Job 20
1 Çophar de Naama prit la parole et dit:
Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said:
2 Eh bien! Mes réflexions m’incitent à répliquer et aussi les impressions que je ressens.
Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me, even by reason of mine agitation that is in me.
3 Quand j’entends des reproches qui sont un affront pour moi, ma raison me dicte une réponse.
I have heard the reproof which putteth me to shame, but out of my understanding my spirit answereth me.
4 Connais-tu ce fait qui a existé de tout temps, depuis que l’homme est placé sur la terre:
Knowest thou not this of old time, since man was placed upon earth,
5 que le triomphe des méchants est éphémère et que la joie du pervers ne dure qu’un instant?
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
6 Dût sa stature monter jusqu’au ciel et sa tête atteindre les nuages,
Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;
7 aussi sûrement que ses excréments, il périra sans retour: ceux qui le voyaient diront: "Où est-il?"
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung; they that have seen him shall say: 'Where is he?'
8 Comme un songe, il s’envole, et l’on perd ses traces; il s’évanouit comme une vision nocturne.
He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found; yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
9 L’Œil qui l’a contemplé ne le découvre plus; sa demeure n’a plus de regard pour lui.
The eye which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
10 Ses fils devront solliciter la pitié des pauvres, et ses propres mains restituer la fortune acquise.
His children shall appease the poor, and his hands shall restore his wealth.
11 Ses membres, tout pleins encore de vigueur juvénile, se verront couchés dans la poussière.
His bones are full of his youth, but it shall lie down with him in the dust.
12 S’Il arrive que la perversité soit douce à sa bouche, qu’il la fasse glisser sous sa langue;
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;
13 qu’il la ménage longtemps, ne cessant de la savourer, et la retienne encore au fond de son palais,
Though he spare it, and will not let it go, but keep it still within his mouth;
14 alors son aliment se transforme dans ses entrailles et devient dans son sein l’amer venin de l’aspic.
Yet his food in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
15 Il a dévoré une fortune et il faut qu’il la rejette: Dieu l’expulsera de ses intestins.
He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again; God shall cast them out of his belly.
16 C’Est du poison d’aspic qu’il suçait: il périra par la langue de la vipère.
He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall slay him.
17 Qu’il n’espère point se délecter aux flots des ruisseaux de miel, des torrents de lait!
He shall not look upon the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and curd.
18 Il faut qu’il rende le fruit de son labeur, avant de le consommer; il en sera de même des biens qu’il s’est acquis par ses échanges: il n’en tirera aucun plaisir.
That which he laboured for shall he give back, and shall not swallow it down; according to the substance that he hath gotten, he shall not rejoice.
19 C’Est qu’il a écrasé les faibles et les a abandonnés à eux-mêmes; il a ruiné des maisons par la rapine et ne les a point rebâties.
For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor; he hath violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up.
20 C’Est qu’il n’a pas connu la paix intérieure: il ne sauvera rien de ses plus chers trésors.
Because he knew no quietness within him, in his greed he suffered nought to escape,
21 Rien n’échappait à ses appétits; aussi son bien-être n’aura-t-il aucune durée.
There was nothing left that he devoured not — therefore his prosperity shall not endure.
22 Alors qu’il regorge de biens, il est dans la gêne; la main de tout misérable s’abattra sur lui.
In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits; the hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him.
23 Dieu se dispose à lui bourrer le ventre en lâchant contre lui son ardente colère, en la faisant pleuvoir sur lui en guise de nourriture.
It shall be for the filling of his belly; He shall cast the fierceness of His wrath upon him, and shall cause it to rain upon him into his flesh.
24 II voudra fuir les armes de fer: il sera transpercé par un arc d’airain.
If he flee from the iron weapon, the bow of brass shall strike him through.
25 La flèche qui l’atteint, il la retire de son corps; elle sort étincelante du foie qu’elle a percé; l’épouvante le saisit.
He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body; yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall; terrors are upon him.
26 Tous les noirs désastres menacent les trésors qu’il a amassés; un feu que personne n’a attisé le consume et dévore tout ce qui est resté dans sa demeure.
All darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not blown by man shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tent.
27 Les cieux dénoncent son crime et la terre se soulève contre lui.
The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.
28 Les biens de sa maison s’en vont; tout s’écroule au jour de la colère divine.
The increase of his house shall depart, his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
29 Telle est la part que Dieu réserve à l’homme pervers; tel est l’héritage qui lui est destiné par la parole du Tout-Puissant.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
