Job 21
1 Et Job répondit et dit:
Then Job replied,
2 Ecoutez, écoutez mon discours, et donnez-moi cette consolation-là!
“Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
3 Souffrez que je parle, et, quand j'aurai parlé, tu pourras te moquer!
Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
4 Est-ce à l'homme qu'en veut ma plainte? Et pourquoi la patience ne m'échapperait-elle 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 Tournez les yeux vers moi, et vous serez stupéfaits, et vous mettrez 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 j'y pense, je me trouble, et ma chair frissonne.
When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
7 Pourquoi les impies vivent-ils, avancent-ils en âge, accroissent-ils leurs moyens?
“[But let me ask this: ] ‘Why do wicked people continue to live, and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?’
8 Devant eux, autour d'eux, leur race s'affermit, et leurs rejetons réjouissent leurs regards.
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 sont en paix, à l'abri de la crainte, et la verge de Dieu ne passe point sur eux.
Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
10 Leur taureau saillit, et n'est point impuissant, leur génisse vêle, et n'avorte point.
Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 Ils promènent leur famille qui égale un troupeau, et leurs enfants s'ébattent.
Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
12 Ils chantent au son des cymbales et du luth, et s'égaient au bruit de la cornemuse.
Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
13 Ils emploient leurs jours à jouir, et la descente aux Enfers est pour eux l'affaire d'un instant. (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 disent à Dieu: « Retire-toi de nous! et pour la science de tes voies nous n'avons aucun goût.
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 Qu'est-ce que le Tout-puissant, pour que nous le servions? et que gagnerions-nous à le prier? »
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 Voici, n'ont-ils pas leur bonheur en leurs mains? (Loin de moi les principes des impies!)
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 Combien de fois arrive-t-il que la lampe des impies s'éteigne, et que leur ruine fonde sur eux; que Dieu leur distribue leurs lots dans 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 qu'ils soient comme le chaume au souffle du vent, ou comme la balle qu'enlève l'ouragan?
[He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
19 C'est à ses fils que Dieu réserve la misère! C'est lui que Dieu devrait punir, afin qu'il en pâtit;
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 c'est lui qui de ses yeux devrait contempler sa chute, et être abreuvé du courroux 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 Car, que lui fait sa maison après lui, quand le terme de ses jours est échu?
After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
22 Est-ce à Dieu qu'on veut révéler la science, à lui qui juge les Intelligences célestes?
“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 au sein même du bien-être, dans une sécurité et une paix complète;
Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
24 ses bergeries sont remplies de lait, et la moelle de ses os est toujours rafraîchie.
Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
25 Et l'autre meurt, l'amertume dans l'âme, et il n'a point goûté le bonheur.
Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
26 Ensemble ils sont gisants dans la poudre, et les vers les recouvrent.
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 Voici, je sais quelles sont vos pensées, et les jugements qu'à tort vous portez sur 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 l'homme puissant, et la tente où habitaient les impies? »
You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
29 N'avez-vous pas interrogé les voyageurs? et ne vous rendrez-vous pas aux preuves qu'ils rapportent?
But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
30 C'est qu'au jour de la ruine, l'impie est préservé, et qu'au jour des vengeances, il est conduit en lieu sûr.
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 Qui est-ce qui lui reproche en face sa conduite, et qui est-ce qui lui rend ce 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 est porté au tombeau, et il veille encore sur le tertre.
The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
33 La terre de la vallée pèse doucement sur lui; après lui tous les hommes vont à la file, et ses devanciers sont innombrables.
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 pouvez-vous donc m'offrir des consolations si vaines? De vos réponses, ce qui reste, c'est la perfidie.
“So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
