Habacuc 1
1 L’oracle qu’a vu Habakuk, le prophète.
[I am] Habakkuk, a prophet. This is the [message that Yahweh] gave to me in a vision.
2 Jusques à quand, Éternel, crierai-je, et tu n’entendras pas? Je crie à toi: Violence! et tu ne sauves pas.
[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 l’oppression? La dévastation et la violence sont devant moi, et il y a contestation, 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 C’est pourquoi la loi reste impuissante, et le juste jugement ne vient jamais au jour; car le méchant cerne le juste; c’est pourquoi le jugement sort perverti.
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 Voyez parmi les nations, et regardez, et soyez stupéfaits; car je ferai en vos jours une œuvre que vous ne croirez pas, si elle [vous] est racontée.
[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, je suscite les Chaldéens, la nation cruelle et impétueuse, qui marche par la largeur de la terre pour prendre possession de domiciles qui ne lui appartiennent pas.
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 Elle est formidable et terrible; son jugement et sa dignité procèdent d’elle-même.
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 rapides que les léopards, plus agiles que les loups du soir; et ses cavaliers s’élancent fièrement, et ses cavaliers viennent de loin: ils volent comme l’aigle se hâte pour 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 Ils viennent tous pour la violence; leurs faces sont toutes ensemble tournées en avant; ils rassemblent les captifs comme le 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 Et il se moque des rois, et les princes lui sont une risée; il se rit de toutes les forteresses: il entassera de la poussière et les prendra.
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 Alors il changera de pensée, et passera outre et péchera: cette puissance qu’il a, est devenue 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 – Toi, n’es-tu pas de toute ancienneté, Éternel, mon Dieu, mon Saint? Nous ne mourrons pas! Ô Éternel, tu l’as établi pour le jugement, et tu l’as fondé, ô Rocher, 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 Tu as les yeux trop purs pour voir le mal, et tu ne peux contempler l’oppression. Pourquoi contemples-tu ceux qui agissent perfidement, [et] gardes-tu le silence quand le méchant engloutit celui qui est 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 rends aussi les hommes comme les poissons de la mer, comme la bête rampante qui n’a personne qui la gouverne.
[Do you consider that] we are like fish in the sea, or like other creatures in the sea, that have no ruler?
15 Il les fait tous monter avec l’hameçon; il les tire dans son filet, et les rassemble dans son rets; c’est pourquoi il se réjouit et s’égaie:
[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 brûle de l’encens à son rets, parce que, par leur moyen, 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 Videra-t-il pour cela son filet, et égorgera-t-il toujours les nations, sans épargner?
[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]?”
