Job 4
1 Alors Eliphas Témanite prit la parole, et dit:
Then Eliphaz, from Teman, replied to Job. He said,
2 Si nous entreprenons de te parler, te fâcheras-tu? mais qui pourrait s'empêcher de parler?
“Will you please let me say something to you? I am not [RHQ] able to remain silent [any longer].
3 Voilà, tu en as enseigné plusieurs, et tu as renforcé les mains lâches.
In the past, you have instructed/taught many people, and you have encouraged those who were weak.
4 Tes paroles ont affermi ceux qui chancelaient, et tu as fortifié les genoux qui pliaient.
By what you said, you have helped those who (needed spiritual help/almost quit trusting in God) [MET], and you have enabled them to become spiritually strong again [MET].
5 Et maintenant que ceci t'est arrivé, tu t'en fâches! il t'a atteint, et tu en es tout troublé.
But now, when you experience disasters, you become discouraged. The disasters hit you, and you are stunned.
6 Ta piété n'a-t-elle pas été ton espérance? et l'intégrité de tes voies [n'a-t-elle pas été] ton attente?
You revere God; (does that not cause you to trust [in him]?/that should cause you to trust [in him].) [RHQ] If you were guiltless, you would [RHQ] be confident that [God] would not [have allowed] these disasters [to] happen to you!
7 Rappelle, je te prie, dans ton souvenir, où est l'innocent qui ait jamais péri, et où les hommes droits ont-ils [jamais] été exterminés?
Think about this: Do innocent people die [while they are still young] [RHQ]? Does God get rid of godly people [RHQ]? [No!]
8 Mais j'ai vu que ceux qui labourent l'iniquité, et qui sèment l'outrage, les moissonnent.
What I have experienced is this: [Just as] [MET] farmers who plant bad [seeds] do not harvest good [crops], [just as those who start] trouble for others, later bring trouble on themselves.
9 Ils périssent par le souffle de Dieu, et ils sont consumés par le vent de ses narines.
They die when God angrily blows his breath on them, when he is very angry with them.
10 [Il étouffe] le rugissement du lion, et le cri d'un grand lion, et il arrache les dents des lionceaux.
[Even though wicked people may be very powerful like] young lions, [God] will get rid of them [MET].
11 Le lion périt par faute de proie, et les petits du vieux lion sont dissipés.
[They will die like] fierce lions [that] starve to death when there are no animals that they can kill and eat, and [their children will be separated from each other like] young lions separate from each other [to find food].”
12 Mais quant à moi, une parole m'a été adressée en secret, et mon oreille en a entendu quelque peu.
“I heard a message that someone came and whispered to me.
13 Pendant les pensées diverses des visions de la nuit, quand un profond sommeil saisit les hommes,
He spoke to me at night when I was having a bad dream that disturbed/frightened me while I was fast asleep.
14 Une frayeur et un tremblement me saisirent qui étonnèrent tous mes os.
It caused me to be afraid and tremble; it caused all my bones to shake.
15 Un esprit passa devant moi, [et] mes cheveux en furent tout hérissés.
A ghost glided past my face and caused the hair on [on the back of] my neck to stand straight up.
16 Il se tint là, mais je ne connus point son visage; une représentation était devant mes yeux, et j'ouïs une voix basse [qui disait]:
It stopped, but I could not see what form it had. But [I could sense that] there was some being in front of me, and it said in a quiet voice,
17 L'homme sera-t-il plus juste que Dieu? l'homme sera-t-il plus pur que celui qui l'a fait?
‘(Does God consider anyone to be righteous?/No human beings can be righteous in God’s sight!) [RHQ] (Their creator cannot consider them to be pure./Can their creator consider them to be pure?) [RHQ]
18 Voici, il ne s'assure point sur ses serviteurs, et il met la lumière dans ses Anges:
God cannot be sure that his own angels [will always do what is right]; he declares that some of them have done what is wrong.
19 Combien moins [s'assurera-t-il] en ceux qui demeurent dans des maisons d'argile; en ceux dont le fondement est dans la poussière, et qui sont consumés à la rencontre d'un vermisseau?
So he certainly cannot trust human beings who were made from dust and clay, who are crushed as easily as moths are crushed!
20 Du matin au soir ils sont brisés, et, sans qu'on s'en aperçoive, ils périssent pour toujours.
People are sometimes well in the morning, but in the evening they are dead. They are gone forever and do not even know it (OR, and no one pays any attention to it).
21 L'excellence qui était en eux, n'a-t-elle pas été emportée? Ils meurent sans être sages.
They are like [MET] tents that collapse [suddenly]: They die [suddenly] before they become wise.’”
