Job 9
1 Et Job répondit et dit:
And Job, responding, said:
2 En vérité, je sais qu’il en est ainsi. Mais comment l’homme sera-t-il juste devant Dieu?
Truly, I know that it is so, and that man cannot be justified compared with God.
3 S’il se plaît à contester avec lui, il ne lui répondra pas sur un point entre mille.
If he chooses to contend with him, he is not able to respond to him once out of a thousand times.
4 Il est sage de cœur et puissant en force: qui s’est endurci contre lui et a prospéré?
He is understanding in heart and mighty in strength; who has resisted him and yet had peace?
5 Il transporte les montagnes, et elles ne savent pas qu’il les renverse dans sa colère;
He has moved mountains, and those whom he overthrew in his fury did not know it.
6 Il remue la terre de sa place, et ses colonnes tremblent;
He shakes the earth out of its place and its pillars tremble.
7 Il parle au soleil, et [le soleil] ne se lève pas; et sur les étoiles il met son sceau;
He commands the sun and it does not rise, and he closes the stars as if under a seal.
8 Seul il étend les cieux et marche sur les hauteurs de la mer;
He alone extends the heavens, and he walks upon the waves of the sea.
9 Il fait la grande Ourse, Orion, et les Pléiades, et les chambres du midi;
He fashions Arcturus, and Orion, and Hyades, and the interior of the south.
10 Il fait de grandes choses qu’on ne saurait sonder, et des merveilles à ne pouvoir les compter.
He accomplishes great and incomprehensible and miraculous things, which cannot be numbered.
11 Voici, il passe près de moi, et je ne [le] vois pas; et il passe à côté [de moi], et je ne l’aperçois pas.
If he approaches me, I will not see him; if he departs, I will not understand.
12 Voici, il ravit; qui l’en détournera? Qui lui dira: Que fais-tu?
If he suddenly should question, who will answer him? Or who can say, “Why did you do so?”
13 Dieu ne retire pas sa colère; sous lui fléchissent les orgueilleux qui prêtent secours.
God, whose wrath no one is able to resist, and under whom they bend who carry the world,
14 Combien moins lui répondrais-je, moi, [et] choisirais-je mes paroles avec lui!
what am I then, that I should answer him and exchange words with him?
15 Si j’étais juste, je ne lui répondrais pas, je demanderais grâce à mon juge.
And if I now have any justice, I will not respond, but will beseech my judge.
16 Si je criais, et qu’il me réponde, je ne croirais pas qu’il ait prêté l’oreille à ma voix, –
And if he should listen to me when I call, I would not believe that he had heard my voice.
17 Lui qui m’écrase dans une tempête, et qui multiplie mes blessures sans cause.
For he will crush me in a whirlwind and multiply my wounds, even without cause.
18 Il ne me permet pas de reprendre haleine; car il me rassasie d’amertumes.
He does not permit my spirit to rest, and he fills me with bitterness.
19 S’agit-il de force, voici, il est fort; s’agit-il de jugement: Qui m’assignera?
If strength is sought, he is most strong; if equity in judgment, no one would dare to give testimony for me.
20 Si je me justifiais, ma bouche me condamnerait; si j’étais parfait, il me montrerait pervers.
If I wanted to justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me; if I would reveal my innocence, he would prove me depraved.
21 Si j’étais parfait, je méconnaîtrais mon âme, je mépriserais ma vie.
And if I now became simple, my soul would be ignorant even of this, and my life would weary me.
22 Tout revient au même; c’est pourquoi j’ai dit: Il consume le parfait et le méchant.
There is one thing that I have said: both the innocent and the impious he consumes.
23 Si le fléau donne subitement la mort, il se rit de l’épreuve de l’innocent.
If he scourges, let him kill all at once, and not laugh at the punishment of the innocent.
24 La terre est livrée en la main du méchant: il couvre la face de ses juges. S’il n’en est pas ainsi, qui est-ce donc?
Since the earth has been given into the hand of the impious, he covers the face of its judges; for if it is not him, then who is it?
25 Mes jours s’en vont plus vite qu’un coureur; ils fuient, ils ne voient pas ce qui est bon;
My days have been swifter than a messenger; they have fled and have not seen goodness.
26 Ils passent rapides comme les barques de jonc, comme un aigle qui fond sur sa proie.
They have passed by like ships carrying fruits, just like an eagle flying to food.
27 Si je dis: J’oublierai ma plainte, je renoncerai à mon visage [morne] et je serai joyeux,
If I say: “By no means will I speak this way.” I change my face and I am tortured with sorrow.
28 Je suis épouvanté de tous mes tourments; je sais que tu ne me tiendras pas pour innocent.
I have dreaded all my works, knowing that you did not spare the offender.
29 Soit, je suis méchant: pourquoi me fatigué-je ainsi en vain?
Yet, if I am also just as impious, why have I labored in vain?
30 Si je me lave avec de l’eau de neige, et que je nettoie mes mains dans la pureté,
If I had been washed with snow-like waters, and my hands were shining like the cleanest thing,
31 Alors tu me plongeras dans un fossé, et mes vêtements m’auront en horreur.
yet you would plunge me in filth, and my own garments would abhor me.
32 Car il n’est pas homme, comme moi, pour que je lui réponde, pour que nous allions ensemble en jugement.
For even I would not answer a man who were like myself, nor one who could be heard with me equally in judgment.
33 Il n’y a pas entre nous un arbitre qui mettrait sa main sur nous deux.
There is no one who could both prevail in argument and in placing his hand between the two.
34 Qu’il retire sa verge de dessus moi, et que sa terreur ne me trouble pas;
Let him take his staff away from me, and let not the fear of him terrify me.
35 Alors je parlerai et je ne le craindrai pas; mais il n’en est pas ainsi de moi.
I will speak and I will not fear him, for in fearfulness I am not able to respond.
