Job 12
1 Job prit la parole et dit:
Then Job said [to his three friends],
2 On dirait, en vérité, que le genre humain c’est vous, Et qu’avec vous doit mourir la sagesse.
“You (talk as though/You think) [SAR] that you are the people [whom everyone should listen to], and that when you die, there will be no more wise people.
3 J’ai tout aussi bien que vous de l’intelligence, moi, Je ne vous suis point inférieur; Et qui ne sait les choses que vous dites?
But I have as much good sense as you do; I am (not less wise than/certainly as wise as [LIT]) you. Certainly everyone knows [RHQ] all that you have said.
4 Je suis pour mes amis un objet de raillerie, Quand j’implore le secours de Dieu; Le juste, l’innocent, un objet de raillerie!
My friends all laugh at me now. Previously I habitually requested God to help me, and he answered/helped me. I am righteous, a very godly man [DOU], but everyone laughs at me.
5 Au malheur le mépris! C’est la devise des heureux; A celui dont le pied chancelle est réservé le mépris.
Those [like you] who have no troubles make fun of me; they cause those [like me] who are already suffering to have more troubles.
6 Il y a paix sous la tente des pillards, Sécurité pour ceux qui offensent Dieu, Pour quiconque se fait un dieu de sa force.
Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].
7 Interroge les bêtes, elles t’instruiront, Les oiseaux du ciel, ils te l’apprendront;
“But ask the wild animals [what they know about God], and [if they could speak] they would teach you. [If you could] ask the birds, they would tell you.
8 Parle à la terre, elle t’instruira; Et les poissons de la mer te le raconteront.
[If you could] ask the creatures [that crawl] on the ground, or the fish in the sea, they would tell you [about God].
9 Qui ne reconnaît chez eux la preuve Que la main de l’Éternel a fait toutes choses?
All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
10 Il tient dans sa main l’âme de tout ce qui vit, Le souffle de toute chair d’homme.
He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
11 L’oreille ne discerne-t-elle pas les paroles, Comme le palais savoure les aliments?
And when we [SYN] hear what other people [like you] say, we [RHQ] think carefully about what they say [to determine what is good and what is bad], like we [SYN] taste food [to determine what is good and what is bad].
12 Dans les vieillards se trouve la sagesse, Et dans une longue vie l’intelligence.
Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
13 En Dieu résident la sagesse et la puissance. Le conseil et l’intelligence lui appartiennent.
but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
14 Ce qu’il renverse ne sera point rebâti, Celui qu’il enferme ne sera point délivré.
If he tears [something] down, no one can rebuild it; if he puts someone in prison, no one can open [the prison doors to allow that person to escape].
15 Il retient les eaux et tout se dessèche; Il les lâche, et la terre en est dévastée.
When he prevents rain from falling, everything dries up. When he causes a lot of rain to fall, [the result is that] there are floods.
16 Il possède la force et la prudence; Il maîtrise celui qui s’égare ou fait égarer les autres.
He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.
17 Il emmène captifs les conseillers; Il trouble la raison des juges.
He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
18 Il délie la ceinture des rois, Il met une corde autour de leurs reins.
He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].
19 Il emmène captifs les sacrificateurs; Il fait tomber les puissants.
He takes from priests the sacred clothes that they wear, [with the result that they no longer can do their work], and takes power from those who rule others.
20 Il ôte la parole à ceux qui ont de l’assurance; Il prive de jugement les vieillards.
He [sometimes] causes those whom others trust to be unable to speak, and he causes old men to no longer have good sense.
21 Il verse le mépris sur les grands; Il relâche la ceinture des forts.
He causes those who have authority to be despised, and he causes those who are powerful to no longer have any power/strength.
22 Il met à découvert ce qui est caché dans les ténèbres, Il produit à la lumière l’ombre de la mort.
He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
23 Il donne de l’accroissement aux nations, et il les anéantit; Il les étend au loin, et il les ramène dans leurs limites.
He causes some nations to become very great, and [later] he destroys them; he causes the territory of some nations to become much larger, and [later] he causes them to be defeated and their people to be scattered.
24 Il enlève l’intelligence aux chefs des peuples, Il les fait errer dans les déserts sans chemin;
He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
25 Ils tâtonnent dans les ténèbres, et ne voient pas clair; Il les fait errer comme des gens ivres.
They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”
