des querelles et la discorde s’élève;
(Must I/I do not want to) continue seeing people doing what is unjust [RHQ]. Why do you not punish people who are doing what is wrong [RHQ]? I see people destroying things and [acting] violently. There is fighting and quarreling [everywhere].
4 à cause de cela la loi se meurt, et la justice ne voit plus le jour; car le méchant circonvient le juste; c’est pourquoi le droit sort faussé.
No one obeys laws [PRS], and judges [PRS] never do what is fair/just. Wicked people always defeat righteous people [in the courts], with the result that matters are never decided fairly/justly.”
5 Jetez les yeux sur les nations et regardez; soyez étonnés, stupéfaits. Car je vais faire en vos jours une œuvre, que vous ne croiriez pas si on vous la racontait.
[Yahweh replied to me, ] “[I know that what you say is true, but] look around at [what is happening in] the other nations; [if you look, ] you will be amazed, because I am doing something during this time that you would not believe [would happen], even if someone told you about it.
6 Car voici que je suscite les Chaldéens, peuple féroce et impétueux, qui s’avance vers les larges espaces de la terre, pour s’emparer de demeures qui ne sont pas à lui.
The soldiers of Babylonia are fierce/cruel and swift. And now I am causing them [to become very powerful]; they will march across the world and conquer [many] other countries.
7 Il est terrible et formidable, et c’est de lui-même que vient son droit et sa grandeur.
They are people whom [others] fear very much [DOU], and they do whatever they want to, paying no attention to the laws of other countries.
8 Ses chevaux sont plus légers que les léopards, plus ardents que les loups du soir. Ses cavaliers s’élancent, ses cavaliers viennent de loin, ils volent comme l’aigle pressé de dévorer.
The horses [that pull their chariots] go faster than leopards, and they are fiercer than wolves are in the evening. The horses on which the soldiers ride gallop swiftly; the soldiers riding them come from distant places. They are like [SIM] eagles that swoop down to [snatch and] kill small animals.
9 Tout ce peuple vient pour exercer la violence; leurs regards avides se portent en avant; il amasse les captifs comme du sable.
As they ride along, [they are] determined to act violently. They advance like [SIM] a wind from the desert, gathering prisoners that are as [numerous as grains of] sand.
10 Lui, il se moque des rois, et les princes sont sa risée; il se rit de toutes les forteresses, il entasse de la poussière et les prend.
They make fun of kings and princes [of other countries], and they ridicule all the cities that have high walls around them. They pile dirt [outside those walls] [in order to climb up] and capture those cities.
11 Puis l’ouragan s’avance et passe; et il se rend coupable; sa force à lui, voilà son Dieu!
They rush past like the wind, and then they go [to attack other cities]. But they are very guilty, because [they think that] their own power is their god.”
12 N’es-tu pas dès le commencement, Yahweh, mon Dieu, mon saint? Nous ne mourrons pas. Yahweh, tu as établi ce peuple pour le droit, ô mon Rocher, tu l’as affermi pour châtier.
[Then I said, ] “Yahweh, you have certainly [RHQ] always/forever been God. You are my Holy One; you will not die. So [why] have you appointed those men [from Babylonia] to judge and get rid of [us]? You are like [MET] a huge rock [under which we are protected/safe], so why have you sent them to punish us?
13 Tes yeux sont trop purs pour voir le mal, et tu ne peux contempler la souffrance. Pourquoi regarderais-tu les perfides, et te tairais-tu, quand le méchant dévore un plus juste que lui?
You [SYN] are pure, and you cannot endure looking at what is evil, [so why] are you ignoring men who are treacherous? Why do you do nothing [to punish] those wicked men [from Babylonia] who destroy people who are more righteous than they [are]?
14 Tu traiterais donc les hommes comme les poissons de la mer, comme les reptiles qui n’ont point de chef!…
[Do you consider that] we are like fish in the sea, or like other creatures in the sea, that have no ruler?
15 Il prend le tout à l’hameçon, il le tire avec son filet, le rassemble dans ses rets; et c’est pourquoi il est dans la joie, il jubile.
[The soldiers of Babylonia think that we are fish] [RHQ] for them to pull out of the sea with hooks or to catch in their nets, while they rejoice and celebrate.
16 C’est pourquoi il sacrifie à son filet, et il offre de l’encens à ses rets; car par eux sa portion est grasse, et sa nourriture succulente.
If they catch us, they will [worship] their weapons [MET] with which they captured us, and offer sacrifices to them and burn incense in front of them! [They will say] ‘Those weapons have enabled us to become rich and be able to eat expensive food.’
17 Continuera-t-il donc de vider son filet, et toujours égorgera-t-il sans pitié les nations!
[Will you allow] them to continue [to conquer people] [MET] forever? [Will you allow] them to destroy people of other nations without their being merciful [to anyone]?”
