Job 23
1 Job reprit la parole et dit:
Then Job answered and said,
2 Aujourd’hui encore ma plainte est traitée de révolte; pourtant ma main se fatigue à comprimer mes soupirs.
“Even today my complaint is bitter; my hand is heavy because of my groaning.
3 Que ne m’est-il donné de savoir où le trouver! Je voudrais pénétrer jusqu’à son siège.
Oh, that I knew where I might find him! Oh, that I might come to his place!
4 J’Exposerais ma cause devant lui, ayant la bouche pleine d’arguments.
I would lay my case in order before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 Je connaîtrais les réponses qu’il m’opposerait et me rendrais compte de ce qu’il me dirait.
I would learn the words with which he would answer me and would understand what he would say to me.
6 Jetterait-il le poids de sa force dans sa discussion avec moi? Non, mais il me prêterait quelque attention.
Would he argue against me in the greatness of his power? No, he would pay attention to me.
7 C’Est un homme droit qui se trouverait alors en face de lui, et pour toujours je serais quitte envers mon juge.
There the upright person might argue with him. In this way I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 Mais quoi! Je me dirige vers l’Orient: il n’y est pas! vers l’Occident, je ne le remarque point!
See, I go eastward, but he is not there, and westward, but I cannot perceive him.
9 Exerce-t-il son action au Nord? Je ne le vois pas; se retire-t-il au Sud? Je ne l’aperçois pas.
To the north, where he is at work, but I cannot see him, and to the south, where he hides himself so that I cannot see him.
10 Car il connaît la conduite que je mène: s’il me jetait au creuset, j’en sortirais pur comme l’or.
But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come out like gold.
11 Mon pied s’est attaché fidèlement à ses traces; j’ai suivi ses voies sans dévier.
My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept to his way and turned not aside.
12 Des préceptes de ses lèvres je ne me suis pas écarté; plus qu’à mes propres inspirations, j’ai obéi aux paroles de sa bouche.
I have not gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
13 Mais lui, il demeure immuable: qui pourrait le faire changer d’avis? Ce qui lui plaît, il l’accomplit.
But he is one of a kind, who can turn him back? What he desires, he does.
14 Assurément, il exécutera jusqu’au bout ce qu’il a décrété contre moi: il nourrit encore beaucoup de desseins semblables.
For he carries out his decree against me; there are many like them.
15 C’Est pourquoi je me sens troublé devant sa face; en y réfléchissant, j’ai peur de lui.
Therefore, I am terrified in his presence; when I think about him, I am afraid of him.
16 Dieu a découragé mon cœur, le Tout-Puissant m’a rempli d’épouvante,
For God has made my heart weak; the Almighty has terrified me.
17 puisque d’une part, il ne m’a pas anéanti par les ténèbres qui m’accablent, et que d’autre part il n’a pas voulu me mettre à l’abri de cette sombre nuit.
I have not been brought to an end by darkness, because of the thick darkness that covers the gloom of my face.
