Job 4
1 Eliphaz de Têmân prit la parole et dit:
Then Eliphaz, from Teman, replied to Job. He said,
2 Si l’on essaie de te répliquer, tu en seras peut-être contrarié; mais qui peut contenir ses paroles?
“Will you please let me say something to you? I am not [RHQ] able to remain silent [any longer].
3 Certes, tu as fait la leçon à bien des gens; des bras qui tombaient de lassitude, tu les fortifiais.
In the past, you have instructed/taught many people, and you have encouraged those who were weak.
4 Tes paroles relevaient celui qui trébuchait, les genoux qui chancelaient, tu les raffermissais.
By what you said, you have helped those who (needed spiritual help/almost quit trusting in God) [MET], and you have enabled them to become spiritually strong again [MET].
5 Et maintenant que le malheur te visite, tu te décourages; il met la main sur toi, et tu es consterné!
But now, when you experience disasters, you become discouraged. The disasters hit you, and you are stunned.
6 Ta piété n’est-elle pas pour te donner confiance? L’Intégrité de ta conduite n’est-elle pas ton espoir?
You revere God; (does that not cause you to trust [in him]?/that should cause you to trust [in him].) [RHQ] If you were guiltless, you would [RHQ] be confident that [God] would not [have allowed] these disasters [to] happen to you!
7 Songes-y donc: est-il un innocent qui ait succombé? Où est-il arrivé que des justes aient péri?
Think about this: Do innocent people die [while they are still young] [RHQ]? Does God get rid of godly people [RHQ]? [No!]
8 Pour moi, j’ai observé ce fait: ceux qui cultivent l’iniquité et sèment le mal les récoltent.
What I have experienced is this: [Just as] [MET] farmers who plant bad [seeds] do not harvest good [crops], [just as those who start] trouble for others, later bring trouble on themselves.
9 Un souffle de Dieu les fait périr, le vent de sa colère les anéantit.
They die when God angrily blows his breath on them, when he is very angry with them.
10 Que le lion rugisse, que le fauve pousse des hurlements: les dents du lionceau sont brisées.
[Even though wicked people may be very powerful like] young lions, [God] will get rid of them [MET].
11 La bête féroce périt, faute de proie, et les petits de la lionne sont dispersés.
[They will die like] fierce lions [that] starve to death when there are no animals that they can kill and eat, and [their children will be separated from each other like] young lions separate from each other [to find food].”
12 Quant à moi, il m’est venu une révélation furtive: mon oreille en saisit un léger murmure.
“I heard a message that someone came and whispered to me.
13 Ce fut dans le flot de pensées qu’apportent les visions nocturnes, alors qu’un lourd sommeil pèse sur les hommes.
He spoke to me at night when I was having a bad dream that disturbed/frightened me while I was fast asleep.
14 Je me sentis envahi par la terreur et le frisson; tous mes os en frémirent de peur.
It caused me to be afraid and tremble; it caused all my bones to shake.
15 Un souffle effleura ma face, et les poils se hérissèrent sur ma chair.
A ghost glided past my face and caused the hair on [on the back of] my neck to stand straight up.
16 Une figure, dont les traits m’étaient inconnus, se tint là sous mes yeux, et j’entendis 'le faible son d’une voix:
It stopped, but I could not see what form it had. But [I could sense that] there was some being in front of me, and it said in a quiet voice,
17 "L’Homme me fut-il dit peut-il être juste devant Dieu? Le mortel peut-il être pur au gré de son Créateur?
‘(Does God consider anyone to be righteous?/No human beings can be righteous in God’s sight!) [RHQ] (Their creator cannot consider them to be pure./Can their creator consider them to be pure?) [RHQ]
18 Mais il ne se fie même pas à ses serviteurs; jusque dans ses anges il constate des défaillances!
God cannot be sure that his own angels [will always do what is right]; he declares that some of them have done what is wrong.
19 Que sera-ce des hommes, habitants de maisons d’argile, qui ont leurs fondements dans la poussière, et qu’on foule aux pieds comme un ver?
So he certainly cannot trust human beings who were made from dust and clay, who are crushed as easily as moths are crushed!
20 Du matin au soir, ils se trouvent écrasés; sans qu’on y fasse attention, ils périssent à jamais.
People are sometimes well in the morning, but in the evening they are dead. They are gone forever and do not even know it (OR, and no one pays any attention to it).
21 Ah! Le fil qui les soutenait est rompu: ils meurent, sans avoir acquis la sagesse!
They are like [MET] tents that collapse [suddenly]: They die [suddenly] before they become wise.’”
