Job 21
1 Or Job reprenant dit:
Then Job replied,
2 Ecoutez, écoutez mes raisonnements, afin que de telles consolations me soient épargnées.
“Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
3 Dussiez-vous me maudire je parlerai, ensuite vous ne rirez plus de moi.
Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
4 Qu'y a-t-il? Mes reproches s'adressent-il à un homme? Et pourquoi donc contiendrais-je ma colère?
“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 Lorsque vous m'aurez examiné à fond vous serez saisis de surprise, et de vous mains vous vous frapperez les joues.
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 Car si je recueille mes souvenirs, je n'ai eu que zèle pur, et les douleurs affligent mes chairs.
When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
7 Pourquoi les impies vivent-ils, et vieillissent-ils au sein de la richesse?
“[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 famille est selon leur âme, ils ont leurs enfants sous les 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 prospèrent, on n'y ressent aucune crainte, car le fouet du Seigneur n'est point dirigé contre eux.
Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
10 Pas d'avortement parmi leurs génisses, leurs bêtes pleines portent sans mal; et, à terme, elles mettent bas leurs fruits.
Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 Leurs menus troupeaux ne diminuent jamais, et leurs enfants dansent
Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
12 Au son de la harpe et de la cithare, et ils se complaisent au chant des cantiques.
Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
13 Leur vie s'est écoulée au milieu des biens, et ils se sont endormis dans le repos du sépulcre. (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 Cependant ils ont dit au Seigneur: Détournez-vous de nous; nous n'avons que faire de connaître vos 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 donc que le Tout-Puissant pour que nous le servions? Qu'est-il besoin que nous allions au devant de lui?
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 Leurs mains sont pleines de richesses, et le Seigneur ne surveille pas les œuvres des impies.
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 Il est vrai qu'il advient aussi que leur lampe s'éteigne; ils essuient des catastrophes; des douleurs leur sont envoyées par la colère de Dieu.
(“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 Ils seront alors comme de la paille que le vent emporte, ou comme le tourbillon de poussière qu'une tempête fait voler.
[He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
19 Que les richesses du méchant échappent à ses fils; le Seigneur le rétribuera et il saura pourquoi.
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 yeux voient sa propre immolation; qu'il ne soit pas épargné par le Seigneur.
I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
21 Car la volonté de Dieu est avec lui dans sa maison, et son nombre de mois lui a été compté.
After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
22 Le Seigneur n'et-il pas le seul qui distribue l'intelligence et le savoir? Seul il juge les scélérats.
“Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
23 Tel mourra dans la plénitude de son innocence, complètement heureux et bien portant;
Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
24 Les entrailles pleines de graisse et regorgeant de mœlle.
Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
25 Un autre finit en l'amertume de son âme, sans avoir jamais rien mangé de bon.
Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
26 Ils dorment ensemble sous la terre; la pourriture les enveloppe.
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 Je sais votre hardiesse à m'accuser.
“Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
28 Ainsi vous demanderez: Où donc est la maison du chef? qu'est devenue la tente qui abritait des criminels?
You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
29 Interrogez les voyageurs et ne faussez pas leurs témoignages.
But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
30 Ils vous diront que le fardeau du méchant est allégé le jour de sa perte; on l'en déchargera tout à fait le jour de la colère du Seigneur.
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 donc lui montrera en face ses voies et ce qu'il a fait? Qui se chargera de le punir?
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 portera au lieu des sépultures, et il a veillé lui-même à la construction de sa tombe.
The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
33 Sa présence réjouit jusqu'aux cailloux du torrent; chacun se fait un devoir de le suivre, et il est précédé d'une foule innombrable.
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 me consolez-vous en vain? Car vous n'avez nullement adouci mes maux.
“So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
