Job 6
1 Job reprit la parole et dit:
Then Job spoke again, saying [to Eliphaz],
2 Ah! Si seulement on pesait mon chagrin, en mettant en même temps mon malheur dans la balance!
“If all my troubles and misery could be put on a scale and weighed,
3 Assurément, ils seraient plus lourds que le sable des mers; voilà pourquoi mes paroles sont pleines de trouble.
they would be heavier than all the sands [on the shores] of the oceans. That is why I spoke (very rashly/without thinking clearly) [about the day that I was born].
4 C’Est que les flèches du Tout-Puissant m’ont transpercé, mon âme en a bu le venin. Les terreurs de Dieu sont rangées en bataille contre moi.
[It is as though] Almighty [God] has shot me with arrows. [It is as though] those arrows had poison on their tips, and that poison has gone into my spirit. The things that God has done to me have terrified me.
5 Est-ce que l’âne sauvage se met à braire en présence de l’herbe? Le bœuf mugit-il devant sa pitance?
Just like a wild donkey does not [complain by] braying when it has plenty of grass to eat, and an ox does not [complain by] bellowing when it has food to eat [MET], [I would not complain if you were really helping/comforting me].
6 Peut-on manger un mets insipide sans y mettre du sel? Trouve-t-on quelque saveur au blanc de l’œuf?
People complain [RHQ] when they must eat food which has no salt or other tasteless food [MET], [and that is what your words are like, Eliphaz].
7 Mon âme refuse d’y goûter; c’est pour moi comme une répugnante nourriture.
Just like I do not want to eat food [like that], and I loathe/detests that kind of food [MET], [I do not appreciate what you have said to me].
8 Ah! Qui me donnera que ma demande soit agréée et môn espoir réalisé par Dieu?
“I wish that God would do for me what I have requested from him [DOU].
9 Oui, que Dieu consente à me broyer, qu’il brandisse la main et me mette en pièces!
I wish that he would crush me [and let me die]. I wish that he would reach out his hand and take away my life.
10 Il me resterait du moins cette consolation qui me ferait sauter de joie au fort de souffrances sans rémission de n’avoir pas renié les paroles du Très-Haut.
If he would do that, I would be comforted by knowing that in spite of the great pain that I have suffered, I have always obeyed what [God, ] the Holy One, has commanded.
11 Quelle est donc ma force pour que je reste dans l’attente? Quelle doit être ma fin pour que je prenne patience?
But now I do not have [RHQ] enough strength to endure all these things. And since I have nothing [to hope for] in (the future/this life), it is difficult for me to be patient now [RHQ].
12 Ma force est-elle la force des pierres? Ma chair est-elle d’airain?
I am not [RHQ] strong like rocks are, and my body is not made of bronze.
13 N’Est-il pas vrai que je suis privé de tout secours, et que tout espoir de salut m’est arraché?
So I am not able to help myself, and [it seems that] there is no one to rescue me.”
14 A celui qui se consume de chagrin devrait aller la sympathie de ses amis, eût-il même renoncé à la crainte de Dieu.
“When a man has many troubles, his friends should be kind to him, even if he stops revering Almighty [God].
15 Mes amis, à moi, se montrent perfides comme un torrent, comme des cours d’eau pleins à déborder,
But [you, ] my friends, are not dependable. You are like streams: They spill over their banks [in the spring]
16 qui deviennent troubles par l’affluence des glaçons et grossissent par la fonte des neiges:
when [the melting] ice and snow make those streams overflow,
17 viennent les chaleurs, ils se réduisent à rien; quand le soleil brûle, ils s’évanouissent sur place.
but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing [in those streams], and the channels dry up.
18 A cause d’eux, les caravanes se détournent de leur route, s’enfoncent dans le désert et y périssent.
[The caravans of merchants] turn off the path [to search for some water], but there is no water, so they die [in the desert].
19 Les caravanes de Têma les cherchent du regard, les convois de Saba y mettent leur espoir.
The men in those caravans search [for some water] because they are sure that they will find some.
20 Mais ils sont déçus dans leur confiance; arrivés sur les lieux, ils sont pleins de confusion.
But they do not find any, so they are very disappointed.
21 Certes, c’est là ce que vous êtes devenus pour votre ami: à la vue de ma ruine, vous avez eu peur.
Similarly, you friends have not helped me at all! You have seen that terrible things have happened to me, and you are afraid [that God might do similar things to you].
22 Vous ai-je donc dit: "Donnez-moi! Avec un peu de votre bien, gagnez quelqu’un en ma faveur;
[After I lost all my wealth, ] did I ask any of you for money? [RHQ] Did I plead with any of you to spend some of your money to help me [RHQ]?
23 et délivrez-moi de la main du persécuteur; du pouvoir des tyrans affranchissez-moi!"
Have I asked any of you to rescue me from my enemies [RHQ]? Have I asked you to save me from those who (oppressed me/treated me badly) [RHQ]? [No!]”
24 Instruisez-moi, et je garderai le silence; expliquez-moi en quoi j’ai erré.
“Answer me [now, and then] I will be quiet; tell me what wrong things I have done!
25 Qu’elles sont pénétrantes les paroles de la vérité! Mais que prouvent vos arguments à vous?
When people speak what is true, that will not hurt the person who hears it, but what you say, criticizing me, [is not true, so your saying it] proves nothing [RHQ]!
26 Prétendez-vous critiquer des mots? Mais dans l’air se dissipent les discours d’un désespéré!
I am a man who has nothing to hope for, but you try to correct me, and you think what I say is nothing but wind [RHQ]!
27 L’Orphelin lui-même, vous seriez capables de le prendre comme enjeu, comme vous trafiqueriez de votre ami.
You do not sympathize with me at all [for all that I am suffering]. [You are heartless!] You would even gamble to see who gets an orphan [as a prize]!
28 Maintenant donc, daignez vous tourner vers moi: je ne saurais vous mentir en face.
Please look at me! I will not [RHQ] lie to you.
29 Oui, revenez de grâce, que l’injustice ne s’accomplisse pas; encore une fois, revenez, mon innocence sera manifeste.
Stop [saying that I have sinned, and] stop criticizing me unjustly! You should realize that I have not done things that are wrong.
30 Y a-t-il quelque iniquité sur mes lèvres? Mon palais ne sait-il pas discerner ce qui est mal?
Do you think that I am lying? No, I am not lying, because I know what is right and what is wrong [RHQ].”
