Job 20
1 Alors Sophar de Naama prit la parole et dit:
Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,
2 C'est pourquoi mes pensées me suggèrent une réponse, et, à cause de mon agitation, j'ai hâte de la donner.
For this cause my thoughts are troubling me and driving me on.
3 J'ai entendu des reproches qui m'outragent; dans mon intelligence, mon esprit trouvera la réplique.
I have to give ear to arguments which put me to shame, and your answers to me are wind without wisdom.
4 Sais-tu bien que, de tout temps, depuis que l'homme a été placé sur la terre,
Have you knowledge of this from early times, when man was placed on the earth,
5 le triomphe des méchants a été court, et la joie de l'impie d'un moment?
That the pride of the sinner is short, and the joy of the evil-doer but for a minute?
6 Quand il porterait son orgueil jusqu'au ciel, et que sa tête toucherait aux nues,
Though he is lifted up to the heavens, and his head goes up to the clouds;
7 comme son ordure, il périt pour toujours; ceux qui le voyaient disent: « Où est-il? »
Like the waste from his body he comes to an end for ever: those who have seen him say, Where is he?
8 Il s'envole comme un songe, et on ne le trouve plus; il s'efface comme une vision de la nuit.
He is gone like a dream, and is not seen again; he goes in flight like a vision of the night.
9 L'œil qui le voyait ne le découvre plus; sa demeure ne l'apercevra plus.
The eye which saw him sees him no longer; and his place has no more knowledge of him.
10 Ses enfants imploreront les pauvres, de ses propres mains il restituera ses rapines.
His children are hoping that the poor will be kind to them, and his hands give back his wealth.
11 Ses os étaient pleins de ses iniquités cachées; elles dormiront avec lui dans la poussière.
His bones are full of young strength, but it will go down with him into the dust.
12 Parce que le mal a été doux à sa bouche, qu'il l'a caché sous sa langue,
Though evil-doing is sweet in his mouth, and he keeps it secretly under his tongue;
13 qu'il l'a savouré sans l'abandonner, et l'a retenu au milieu de son palais:
Though he takes care of it, and does not let it go, but keeps it still in his mouth;
14 sa nourriture tournera en poison dans ses entrailles, elle deviendra dans son sein le venin de l'aspic.
His food becomes bitter in his stomach; the poison of snakes is inside him.
15 Il a englouti des richesses, il les vomira; Dieu les retirera de son ventre.
He takes down wealth as food, and sends it up again; it is forced out of his stomach by God.
16 Il a sucé le venin de l'aspic, la langue de la vipère le tuera.
He takes the poison of snakes into his mouth, the tongue of the snake is the cause of his death.
17 Il ne verra jamais couler les fleuves, les torrents de miel et de lait.
Let him not see the rivers of oil, the streams of honey and milk.
18 Il rendra ce qu'il a gagné et ne s'en gorgera pas, dans la mesure de ses profits, et il n'en jouira pas.
He is forced to give back the fruit of his work, and may not take it for food; he has no joy in the profit of his trading.
19 Car il a opprimé et délaissé les pauvres, il a saccagé leur maison, et ne l'a point rétablie:
Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up;
20 son avidité n'a pu être rassasiée, il n'emportera pas ce qu'il a de plus cher.
There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight.
21 Rien n'échappait à sa voracité; aussi son bonheur ne subsistera pas.
He had never enough for his desire; for this cause his well-being will quickly come to an end.
22 Au sein de l'abondance, il tombe dans la disette; tous les coups du malheur viennent sur lui.
Even when his wealth is great, he is full of care, for the hand of everyone who is in trouble is turned against him.
23 Voici pour lui remplir le ventre: Dieu enverra sur lui le feu de sa colère, elle pleuvra sur lui jusqu'en ses entrailles.
God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain.
24 S'il échappe aux armes de fer, l'arc d'airain le transperce.
He may go in flight from the iron spear, but the arrow from the bow of brass will go through him;
25 Il arrache le trait, il sort de son corps, l'acier sort étincelant de son foie; les terreurs de la mort tombent sur lui.
He is pulling it out, and it comes out of his back; and its shining point comes out of his side; he is overcome by fears.
26 Une nuit profonde engloutit ses trésors; un feu que l'homme n'a pas allumé le dévore, et consume tout ce qui restait dans sa tente.
All his wealth is stored up for the dark: a fire not made by man sends destruction on him, and on everything in his tent.
27 Les cieux révéleront son iniquité, et la terre s'élèvera contre lui.
The heavens make clear his sin, and the earth gives witness against him.
28 L'abondance de sa maison sera dispersée, elle disparaîtra au jour de la colère.
The produce of his house is taken away into another country, like things given into the hands of others in the day of wrath.
29 Telle est la part que Dieu réserve au méchant, et l'héritage que lui destine Dieu.
This is the reward of the evil man, and the heritage given to him by God.
