Job 31
1 J'avais fait accord avec mes yeux; comment aurais-je donc arrêté mes regards sur une vierge?
“I solemnly promised myself that I would not look at a young woman with a desire [to have sex with her].
2 Et quelle [serait] la portion [que] Dieu [m'aurait envoyée] d'en haut, et quel eût été l'héritage que le Tout-puissant m'eût [envoyé] des hauts lieux?
[If I did not do what I promised, ] what would God who is in heaven [MTY] do to me [RHQ]? Almighty [God] would certainly not [RHQ] give me any reward!
3 La perdition n'est-elle pas pour l'injuste, et les accidents étranges pour les ouvriers d'iniquité?
[Previously I thought that] surely [RHQ] it was unrighteous people who would experience calamities, and that it was those who do what is wrong who would experience disasters.
4 N'a-t-il pas vu lui-même mes voies, et n'a-t-il pas compté toutes mes démarches?
God certainly sees [RHQ] everything that I do, [so why is he causing me to suffer?] [It is as though] he counts every step that I take.
5 Si j'ai marché dans le mensonge, et si mon pied s'est hâté à tromper,
[“I solemnly declare that] I have never acted wickedly and have never tried to deceive people.
6 Qu'on me pèse dans des balances justes, et Dieu connaîtra mon intégrité.
I request only that God judge me fairly [MET], and if he does that, he will know that I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong).
7 Si mes pas se sont détournés du [droit] chemin, et si mon cœur a marché après mes yeux, et si quelque tache s'est attachée à mes mains,
If [it were true that] I have stopped living righteously, or [that] I [SYN] have desired the things that I look at [MTY], or [that] I am guilty of any other sin,
8 Que je sème, et qu'un autre mange [ce que j'aurai semé]; et que tout ce que j'aurai fait produire, soit déraciné!
then I hope/wish that when I plant [seeds], someone else will [harvest the crops and] eat [them] and that others will uproot the [fruit trees] that I planted.
9 Si mon cœur a été séduit après quelque femme, et si j'ai demeuré en embûche à la porte de mon prochain,
“If [it were true that] I [SYN] have been attracted by some other man’s wife, or [that] I have hidden myself and waited outside [the] door [to] her [house],
10 Que ma femme soit déshonorée par un autre, et qu'elle soit prostituée à d'autres!
I hope/desire that my wife will become the servant/slave of another man and have sex [EUP] with him.
11 Vu que c'est une méchanceté préméditée, une de ces iniquités qui sont toutes jugées.
[For me to do] that would be a terrible sin, and the judges would decide that I should be punished.
12 Car c'est un feu qui dévore jusqu'à consumer, et qui aurait déraciné tout mon revenu.
My [committing adultery] would [produce in me a fire like] [MET] the fire that burns people in hell, and it would burn up everything that I own. (questioned)
13 Si j'ai refusé de faire droit à mon serviteur ou à ma servante, quand ils ont contesté avec moi;
“And, if [it were true that] I have ever refused to listen to one of my male or female servants when they complained to me about something,
14 Car qu'eussé-je fait, quand le [Dieu] Fort se fût levé? et quand il m'en eût demandé compte, que lui aurais-je répondu?
God would arise [and declare that he would punish me]; and when he would do that, what would I do? If he would ask me [about what I have done], (what would I answer?/I would not be able to answer.) [RHQ]
15 Celui qui m'a formé dans le ventre, ne les a-t-il pas faits aussi? et ne nous a-t-il pas tous formés de la même manière dans la matrice?
God, who created me, certainly also created my servants [RHQ]; surely he is the one who formed them and me in our mothers’ wombs [RHQ]; [so we all should behave toward each other equally].
16 Si j'ai refusé aux pauvres ce qu'ils ont désiré; si j'ai fait consumer les yeux de la veuve;
“I have guided orphans from the time that they were born; I have taken care of them since they were young. So, if [it were true that] I ate all my food myself and did not share some of it with orphans, or [that] I refused to give poor people the things that they wanted, or [that] I caused widows to live (in despair/without hope [that they would receive any help from anyone]),
17 Si j'ai mangé seul mes morceaux, et si l'orphelin n'en a point mangé;
18 (Car dès ma jeunesse il a été élevé avec moi, comme [chez son père], et dès le ventre de ma mère j'ai conduit l'orphelin.)
19 Si j'ai vu un homme périr faute d'être vêtu, et le pauvre faute de couverture;
or [that] I had seen people die [from cold] because they had no clothes, or [that] I had seen poor people who did not have clothes [to keep them warm],
20 Si ses reins ne m'ont point béni, et s'il n'a pas été échauffé de la laine de mes agneaux;
and they were not able to become warm [from clothes made] from the wool of my sheep with the result that they thanked me for [giving them clothes, ]
21 Si j'ai levé la main contre l'orphelin, quand j'ai vu à la porte, que je pouvais l'aider;
or if [it were true that] I threatened to strike any orphan because I knew that the elders at the city gates would (decide in my favor);
22 Que l'os de mon épaule tombe et que mon bras soit cassé, et séparé de l'os auquel il est joint!
[if those things were true about me], I hope/desire that my shoulder blade would be torn out and my arm be torn from my shoulder.
23 Car j'ai eu frayeur de l'orage du [Dieu] Fort, et je ne saurais [subsister] devant sa majesté.
I always feared that God would cause me to experience a great disaster [if I did any of those evil things], and I would not have been able to endure the powerful [things that he would do to punish me].
24 Si j'ai mis mon espérance en l'or, et si j'ai dit au fin or: Tu es ma confiance;
“If [it were true that] I trusted in my gold/money [DOU],
25 Si je me suis réjoui de ce que mes biens étaient multipliés, et de ce que ma main en avait trouvé abondamment;
or that I rejoiced because I had acquired many things and had become very rich,
26 Si j'ai regardé le soleil lorsqu'il brillait le plus, et la lune marchant noblement;
or that I looked at the sun when it was shining or looked at the beautiful moon
27 Et si mon cœur a été séduit en secret, et si ma main a baisé ma bouche;
and I [SYN] had been tempted [to worship them] by kissing my hand to revere them,
28 (Ce qui est aussi une iniquité toute jugée; car j'eusse renié le Dieu d'en haut.)
those things also would be sins for which the judges would say that I must be punished, because I would have been rejecting God [by doing those things].
29 Si je me suis réjoui du malheur de celui qui me haïssait; si j'ai sauté de joie quand il lui est arrivé du mal.
“[It is not true that] I [SYN] sinned by requesting God to curse people who hated me with the result that God would cause them to die. It is also not true that I was glad when they were ruined or that I rejoiced when they experienced disasters [DOU].
30 Je n'ai pas même permis à ma langue de pécher, en demandant sa mort avec imprécation.
31 Et les gens de ma maison n'ont point dit: Qui nous donnera de sa chair? nous n'en saurions être rassasiés.
[It is also not true that] I never welcomed travelers to stay in my tent or that I did not open my doors to them, but [forced them to] sleep in the streets. [All] the men who work for me certainly know that [RHQ]!
32 L'étranger n'a point passé la nuit dehors; j'ai ouvert ma porte au passant.
33 Si j'ai caché mon péché comme Adam, pour couvrir mon iniquité en me flattant.
Some people try to hide their sins, but I have never done that;
34 Quoique je pusse me faire craindre à une grande multitude, toutefois le moindre qui fût dans les familles m'inspirait de la crainte, et je me tenais dans le silence, et ne sortais point de la porte.
and I never remained silent and refused to go outside of my home because I was very (afraid of/worried about) what people would say [about me], and that they would hate/scorn me.
35 Ô! s'il y avait quelqu'un qui voulût m'entendre. Tout mon désir est que le Tout-puissant me réponde, et que ma partie adverse fasse un écrit [contre moi].
“I wish/desire that there was someone who would hear what I am saying! I solemnly declare [that all that I have said is true]. I wish that those who oppose me would write down [on a scroll] the evil things that they say that I did.
36 Si je ne le porte sur mon épaule, et si je ne l'attache comme une couronne.
[If they did that, ] I would wear that scroll on my shoulder, or wear it on top of my head, [in order that everyone could see it].
37 Je lui raconterais tous mes pas, je m'approcherais de lui comme d'un Prince.
I would tell [God] everything that I have done, and I would approach him [confidently], like a ruler would.
38 Si ma terre crie contre moi, et si ses sillons pleurent;
If [it were true that] I have stolen land, with the result that [it was as though] its furrows cried out to accuse me of stealing;
39 Si j'ai mangé son fruit sans argent; si j'ai tourmenté l'esprit de ceux qui la possédaient.
or [if it were true that] I have eaten the crops that grew in someone else’s fields without paying [for those crops], with the result that those farmers who grew those crops died [from hunger];
40 Qu'elle me produise des épines au lieu de blé, et de l'ivraie au lieu d'orge. C'est ici la fin des paroles de Job.
then I wish/desire that thorns would grow [in my fields] instead of wheat. May bad weeds grow instead of barley!” That is the end of what Job said [to his three friends].
