Job 22
1 Alors, répondant, Eliphaz, le Thémanite, dit:
Then Eliphaz replied,
2 Est-ce qu’un homme peut être comparé à Dieu, quand il serait d’une science parfaite?
“(Can anyone be useful to God?/Certainly no one can be useful to God.) [RHQ] Even people who are wise cannot be helpful to God.
3 Que sert à Dieu que tu sois juste? ou quel bien lui fais-tu si ta voie est sans tache?
If you were righteous, (would that benefit Almighty [God]?/that certainly would not benefit Almighty [God].) [RHQ] If you had (lived a perfect life/never done anything that is wrong), would that help him?
4 Est-ce en craignant qu’il t’accusera, et qu’il viendra avec toi en jugement,
“Is it because you have an awesome respect for God that he punishes you? Is that the reason that he puts you on trial?
5 Et non pas à cause de ta malice très grande et de tes infinies iniquités?
No, it certainly must be [RHQ] because you are extremely wicked. It must be that the evil things that you have done are so many that no one can count them!
6 Car tu as retenu le gage de tes frères sans raison, et tu as dépouillé de leurs vêtements ceux qui étaient nus.
You must have lent money to others and wrongly forced them to give you things to guarantee that they would pay that money back to you; you must have taken all their clothes and left them with nothing to wear.
7 Tu n’as pas donné de l’eau à celui qui était épuisé de lassitude, et à celui qui avait faim tu as soustrait du pain.
You must not have given water to those who were thirsty, and you must have refused to give food to those who were hungry.
8 Par la force de ton bras tu possédais ta terre, et, étant le plus puissant, tu la conservais.
Because you were very powerful, you [must have] taken over all the people’s land, and then, being very respected, you have begun to live on that land.
9 Tu as renvoyé les veuves les mains vides, et tu as brisé les bras des orphelins.
[When] widows [came to you for help], you [must have] sent [them] away without giving them anything, and you must have oppressed orphans.
10 C’est pour cela que tu es environné de pièges, et qu’une frayeur soudaine te trouble.
Because of all that, now there are pits around you for you to fall into, and suddenly there are things that terrify you and cause you to tremble.
11 Et tu pensais que tu ne verrais point de ténèbres, et que tu ne serais pas accablé par un impétueux débordement d’eaux.
[It is as though] it has become very dark, with the result that you cannot see anything, and [it is as though] [MET] a flood covers you.
12 Ne songes-tu pas que Dieu est plus élevé que le ciel, et qu’il est au-dessus du sommet des étoiles?
“[But consider this, Job]: God lives [RHQ] high up in the heavens. From there he [RHQ] looks down on the highest stars.
13 Et tu dis: Mais que connaît Dieu? car c’est comme à travers d’une profonde obscurité qu’il juge.
So why do you say, ‘What does God know [about what we are doing]? [He is hidden from us by] dark clouds, so ([how] can he judge us?/he certainly cannot judge us.) [RHQ]’
14 Des nuées le cachent; il ne considère pas ce qui est de nous, et il parcourt les pôles du ciel.
[Do you think that] while he walks on the dome that covers the sky, there are thick clouds around him, with the result that he cannot see [what we do]?
15 Est-ce que tu désires suivre le sentier des siècles, qu’ont foulé des hommes iniques,
Will you continue to conduct your life the old way that evil people have done [for many years]?
16 Qui ont été enlevés avant leur temps, et dont un fleuve a renversé le fondement?
They suddenly died while they were still young; they disappeared [like everything disappears when there is] a flood [MET].
17 Qui disaient à Dieu: Retire-toi de nous; et qui estimaient que le Tout-Puissant ne pouvait rien faire;
They kept saying to God, ‘Do not bother us,’ and they also said [defiantly], ‘Almighty [God] can do nothing [RHQ] to [harm] us!’
18 Quoique ce fût lui qui eût rempli leurs maisons de biens. Que leur sentiment soit loin de moi!
But it was God who filled their houses with good things, so I cannot at all understand why wicked people think like they do.
19 Les justes les verront et ils se réjouiront, et l’innocent se moquera d’eux.
“But when God punishes wicked people, and righteous people see that, they are glad, and they laugh, ridiculing the wicked people.
20 Est-ce que leur élévation n’a pas été entièrement détruite? et leurs restes, un feu ne les a-t-il pas dévorés?
They say, ‘Now our enemies have been destroyed, and all [their possessions] that were left have been burned in a fire.’
21 Soumets-toi donc à Dieu, et tu auras la paix; et par là tu auras des fruits excellents.
“So, [Job, ] be reconciled to God and make peace with him; if you do that, good things will happen to you.
22 Reçois de sa bouche sa loi, et mets ses discours dans ton cœur.
Allow him to teach you, and keep thinking about what he has told you.
23 Si tu reviens au Tout-Puissant, tu seras rétabli, et tu éloigneras l’iniquité de ton tabernacle.
If you humble yourself and return to God, if you stop doing all the evil things that you have been doing in your house,
24 Il te donnera au lieu de terre, un rocher, et au lieu d’un rocher, des torrents d’or.
if you throw away your gold, even the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir [land],
25 Et le Tout-Puissant sera contre tes ennemis, et l’argent sera mis en monceaux pour toi.
and if you allow Almighty [God] to be [as precious to you as] your gold and your silver [have been],
26 Alors tu abonderas en délices dans le Tout-Puissant, et tu élèveras ta face vers Dieu.
you will be happy because of your close relationship with God, and you will be able to approach him [IDM] [confidently].
27 Tu le prieras, et il t’exaucera, et tu acquitteras tes vœux.
You will pray to him, and he will do what you request him to do; you will do the things that you promised him that you would do.
28 Tu décideras une chose, et elle se réalisera pour toi, et sur tes voies brillera la lumière.
Everything that you decide to do will be successful; [it] will [be as though] a light [is] shining on the road in front of you.
29 Car celui qui aura été humilié sera dans la gloire; et celui qui aura baissé les yeux, celui-là même sera sauvé,
God humbles those who are proud, but he saves those who are downcast/discouraged.
30 L’innocent sera sauvé, mais il sera sauvé à cause de la pureté de ses mains.
God rescues those who (are innocent/have not done things that are wrong), so he will rescue you if you (start doing things that are right/are not guilty [IDM] of doing things that are wrong).”
