Job 9
1 Job reprenant dit:
Then Job replied,
2 En vérité je sais qu'il en est ainsi. Comment un mortel serait-il juste aux yeux du Seigneur?
“Yes, I certainly know that [much of] what you said is true. But (how can anyone say to God, ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it?’/no one can say to God ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it.’) [RHQ]
3 Car si des hommes veulent aller avec Dieu en justice, il ne s'y prêtera pas; il ne voudra pas être contredit sur un seul point entre mille.
If someone wanted to argue with God [about that], God could ask him 1,000 questions, and that person would not be able to answer any of them!
4 Lui seul est sage en ses pensées; il est fort, il est grand; qui donc s'est assez endurci pour lui résister?
God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
5 Il lutte contre les montagnes et elles l'ignorent; il les bouleverse dans son courroux.
He even moves mountains, without them (OR, anyone) knowing about it. When he is angry, he turns them upside down.
6 Il ébranle dans ses fondements la terre que recouvre le ciel, et les colonnes qui la soutiennent sont chancelantes.
He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
7 Il parle au soleil, et le soleil ne se lève pas; il appose son scel sur les astres.
[Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
8 C'est lui seul qui a tendu les cieux et qui marche sur la mer comme sur un sol affermi.
He alone (stretched out/put in place) the sky; he alone puts his feet on the waves (OR, on the huge sea monster).
9 Il a créé les Pléïades, et l'étoile du soir, et Arcture, et les constellations du Midi.
He put in their places [the clusters/groups of stars that are called] The Dipper/Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the stars in the southern sky.
10 Il a fait une multitude innombrable de merveilles glorieuses et incompréhensibles.
Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
11 S'il a passé au-dessus de moi, je ne l'ai point vu; s'il a marché à mes côtés, je n'en ai rien su.
He passes by where I am, but I do not see him; he moves further on, but I do not see him go.
12 Se détourne-t-il, qui le ramènera? qui osera lui dire: Que faites-vous?
If he [wants to] snatch something away, no one [RHQ] can hinder him; no one dares to ask him, ‘Why are you doing that?’ [RHQ]
13 Seul il a dompté toute fureur, il a fait plier les monstres marins sous le ciel.
God will not very easily stop being angry; he defeated [MTY] those who [tried to] help Rahab, [the great sea monster].
14 S'il m'écoutait, s'il jugeait mes arguments!
“So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
15 Quand même je serais juste, il ne m'écouterait pas; je n'obtiendrais pas de lui un arrêt.
Even though I (would be innocent/would not have done what is wrong), I would not be able to answer him. All I could do would be to request God, my judge/accuser, to act mercifully toward me.
16 Et si je ne l'avais invoqué et qu'il ne m'exauçât point, je ne pourrais croire qu'il eût entendu ma voix.
If I summoned him to [come to the courtroom] and he said that he would come, I would not believe that he would pay attention to what I would say.
17 Je crains qu'il ne me broie au moyen d'un tourbillon, car il amortit les ravages de mes plaies nombreuses.
He sends storms to batter me, and he bruises me many times (without any reason to do that/even though I am innocent).
18 Il ne me laisse point reprendre haleine, après m'avoir rempli d'amertume,
[It is as though] he will not let me get/catch my breath, because he causes me to suffer all the time.
19 Et il prévaut par la force. Qui donc résisterait à la condamnation qu'il aurait prononcée?
If I would try to (wrestle with/fight against) him, [there is no way that I could defeat him, ] [because] he is stronger than I am. If I would request him to appear in court, there is no one who could [RHQ] force him to go there.
20 Juste, ma bouche se trouvera dire des impiétés; irréprochable, je passerai pour criminel.
Even though I was innocent, what I would say would cause him to say that I must be punished [MTY]; even though I had not done anything wrong, he would prove that I am guilty.
21 Car, si j'ai péché, c'est dans l'ignorance de mon âme, et néanmoins la vie m'est ôtée.
“I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
22 Aussi j'ai dit: La colère détruit le riche et le grand.
But it doesn’t matter, because God will get rid of [all of us, ] both those who are innocent and those who are wicked.
23 La mort qui les frappe soudain met à nu leur faiblesse; mais les justes sont tournés en dérision,
When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
24 Ils sont livrés aux mains des pervers, et le Seigneur a voilé le front des juges. Et si ce n'est pas lui qui est-ce donc?
God has allowed wicked people to control [what happens in] the world. [It is as though] he has caused judges to be blindfolded, [with the result that they cannot judge fairly]. If it is not God who has put wicked people in control, who has done it?
25 Ma vie est plus rapide qu'un courrier; on ne s'est point placé sur son passage et on ne l'a pas vue.
“My days go by very quickly, like a fast runner; [it is as though] they run away, and nothing good happens to me on those days.
26 Les navires laissent-ils une trace, ou l'aigle qui vole et cherche sa proie?
My life goes by very rapidly, like a boat made from reeds sailing swiftly, or like an eagle that swoops down to seize a small animal.
27 Si je me dis: Cesse donc de parler; borne-toi à courber la tête et à gémir;
If I smile and say [to God], ‘I will forget what I am complaining about; I will stop looking sad and try to be cheerful/happy,’
28 Je tremble de tous mes membres, car je sais que vous ne me jugez point innocent.
then I become afraid because of all that I am suffering, because I know that God does not consider that I am innocent.
29 Ai-je donc commis quelque impiété? Mais pourquoi ne suis-je point mort?
He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
30 Lors même que je me serais lavé avec de la neige, et que des mains pures m'auraient purifié,
If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
31 Vous m'avez assez plongé dans la fange pour que ma robe m'ait souillé.
he would still throw me into a filthy pit; as a result [it would be as though] even my clothes would detest me.
32 Car vous n'êtes point comme moi un homme avec qui je puisse contester et comparaître en justice.
“God is not a human, as I am, so there is no way that I could answer him [to prove that I am innocent] if we went together to have a trial [in a courtroom].
33 Que n'existe-t-il pour nous un médiateur, qui écoute et qui prononce entre vous et moi?
There is no one to (mediate/hear us and decide who is right), no one who has authority over both of us [IDM].
34 Détournez de moi votre verge; que l'effroi qu'elle m'inspire ne me trouble plus.
I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
35 Si je cesse de craindre je parlerai, car je ne le peux en l'état où je suis.
If he did that, I would declare [that I am innocent] without being afraid of him, because I know that I really have not [done what is wrong like God thinks that I have].”
