Job 21
1 Et Job répondit et dit:
Then Job replied,
2 Écoutez, écoutez mon discours, et cela tiendra lieu de vos consolations.
“Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
3 Supportez-moi, et moi je parlerai, et après mes paroles, moque-toi!
Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
4 Ma plainte s’adresse-t-elle à un homme? Et pourquoi mon esprit ne serait-il pas à bout de patience?
“It is certainly not [RHQ] people against whom I am complaining, [but God] And it is certainly [RHQ] right for me to be impatient!
5 Tournez-vous vers moi, et soyez étonnés, et mettez la main sur la bouche.
Look at me! Does what you see not cause you to be appalled and to put your hands over your mouths [and say no more]?
6 Quand je m’en souviens, je suis terrifié, et le frisson saisit ma chair:
When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
7 Pourquoi les méchants vivent-ils, deviennent-ils âgés, et croissent-ils même en force?
“[But let me ask this: ] ‘Why do wicked people continue to live, and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?’
8 Leur postérité s’établit devant eux, auprès d’eux, et leurs descendants devant leurs yeux.
They have their children around them, and they watch them while they [grow up and] start to live in their own houses, and they enjoy their grandchildren.
9 Leurs maisons sont en paix, loin de la frayeur, et la verge de Dieu n’est pas sur eux.
Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
10 Leur taureau engendre sans manquer, leur vache vêle et n’avorte pas.
Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 Ils font sortir leurs jeunes enfants comme un troupeau, et leurs enfants s’ébattent.
Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
12 Ils chantent au son du tambourin et de la harpe, et se réjouissent au son du chalumeau.
Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
Wicked people enjoy having good things all the time that they are alive, and they die quietly/peacefully and go down to the place of the dead. (Sheol h7585)
14 Et ils disent à Dieu: Retire-toi de nous, nous ne prenons pas plaisir à la connaissance de tes voies.
While they are alive, they say to God, ‘Do not bother us; we do not want to know how you want us to conduct our lives!
15 Qu’est-ce que le Tout-puissant pour que nous le servions, et que nous profitera-t-il de nous adresser à lui?
Why do you, Almighty God, think that we should serve you? (What advantage do we get if we pray to you?/It is useless for us to pray to you.) [RHQ]’
16 Voici, leur bonheur n’est pas dans leur main. Loin de moi le conseil des méchants!
Think about it: Wicked people think that it is because of what they have done that they have become prosperous, but I do not understand why they think like that.
17 Combien de fois la lampe des méchants s’éteint-elle, et leur calamité vient-elle sur eux, [et] leur distribue-t-Il des douleurs dans sa colère,
(“How often does it happen that wicked people die [MET] before they are old?/Very seldom do wicked people die [MET] before they are old.) [RHQ] (Do they ever experience disasters?/They seldom experience disasters.) [RHQ] (Does God ever punish them because of being very angry with them?/God never punishes them because of being very angry with them.) [RHQ]
18 [Et] sont-ils comme la paille devant le vent, et comme la balle chassée par la tempête?
[He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
19 Dieu réserve à ses fils [la punition de] sa méchanceté: il la lui rend, et il le saura;
You say, ‘When people have committed sins, God waits and punishes their children because of those sins;’ but [I say that] God should punish those who sin, [not their children, ] in order that the sinners will know [that it is because of their own sins that they are being punished].
20 Ses yeux verront sa calamité, et il boira de la fureur du Tout-puissant.
I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
21 Car quel plaisir [a-t-il] à sa maison après lui, quand le nombre de ses mois est tranché?
After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
22 Est-ce à Dieu qu’on enseignera la connaissance, quand c’est lui qui juge ceux qui sont haut élevés?
“Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
23 L’un meurt en pleine vigueur, entièrement tranquille et à l’aise;
Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
24 Ses flancs sont garnis de graisse, et la moelle de ses os est abreuvée.
Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
25 Et l’autre meurt dans l’amertume de son âme et n’a jamais goûté le bonheur.
Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
26 Ils gisent ensemble sur la poussière, et les vers les couvrent.
But both rich and poor people die and are buried, and maggots eat their bodies. [Everyone dies, so it is clear that dying is not always the punishment for being wicked].
27 Voici, je connais vos pensées, et vos plans contre moi pour me faire violence.
“Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
28 Car vous dites: Où est la maison du noble, et où la tente des demeures des méchants?
You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
29 Ne l’avez-vous pas demandé à ceux qui passent par le chemin? Et n’avez-vous pas reconnu ce qui les distingue:
But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
30 Que le méchant est épargné pour le jour de la calamité, qu’ils sont emmenés au jour de la fureur?
that wicked people usually do not suffer at the time when there are great disasters; that wicked people are the ones who are rescued when God is angry [and punishes people] [MTY]?
31 Qui lui dira en face sa voie? et ce qu’il a fait, qui le lui rendra?
There is no one [RHQ] who accuses wicked people, and there is no one who (pays them back/gives them the punishment that they deserve) for all the evil things that they have done.
32 Il sera conduit dans un sépulcre, et sur le tertre il veillera.
The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
33 Les mottes de la vallée lui sont douces; et après lui tout homme suit à la file, et ceux qui l’ont précédé sont sans nombre.
A huge number [HYP] of people go to the grave site. Some go in front of the procession and some come behind. And the clods of dirt thrown on the graves of those wicked people who have died are like a nice blanket.
34 Et comment me consolez-vous avec de vaines [consolations]? Vos réponses restent perfides.
“So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
