Job 41
1 Tu tireras le Léviathan avec un hameçon? et tu serreras sa langue avec une corde?
Can you draw out the leviathan with a hook, and can you bind his tongue with a cord?
2 Mettras-tu un jonc dans ses narines, perceras-tu sa joue avec un crochet?
Can you place a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with an arm band?
3 T'adressera-t-il beaucoup de prières, et te dira-t-il de douces paroles?
Will he offer many prayers to you, or speak to you quietly?
4 Fera-t-il un accord avec toi, et le prendras-tu pour esclave à toujours?
Will he form a covenant with you, and will you accept him as a servant forever?
5 En joueras-tu comme d'un oiseau, et l'attacheras-tu pour amuser tes filles?
Will you play with him as with a bird, or tether him for your handmaids?
6 Les associés en feront-ils commerce, le partageront-ils entre des marchands?
Will your friends cut him into pieces, will dealers distribute him?
7 Perceras-tu sa peau d'un dard, et sa tête d'un harpon?
Will you fill up bags with his hide, and let his head be used as a home for fishes?
8 Mets ta main sur lui: tu te souviendras de la bataille, et tu n'y reviendras pas.
Place your hand upon him; remember the battle and speak no more.
9 Voici, tout espoir de le prendre est trompé; à son seul aspect on est jeté à terre!
Behold, his hope will fail him, and in the sight of all, he will be thrown down.
10 Il n'y a point d'homme si hardi qui l'ose réveiller; et qui se tiendra debout devant moi?
I will not rouse him, as the cruel would do, for who is able to withstand my countenance?
11 Qui m'a fait des avances, et je lui rendrai? Tout ce qui est sous les cieux est à moi.
Who has given to me beforehand, so that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine.
12 Je ne me tairai pas sur ses membres, sur ses forces, et sur la beauté de sa stature.
I will not spare him, nor his powerful words and counterfeit attempts at supplication.
13 Qui a soulevé le dessus de son vêtement? Qui est entré dans sa double mâchoire?
Who can reveal the beauty of his garment? And who can enter the middle of his mouth?
14 Qui a ouvert les portes de sa gueule? La terreur est autour de ses dents.
Who can open the doors of his face? I gave fear to the circle of his teeth.
15 Ses puissants boucliers sont superbes; ils sont fermés, étroitement scellés.
His body is like shields fused together, like dense scales pressed over one another.
16 Ils se touchent l'un l'autre, le vent ne passe point entre eux.
One is joined to another, and not even air can pass between them.
17 Ils sont adhérents l'un à l'autre; ils se tiennent, ils ne se séparent point.
They adhere to one another, and they hold themselves in place and will not be separated.
18 Ses éternuements jettent un éclat de lumière, et ses yeux sont comme les paupières de l'aurore.
His sneezing has the brilliance of fire, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 De sa bouche sortent des lueurs, et s'échappent des étincelles de feu.
Lamps proceed from his mouth, like torches of fire burning brightly.
20 De ses narines sort une fumée, comme d'un vase qui bout ou d'une chaudière.
Smoke passes out of his nostrils, like a pot that is heated and boiling.
21 Son souffle enflammerait des charbons, et une flamme sort de sa gueule.
His breath causes coal to burn, and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
22 Dans son cou réside la force, et la terreur marche devant lui.
Strength dwells in his neck, and destitution goes before his presence.
23 Les fanons de sa chair sont adhérents; ils sont massifs, inébranlables.
The parts of his body work in harmony together. He will send lightning bolts against him, and they will not be carried to another place.
24 Son cœur est massif comme une pierre, massif comme la meule de dessous.
His heart will be as hard as a stone and as dense as a blacksmith’s anvil.
25 Quand il se lève, les plus forts tremblent, ils défaillent d'effroi.
When he will be raised up, the angels will be afraid, and, because they are terrified, they will purify themselves.
26 Quand on l'approche, l'épée ne sert à rien, ni la lance, ni le dard, ni la cuirasse.
When a sword catches up with him, it will not be able to settle in, nor a spear, nor a breastplate.
27 Il regarde le fer comme de la paille, et l'airain comme du bois pourri.
For he will consider iron as if it were chaff, and brass as if it were rotten wood.
28 La flèche ne le fait pas fuir, les pierres de la fronde sont pour lui comme du chaume;
The archer will not cause him to flee; the stones of the sling have been turned into stubble for him.
29 Comme du chaume, la massue; il se rit du frémissement des javelots.
He will treat the hammer as if it were stubble, and he will ridicule those who brandish the spear.
30 Son ventre a des tessons pointus: il étend une herse sur le limon.
The beams of the sun will be under him, and he will dispense gold to them as if it were clay.
31 Il fait bouillonner le gouffre comme une chaudière, il rend la mer semblable à un vase de parfumeur.
He will make the depths of the sea boil like a pot, and he will set it to bubble just as ointments do.
32 Il laisse après lui une trace brillante, on dirait sur l'abîme une blanche chevelure.
A path will shine after him; he will esteem the abyss as if it were weakening with age.
33 Il n'a pas son pareil sur la terre; il a été fait pour ne rien craindre.
There is no power on the earth that is being compared to him, who has been made so that he fears no one.
34 Il regarde tout ce qui est élevé; il est roi des plus fiers animaux.
He sees every prominent thing; he is king over all the sons of arrogance.
