Job 15
1 Éliphaz de Théman prit la parole et dit:
Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,
2 Le sage répond-il par un vain savoir? Se gonfle-t-il la poitrine du vent d’orient?
Will a wise man give for answer a [mere] breath of wisdom? and does he fill up the pain of his belly,
3 Est-ce par d’inutiles propos qu’il se défend? Est-ce par des discours qui ne servent à rien?
reasoning with improper sayings, and with words wherein is no profit?
4 Toi, tu détruis même la crainte de Dieu, Tu anéantis tout mouvement de piété devant Dieu.
Hast not you moreover cast off fear, and accomplished such words before the Lord?
5 Ton iniquité dirige ta bouche, Et tu prends le langage des hommes rusés.
You are guilty by the words of your mouth, neither have you discerned the words of the mighty.
6 Ce n’est pas moi, c’est ta bouche qui te condamne. Ce sont tes lèvres qui déposent contre toi.
Let your own mouth, and not me, reprove you: and your lips shall testify against you.
7 Es-tu né le premier des hommes? As-tu été enfanté avant les collines?
What! are you the first man that was born? or were you established before the hills?
8 As-tu reçu les confidences de Dieu? As-tu dérobé la sagesse à ton profit?
Or have you heard the ordinance of the Lord? or has God used you as [his] counsellor? and has wisdom come [only] to you?
9 Que sais-tu que nous ne sachions pas? Quelle connaissance as-tu que nous n’ayons pas?
For what know you, that, we know not? or what understand you, which we do not also?
10 Il y a parmi nous des cheveux blancs, des vieillards, Plus riches de jours que ton père.
Truly amongst us [are] both the old and very aged man, more advanced in days than your father.
11 Tiens-tu pour peu de chose les consolations de Dieu, Et les paroles qui doucement se font entendre à toi?…
You have been scourged for [but] few of your sins: you have spoken haughtily [and] extravagantly.
12 Où ton cœur t’entraîne-t-il, Et que signifie ce roulement de tes yeux?
What has your heart dared? or what have your eyes [aimed at],
13 Quoi! C’est contre Dieu que tu tournes ta colère Et que ta bouche exhale de pareils discours!
that you have vented [your] rage before the Lord, and delivered such words from [your] mouth?
14 Qu’est-ce que l’homme, pour qu’il soit pur? Celui qui est né de la femme peut-il être juste?
For who, being a mortal, [is such] that he shall be blameless? or, [who that is] born of a woman, that he should be just?
15 Si Dieu n’a pas confiance en ses saints, Si les cieux ne sont pas purs devant lui,
Forasmuch as he trusts not his saints; and the heaven is not pure before him.
16 Combien moins l’être abominable et pervers, L’homme qui boit l’iniquité comme l’eau!
Alas then, abominable and unclean is man, drinking unrighteousness as a draught.
17 Je vais te parler, écoute-moi! Je raconterai ce que j’ai vu,
But I will tell you, listen to me; I will tell you now what I have seen;
18 Ce que les sages ont fait connaître, Ce qu’ils ont révélé, l’ayant appris de leurs pères.
things wise men say, and their fathers have not hidden.
19 A eux seuls appartenait le pays, Et parmi eux nul étranger n’était encore venu.
To them alone the earth was given, and no stranger came upon them.
20 Le méchant passe dans l’angoisse tous les jours de sa vie, Toutes les années qui sont le partage de l’impie.
All the life of the ungodly [is spent] in care, and the years granted to the oppressor are numbered.
21 La voix de la terreur retentit à ses oreilles; Au sein de la paix, le dévastateur va fondre sur lui;
And his terror is in his ears: just when he seems to be at peace, his overthrow will come.
22 Il n’espère pas échapper aux ténèbres, Il voit l’épée qui le menace;
Let him not trust that he shall return from darkness, for he has been already made over to the power of the sword.
23 Il court çà et là pour chercher du pain, Il sait que le jour des ténèbres l’attend.
And he has been appointed to be food for vultures; and he knows within himself that he is doomed to be a carcass: and a dark day shall carry him away as with a whirlwind.
24 La détresse et l’angoisse l’épouvantent, Elles l’assaillent comme un roi prêt à combattre;
Distress also and anguish shall come upon him: he shall fall as a captain in the first rank.
25 Car il a levé la main contre Dieu, Il a bravé le Tout-Puissant,
For he has lifted his hands against the Lord, and he has hardened his neck against the Almighty Lord.
26 Il a eu l’audace de courir à lui Sous le dos épais de ses boucliers.
And he has run against him with insolence, on the thickness of the back of his shield.
27 Il avait le visage couvert de graisse, Les flancs chargés d’embonpoint;
For he has covered his face with his fat, and made layers of fat upon his thighs.
28 Et il habite des villes détruites, Des maisons abandonnées, Sur le point de tomber en ruines.
And let him lodge in desolate cities, and enter into houses without inhabitant: and what they have prepared, others shall carry away.
29 Il ne s’enrichira plus, sa fortune ne se relèvera pas, Sa prospérité ne s’étendra plus sur la terre.
Neither shall he at all grow rich, nor shall his substance remain: he shall not cast a shadow upon the earth.
30 Il ne pourra se dérober aux ténèbres, La flamme consumera ses rejetons, Et Dieu le fera périr par le souffle de sa bouche.
Neither shall he in any wise escape the darkness: let the wind blast his blossom, and let his flower fall off.
31 S’il a confiance dans le mal, il se trompe, Car le mal sera sa récompense.
Let him not think that he shall endure; for his end shall be vanity.
32 Elle arrivera avant le terme de ses jours, Et son rameau ne verdira plus.
His harvest shall perish before the time, and his branch shall not flourish.
33 Il sera comme une vigne dépouillée de ses fruits encore verts, Comme un olivier dont on a fait tomber les fleurs.
And let him be gathered as the unripe grape before the time, and let him fall as the blossom of the olive.
34 La maison de l’impie deviendra stérile, Et le feu dévorera la tente de l’homme corrompu.
For death is the witness of an ungodly man, and fire shall burn the houses of them that receive gifts.
35 Il conçoit le mal et il enfante le mal, Il mûrit dans son sein des fruits qui le trompent.
And he shall conceive sorrows, and his end shall be vanity, and his belly shall bear deceit.
