Job 21
1 Job reprit la parole et dit:
Then Job replied,
2 Daignez écouter mes paroles: je ne vous demande pas d’autres consolations.
“Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
3 Faites-moi un peu crédit pour que je puisse parler, et quand j’aurai fini, libre à vous de me railler.
Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
4 Est-ce donc contre des hommes que mes plaintes sont dirigées? Dès lors pourquoi ma patience ne serait-elle pas à bout?
“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 stupéfaits, et posez 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 Moi-même, en évoquant mes souvenirs, je suis consterné, et un frisson d’horreur s’empare de mon corps.
When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
7 Pourquoi les méchants demeurent-ils en vie? Pourquoi vont-ils progressant et croissant en puissance?
“[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 est fortement établie devant eux, avec eux: leurs descendants sont là sous 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, à l’abri de toute crainte; la verge de Dieu ne les atteint pas.
Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
10 Leurs taureaux s’accouplent et ne sont pas stériles; leurs génisses mettent bas et ne perdent pas leurs petits.
Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 Ils envoient dehors leurs jeunes garçons comme un troupeau de brebis, et leurs enfants se livrent à leurs ébats.
Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
12 Ils entonnent des chants en s’accompagnant du tambourin et du luth, et ils s’égaient aux sons de la flûte.
Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
13 Ils consument leurs jours dans le bonheur et, en un instant, ils descendent au Cheol. (Sheol h7585)
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 pourtant ils disent à Dieu: "Laisse-nous, nous n’avons nulle envie de connaître 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, que nous le servions? Quel profit aurons-nous à lui adresser des prières?"
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 Assurément, ce n’est pas à leurs mains qu’ils sont redevables de leur bien-être. (Puisse toutefois le conseil des méchants être loin de moi!)
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 Arrive-t-il souvent que la lampe des impies s’éteigne, que le malheur fonde sur eux et que Dieu leur assigne dans sa colère le sort qu’ils méritent?
(“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 Arrive-t-il souvent qu’ils soient comme la paille emportée par le vent, comme le chaume qu’enlève la tempête?
[He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
19 Dieu dira-t-on réserve à ses enfants le châtiment de ses crimes: mais qu’il l’inflige donc à lui-même, pour qu’il s’en ressente!
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 Que ses propres yeux soient témoins de sa chute et qu’il s’abreuve de la colère de Dieu!
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 intérêt peut-il porter à sa maison, quand il ne sera plus, puisque le nombre de ses années est fixé d’avance?
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 ce qui est raisonnable, à lui qui juge avec une autorité souveraine?
“Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
23 Celui-ci meurt au fort de sa vigueur, en pleine quiétude, en pleine paix,
Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
24 alors que ses récipients débordent de lait, et que la moelle de ses os est abondamment pourvue.
Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
25 Celui-là meurt, l’âme rassasiée d’amertume, sans avoir goûté le bonheur.
Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
26 Et tous deux sont couchés dans la poussière et deviennent également la proie de la pourriture.
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 Eh quoi! Je connais vos intentions et les arrière-pensées que vous nourrissez injustement contre moi,
“Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
28 quand vous dites: "Où est la maison de l’homme important? Où, la tente habitée par les méchants?"
You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
29 Eh bien! Interrogez ceux qui parcourent le monde et ne méconnaissez pas les preuves qu’ils apportent:
But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
30 c’est qu’au jour du désastre le méchant est épargné; au jour des violentes colères, il est tiré du danger.
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 jettera sa conduite à la face? Et ce qu’il a fait, qui le lui paiera?
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 On le porte en pompe au lieu de sépulture, et on veille sur son mausolée.
The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
33 Légères lui sont les glèbes de la vallée; tout le monde se traîne à sa suite; comme il a été précédé d’une innombrable multitude.
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 Comment donc m’offrirez-vous de vaines consolations? De toutes vos répliques il ne demeure qu’une criarde injustice.
“So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
