Job 39
1 Sais-tu quand les chèvres sauvages font leurs petits? Observes-tu les biches quand elles mettent bas?
Have you knowledge of the rock-goats? or do you see the roes giving birth to their young?
2 Comptes-tu les mois pendant lesquels elles portent, Et connais-tu l’époque où elles enfantent?
Is the number of their months fixed by you? or is the time when they give birth ordered by you?
3 Elles se courbent, laissent échapper leur progéniture, Et sont délivrées de leurs douleurs.
They are bent down, they give birth to their young, they let loose the fruit of their body.
4 Leurs petits prennent de la vigueur et grandissent en plein air, Ils s’éloignent et ne reviennent plus auprès d’elles.
Their young ones are strong, living in the open country; they go out and do not come back again.
5 Qui met en liberté l’âne sauvage, Et l’affranchit de tout lien?
Who has let the ass of the fields go free? or made loose the bands of the loud-voiced beast?
6 J’ai fait du désert son habitation, De la terre salée sa demeure.
To whom I have given the waste land for a heritage, and the salt land as a living-place.
7 Il se rit du tumulte des villes, Il n’entend pas les cris d’un maître.
He makes sport of the noise of the town; the voice of the driver does not come to his ears;
8 Il parcourt les montagnes pour trouver sa pâture, Il est à la recherche de tout ce qui est vert.
He goes looking for his grass-lands in the mountains, searching out every green thing.
9 Le buffle veut-il être à ton service? Passe-t-il la nuit vers ta crèche?
Will the ox of the mountains be your servant? or is his night's resting-place by your food-store?
10 L’attaches-tu par une corde pour qu’il trace un sillon? Va-t-il après toi briser les mottes des vallées?
Will he be pulling your plough with cords, turning up the valleys after you?
11 Te reposes-tu sur lui, parce que sa force est grande? Lui abandonnes-tu le soin de tes travaux?
Will you put your faith in him, because his strength is great? will you give the fruit of your work into his care?
12 Te fies-tu à lui pour la rentrée de ta récolte? Est-ce lui qui doit l’amasser dans ton aire?
Will you be looking for him to come back, and get in your seed to the crushing-floor?
13 L’aile de l’autruche se déploie joyeuse; On dirait l’aile, le plumage de la cigogne.
Is the wing of the ostrich feeble, or is it because she has no feathers,
14 Mais l’autruche abandonne ses œufs à la terre, Et les fait chauffer sur la poussière;
That she puts her eggs on the earth, warming them in the dust,
15 Elle oublie que le pied peut les écraser, Qu’une bête des champs peut les fouler.
Without a thought that they may be crushed by the foot, and broken by the beasts of the field?
16 Elle est dure envers ses petits comme s’ils n’étaient point à elle; Elle ne s’inquiète pas de l’inutilité de son enfantement.
She is cruel to her young ones, as if they were not hers; her work is to no purpose; she has no fear.
17 Car Dieu lui a refusé la sagesse, Il ne lui a pas donné l’intelligence en partage.
For God has taken wisdom from her mind, and given her no measure of knowledge.
18 Quand elle se lève et prend sa course, Elle se rit du cheval et de son cavalier.
When she is shaking her wings on high, she makes sport of the horse and of him who is seated on him.
19 Est-ce toi qui donnes la vigueur au cheval, Et qui revêts son cou d’une crinière flottante?
Do you give strength to the horse? is it by your hand that his neck is clothed with power?
20 Le fais-tu bondir comme la sauterelle? Son fier hennissement répand la terreur.
Is it through you that he is shaking like a locust, in the pride of his loud-sounding breath?
21 Il creuse le sol et se réjouit de sa force, Il s’élance au-devant des armes;
He is stamping with joy in the valley; he makes sport of fear.
22 Il se rit de la crainte, il n’a pas peur, Il ne recule pas en face de l’épée.
In his strength he goes out against the arms of war, turning not away from the sword.
23 Sur lui retentit le carquois, Brillent la lance et le javelot.
The bow is sounding against him; he sees the shining point of spear and arrow.
24 Bouillonnant d’ardeur, il dévore la terre, Il ne peut se contenir au bruit de la trompette.
Shaking with passion, he is biting the earth; he is not able to keep quiet at the sound of the horn;
25 Quand la trompette sonne, il dit: En avant! Et de loin il flaire la bataille, La voix tonnante des chefs et les cris de guerre.
When it comes to his ears he says, Aha! He is smelling the fight from far off, and hearing the thunder of the captains, and the war-cries.
26 Est-ce par ton intelligence que l’épervier prend son vol, Et qu’il étend ses ailes vers le midi?
Is it through your knowledge that the hawk takes his flight, stretching out his wings to the south?
27 Est-ce par ton ordre que l’aigle s’élève, Et qu’il place son nid sur les hauteurs?
Or is it by your orders that the eagle goes up, and makes his resting-place on high?
28 C’est dans les rochers qu’il habite, qu’il a sa demeure, Sur la cime des rochers, sur le sommet des monts.
On the rock is his house, and on the mountain-top his strong place.
29 De là il épie sa proie, Il plonge au loin les regards.
From there he is watching for food; his eye sees it far off.
30 Ses petits boivent le sang; Et là où sont des cadavres, l’aigle se trouve.
His young have blood for their drink, and where the dead bodies are, there is he to be seen.
