Job 21
1 Mais Job répondit, et dit:
Then Job replied,
2 Ecoutez attentivement mon discours, et cela me tiendra lieu de consolations de votre part.
“Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
3 Supportez-moi, et je parlerai, et après que j'aurai parlé, moquez-vous.
Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
4 Pour moi, mon discours s'adresse-t-il à un homme? si cela était, comment mon esprit ne défaudrait-il pas?
“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 Regardez-moi, et soyez étonnés, et mettez la main sur la bouche.
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 Quand je pense à [mon état], j'en suis tout étonné, et un tremblement saisit ma chair.
When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
7 Pourquoi les méchants vivent-ils, [et] vieillissent, et même pourquoi sont-ils les plus puissants?
“[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 race se maintient en leur présence avec eux, et leurs rejetons s'élèvent devant leurs 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 jouissent de la paix loin de la frayeur; la verge de Dieu n'est point sur eux.
Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
10 Leur vache conçoit, et n'y manque point; leur jeune vache se décharge de son veau, et n'avorte point.
Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 Ils font sortir devant eux leurs petits, comme un troupeau de brebis, et leurs enfants sautent.
Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
12 Ils sautent au son du tambour et du violon, et se réjouissent au son des orgues.
Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
13 Ils passent leurs jours dans les plaisirs, et en un moment ils descendent au 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 [Dieu] Fort: Retire-toi de nous; car nous ne nous soucions point de la science de tes 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 Qui est le Tout-puissant que nous le servions? et quel bien nous reviendra-t-il de l'avoir invoqué?
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 Voilà, leur bien n'est pas en leur puissance. Que le conseil des méchants soit loin de moi!
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 Aussi combien de fois arrive-t-il que la lampe des méchants est éteinte, et que l'orage vient sur eux! [Dieu] leur distribuera leurs portions en sa colère.
(“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 comme la paille exposée au vent, et comme la balle qui est enlevée par le tourbillon.
[He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
19 Dieu réservera aux enfants du méchant la punition de ses violences, il la leur rendra, et il le saura.
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 Ses yeux verront sa ruine, et il boira [le calice de] la colère du Tout-puissant.
I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
21 Et quel plaisir aura-t-il en sa maison, laquelle il laisse après soi, puisque le nombre de ses mois aura été retranché?
After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
22 Enseignerait-on la science au [Dieu] Fort, à lui qui juge ceux qui sont élevés?
“Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
23 L'un meurt dans toute sa vigueur, tranquille et en repos;
Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
24 Ses vaisseaux sont remplis de lait, et ses os sont abreuvés de moëlle.
Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
25 Et l'autre meurt dans l'amertume de son âme, et n'ayant jamais fait bonne chère.
Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
26 Et néanmoins ils sont couchés également dans la poudre, et les vers les couvrent.
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 Voilà, je connais vos pensées, et les jugements que vous formez contre moi.
“Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
28 Car vous dites: Où est la maison de cet homme si puissant, et où est la tente dans laquelle les méchants demeuraient?
You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
29 Ne vous êtes-vous jamais informés des voyageurs, et n'avez-vous pas appris par les rapports qu'ils vous ont faits,
But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
30 Que le méchant est réservé pour le jour de la ruine, pour le jour que les fureurs sont envoyées?
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 [Mais] qui le reprendra en face de sa conduite? et qui lui rendra le mal qu'il a fait?
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 Il sera néanmoins porté au sépulcre, et il demeurera dans le tombeau.
The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
33 Les mottes des vallées lui sont agréables; et tout le monde s'en va à la file après lui, et des gens sans nombre marchent au-devant de lui.
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 donnez-vous des consolations vaines, puisqu'il y a toujours de la prévarication dans vos réponses?
“So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
