Job 20
1 Tsophar, de Naama, prit la parole et dit:
Then answered Zophar the Na'amathite, and said,
2 C'est pour cela que mes pensées me poussent à répondre, et c'est pour cette raison que j'ai hâte de le faire:
Even therefore do my inmost thoughts give me an answer, and for this reason do I feel a strong excitement within me.
3 J'ai entendu une leçon outrageante, mais l'esprit tire de mon intelligence une réponse.
Reproof which casteth shame on me must I hear; yet out of my understanding will the spirit give me an answer.
4 Ne sais-tu pas que, de tout temps, depuis que Dieu a mis l'homme sur la terre,
Dost thou know this? from the very beginning of things, from the very time when man was placed upon earth it was,
5 Le triomphe du méchant est de peu de durée, et la joie de l'impie n'a qu'un moment?
That the triumphal shouting of the wicked is ever of but a recent date, and the joy of the hypocrite endureth only for a moment.
6 Quand son élévation monterait jusqu'aux cieux, et quand sa tête atteindrait les nues,
Though his exaltation should mount up to the heavens, and his head should reach unto the clouds;
7 Il périra pour toujours, comme son ordure; ceux qui le voyaient diront: Où est-il?
Yet when he but turneth round will he vanish for ever; those who have seen him will say, Where is he?
8 Il s'envolera comme un songe, et on ne le trouvera plus; il s'évanouira comme un rêve de la nuit.
Like a dream will he fly away, and men will find him no more; yea, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9 L'œil qui l'a vu ne le verra plus, et son lieu ne l'apercevra plus.
If an eye have surveyed him, it will not do so again, and it will not behold him any more in his place.
10 Ses enfants feront la cour aux pauvres, et ses propres mains restitueront ses biens.
His children will suffer oppression from the indigent, and his hands will have to restore his [ill-gotten] wealth.
11 Ses os sont pleins de jeunesse, mais elle reposera avec lui dans la poussière.
[Now] his bones are full of his youthful vigor; but it will [suddenly] lie down with him in the dust.
12 Si le mal est doux à sa bouche, s'il le cache sous sa langue,
If the evil be sweet in his mouth, he will conceal it under his tongue;
13 S'il le ménage et ne le rejette point, s'il le retient dans son palais,
He will cherish it, and not forsake it; and hold it back within his palate;
14 Sa nourriture se changera dans ses entrailles, et deviendra dans son sein du fiel d'aspic.
His food is thus changed within his bowels, and becometh the venom of asps within him.
15 Il a englouti des richesses, et il les vomira; Dieu les arrachera de son ventre.
The wealth which he hath swallowed, will he have to vomit up again; God will drive it out of his belly.
16 Il sucera du venin d'aspic; la langue de la vipère le tuera.
The poison of asps will he have to suck; the viper's tongue will slay him.
17 Il ne verra plus les ruisseaux, les fleuves, les torrents de miel et de lait.
He shall not look with pleasure on streams, on flowing brooks of honey and cream.
18 Il rendra le fruit de son travail, et ne l'avalera pas; il restituera à proportion de ce qu'il aura amassé, et ne s'en réjouira pas.
He restoreth what he hath labored for, and will not swallow it down; however much he may have obtained by toil, he will not have any joy of it.
19 Parce qu'il a foulé, abandonné le pauvre, pillé la maison au lieu de la bâtir;
Because he oppressed and forsook the indigent; because he took violently away a house, shall he not rebuild it;
20 Parce qu'il n'a pas connu le repos dans son avidité, il ne sauvera rien de ce qu'il a tant désiré;
Because he knew not quietness in his bosom, shall he not escape through what is the most precious to him.
21 Rien n'échappait à sa voracité, c'est pourquoi son bonheur ne durera pas.
Nothing was spared from his craving to eat: therefore shall his wealth not prosper.
22 Au comble de l'abondance, il sera dans la gêne; les mains de tous les malheureux se jetteront sur lui.
In the fulness of his abundance will distress assail him: every hand of [those he] troubled will come against him.
23 Il arrivera que pour lui remplir le ventre, Dieu enverra contre lui l'ardeur de sa colère; il la fera pleuvoir sur lui et entrer dans sa chair.
In order to fill his belly, [God] will send out against him the fury of his wrath, and will rain it upon him for his eating.
24 Il fuira devant les armes de fer, l'arc d'airain le transpercera.
If he flee from the iron weapon, the brazen bow will strike him through.
25 Il arrachera la flèche, et elle sortira de son corps, et le fer étincelant, de son foie; les frayeurs de la mort viendront sur lui.
He draweth it, and it cometh out of the body; yea, out of his gall the glittering [arrow] cometh forth: over him come the terrors [of death].
26 Toutes les calamités sont réservées à ses trésors, un feu qu'on n'aura pas besoin de souffler le dévorera, et ce qui restera dans sa tente sera consumé.
Entire darkness is laid by for his treasures: a fire not urged by blowing will consume him; it will destroy any one that is left in his tent.
27 Les cieux découvriront son iniquité, et la terre s'élèvera contre lui.
The heavens will lay open his iniquity; and the earth will raise herself up against him.
28 Le revenu de sa maison sera emporté. Tout s'écoulera au jour de la colère.
The product of his house will be banished, flowing away on the day of his wrath.
29 Telle est la part que Dieu réserve à l'homme méchant, tel est l'héritage que Dieu lui assigne.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and his decreed heritage from God.
