Job 15
1 Et Éliphaz, le Thémanite, répondit et dit:
Then Eliphaz replied to Job:
2 Le sage répondra-t-il avec une connaissance [qui n’est que] du vent, et gonflera-t-il sa poitrine du vent d’orient,
“If you were truly wise [RHQ], you would not have replied to us by claiming that you know a lot; what you are saying is just a lot of hot air [MET].
3 Contestant en paroles qui ne profitent pas et en discours qui ne servent à rien?
You should not [RHQ] be saying things that do not benefit anyone, using words that do no one any good.
4 Certes tu détruis la crainte [de Dieu], et tu restreins la méditation devant Dieu.
[By what you say, ] you show that you do not revere God, and you are hindering people from meditating/thinking about God.
5 Car ta bouche fait connaître ton iniquité, et tu as choisi le langage des [hommes] rusés.
[It is as though] your sins are telling you what to say; you talk like people who will not admit that they are wicked.
6 Ta bouche te condamnera, et non pas moi, et tes lèvres déposent contre toi.
Everything that you say [MTY] shows that you should be punished; so, it is not necessary for me to show that.
7 Es-tu né le premier des hommes, et as-tu été enfanté avant les collines?
[“Tell me do you know more than everyone else because you think that] you are the first person who was ever born? [SAR, RHQ] Were you born before the hills [were created]?
8 As-tu entendu [ce qui se dit] dans le conseil secret de Dieu, et as-tu accaparé pour toi la sagesse?
Were you listening when God made all his plans? [SAR, RHQ] Or do you think that you are the only person who is wise?
9 Que sais-tu que nous ne sachions? que comprends-tu qui ne soit également avec nous?
(What do you know that we do not know?/You do not know anything that we do not know.) [RHQ] You do not understand [RHQ] anything that is not also clear to us.
10 Parmi nous il y a aussi des hommes à cheveux blancs et des vieillards plus âgés que ton père.
My friends and I are also wise; we acquired [wisdom] from old gray-haired people, from people who were born before your father was born.
11 Est-ce trop peu pour toi que les consolations de Dieu et la parole douce qui se fait entendre à toi?
God wants to comfort you, and to speak gently/kindly to you; (is that not enough for you/do you need more than that)?
12 Comment ton cœur t’emporte-t-il, et comment tes yeux clignent-ils,
Why do you allow yourself to be (carried away/excited) by your emotions? Why are [you very angry, with the result that] your eyes flash?
13 Que tu tournes contre Dieu ton esprit et que tu fasses sortir de ta bouche des discours?
You are angry [IDM] with God, and so you [MTY] are criticizing/denouncing him.
14 Qu’est-ce que l’homme mortel, pour qu’il soit pur, et celui qui est né d’une femme, pour qu’il soit juste?
“(How can any person, [including you, ] be sinless?/No person, [including you], can be sinless.) [RHQ] (How can anyone on the earth be [completely] righteous?/No one on the earth can be [completely] righteous.) [RHQ]
15 Voici, il ne se fie pas à ses saints, et les cieux ne sont pas purs à ses yeux:
Hey, God does not even trust his angels; he does not consider even them to be [completely] pure.
16 Combien plus l’homme, qui boit l’iniquité comme l’eau, est-il abominable et corrompu!
So, he certainly does not [trust] abominable/disgusting and depraved/corrupt people who do evil things [as easily] as they drink water [MET].
17 Je t’enseignerai, écoute-moi; et ce que j’ai vu je te le raconterai,
Job, listen to what I will tell you. I will declare to you what I know,
18 Ce que les sages ont déclaré d’après leurs pères et n’ont pas caché; –
things that wise men have told me, truths that their ancestors did not keep hidden.
19 À eux seuls la terre fut donnée, et aucun étranger ne passa au milieu d’eux: –
God gave this land to those ancestors, who were truly wise; no one from another country caused them to think wrongly [IDM].
20 Tous ses jours, le méchant est tourmenté, et peu d’années sont réservées à l’homme violent;
It is wicked people who suffer with great pain all the time that they are alive; that is what happens to those who (oppress/act violently toward) others.
21 La voix des choses effrayantes est dans ses oreilles; au milieu de la prospérité, le dévastateur arrive sur lui;
They constantly hear sounds that terrify them; while they are prospering, bandits attack them.
22 Il ne croit pas revenir des ténèbres, et l’épée l’attend;
Wicked people surely know that they will not escape from darkness/death, because [they are sure that someone] is waiting to kill them with a sword.
23 Il erre çà et là pour du pain: – où en trouver? Il sait qu’à son côté un jour de ténèbres est préparé;
They wander around, searching for food, saying ‘Where can I find some?’ And they know that they will soon experience disasters.
24 La détresse et l’angoisse le jettent dans l’alarme, elles l’assaillent comme un roi prêt pour la mêlée.
Because they are afraid of those things happening to them, they are afraid and worry that these things will come to them like [the army of] a king comes to attack [their enemies and cause them to suffer] [SIM].
25 Car il a étendu sa main contre Dieu, et il s’élève contre le Tout-puissant;
[Those things happen to them] because they (shook their fists/dared to fight) against Almighty God, and thought that they were strong enough to defeat him.
26 Il court contre lui, le cou [tendu], sous les bosses épaisses de ses boucliers.
They stubbornly [IDM] rush to attack God [as though they were carrying] a strong shield [to protect themselves].
27 Car il a couvert sa face de sa graisse, et a rendu gras ses flancs.
They are so fat [that they are unable to fight].
28 Et il habitera des villes ruinées, des maisons que personne n’habite, qui vont devenir des monceaux de pierres.
They will live in cities that have been abandoned, cities which have become a heap of ruins.
29 Il ne deviendra pas riche, et son bien ne subsistera pas, et ses possessions ne s’étendront pas sur la terre.
But they will not remain rich very long; Everything that they own will be taken from them; their possessions will all disappear.
30 Il ne sortira pas des ténèbres; la flamme séchera ses rejetons, et il s’en ira par le souffle de sa bouche.
They will not escape from the darkness [of death]; they will be like trees whose branches are burned by fire and whose blossoms are blown away by the wind.
31 Qu’il ne compte pas sur la vanité: il sera déçu, car la vanité sera sa récompense;
Since they are very foolish, with the result that they trust in things that are really worthless, then things that are worthless will be all that they get.
32 Avant son jour, elle sera complète, et son rameau ne verdira pas.
Before they are old, they will wither; they will be like [MET] branches that wither and never become green again.
33 Il se défait, comme une vigne, de ses grappes vertes, et, comme un olivier, il rejette ses fleurs.
They will be like [SIM] vines whose grapes fall off before they are ripe, like olive trees whose blossoms fall off before they produce any fruit.
34 Car la famille des impies sera stérile, et le feu dévorera les tentes [où entrent] les présents.
Wicked/godless people will not have any descendants, and fires will completely burn up the homes of [those who built those homes using] money they received from bribes.
35 Il conçoit la misère et enfante le malheur, et son sein prépare la tromperie.
They plan to cause trouble and to do evil things, and they are always preparing to deceive people.”
