Job 22
1 Et Éliphaz, le Thémanite, répondit et dit:
Then Eliphaz replied,
2 L’homme peut-il être de quelque profit à Dieu? C’est bien à lui-même que l’homme intelligent profitera.
“(Can anyone be useful to God?/Certainly no one can be useful to God.) [RHQ] Even people who are wise cannot be helpful to God.
3 Est-ce un plaisir pour le Tout-puissant que tu sois juste, et un gain [pour lui] que tu sois parfait dans tes voies?
If you were righteous, (would that benefit Almighty [God]?/that certainly would not benefit Almighty [God].) [RHQ] If you had (lived a perfect life/never done anything that is wrong), would that help him?
4 Contestera-t-il avec toi parce qu’il te craint, [et] ira-t-il avec toi en jugement?
“Is it because you have an awesome respect for God that he punishes you? Is that the reason that he puts you on trial?
5 Ta méchanceté n’est-elle pas grande, et tes iniquités ne sont-elles pas sans fin?
No, it certainly must be [RHQ] because you are extremely wicked. It must be that the evil things that you have done are so many that no one can count them!
6 Car sans cause tu as pris un gage de ton frère, et tu as dépouillé de leurs vêtements ceux qui étaient nus.
You must have lent money to others and wrongly forced them to give you things to guarantee that they would pay that money back to you; you must have taken all their clothes and left them with nothing to wear.
7 Tu n’as pas donné d’eau à boire à celui qui défaillait de soif, et tu as refusé du pain à celui qui avait faim;
You must not have given water to those who were thirsty, and you must have refused to give food to those who were hungry.
8 Et l’homme fort, … à lui était la terre, et celui qui était considéré y habitait.
Because you were very powerful, you [must have] taken over all the people’s land, and then, being very respected, you have begun to live on that land.
9 Tu as renvoyé les veuves à vide, et les bras des orphelins ont été écrasés.
[When] widows [came to you for help], you [must have] sent [them] away without giving them anything, and you must have oppressed orphans.
10 C’est pourquoi il y a des pièges autour de toi, et une terreur subite t’effraie;
Because of all that, now there are pits around you for you to fall into, and suddenly there are things that terrify you and cause you to tremble.
11 Ou bien, ce sont des ténèbres, de sorte que tu ne vois pas, et le débordement des eaux te couvre.
[It is as though] it has become very dark, with the result that you cannot see anything, and [it is as though] [MET] a flood covers you.
12 Dieu n’est-il pas aussi haut que les cieux? Regarde le faîte des étoiles, combien elles sont élevées!
“[But consider this, Job]: God lives [RHQ] high up in the heavens. From there he [RHQ] looks down on the highest stars.
13 Et tu as dit: Qu’est-ce que Dieu sait? Jugera-t-il à travers l’obscurité des nuées?
So why do you say, ‘What does God know [about what we are doing]? [He is hidden from us by] dark clouds, so ([how] can he judge us?/he certainly cannot judge us.) [RHQ]’
14 Les nuages l’enveloppent, et il ne voit pas; il se promène dans la voûte des cieux.
[Do you think that] while he walks on the dome that covers the sky, there are thick clouds around him, with the result that he cannot see [what we do]?
15 Observes-tu le sentier ancien où ont marché les hommes vains,
Will you continue to conduct your life the old way that evil people have done [for many years]?
16 Qui ont été emportés avant le temps, [et] dont les fondements se sont écoulés comme un fleuve;
They suddenly died while they were still young; they disappeared [like everything disappears when there is] a flood [MET].
17 Qui disaient à Dieu: Retire-toi de nous! Et que nous ferait le Tout-puissant? –
They kept saying to God, ‘Do not bother us,’ and they also said [defiantly], ‘Almighty [God] can do nothing [RHQ] to [harm] us!’
18 Quoiqu’il ait rempli de biens leurs maisons. Mais que le conseil des méchants soit loin de moi!
But it was God who filled their houses with good things, so I cannot at all understand why wicked people think like they do.
19 Les justes le verront et se réjouiront, et l’innocent se moquera d’eux:
“But when God punishes wicked people, and righteous people see that, they are glad, and they laugh, ridiculing the wicked people.
20 Celui qui s’élevait contre nous n’a-t-il pas été retranché, et le feu n’a-t-il pas dévoré leur abondance?
They say, ‘Now our enemies have been destroyed, and all [their possessions] that were left have been burned in a fire.’
21 Réconcilie-toi avec Lui, je te prie, et sois en paix: ainsi le bonheur t’arrivera.
“So, [Job, ] be reconciled to God and make peace with him; if you do that, good things will happen to you.
22 Reçois l’instruction de sa bouche, et mets ses paroles dans ton cœur.
Allow him to teach you, and keep thinking about what he has told you.
23 Si tu retournes vers le Tout-puissant, tu seras rétabli. Si tu éloignes l’iniquité de ta tente,
If you humble yourself and return to God, if you stop doing all the evil things that you have been doing in your house,
24 Et que tu mettes l’or avec la poussière, et [l’or d’]Ophir parmi les cailloux des torrents,
if you throw away your gold, even the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir [land],
25 Le Tout-puissant sera ton or, et il sera pour toi de l’argent amassé.
and if you allow Almighty [God] to be [as precious to you as] your gold and your silver [have been],
26 Car alors tu trouveras tes délices dans le Tout-puissant, et vers Dieu tu élèveras ta face;
you will be happy because of your close relationship with God, and you will be able to approach him [IDM] [confidently].
27 Tu le supplieras et il t’entendra, et tu acquitteras tes vœux.
You will pray to him, and he will do what you request him to do; you will do the things that you promised him that you would do.
28 Tu décideras une chose, et elle te réussira, et la lumière resplendira sur tes voies.
Everything that you decide to do will be successful; [it] will [be as though] a light [is] shining on the road in front of you.
29 Quand elles seront abaissées, alors tu diras: Lève-toi! et celui qui a les yeux baissés, Il le sauvera;
God humbles those who are proud, but he saves those who are downcast/discouraged.
30 Même Il délivrera celui qui n’est pas innocent: il sera délivré par la pureté de tes mains.
God rescues those who (are innocent/have not done things that are wrong), so he will rescue you if you (start doing things that are right/are not guilty [IDM] of doing things that are wrong).”
