Job 39
1 Est-ce que tu connais le temps de l’enfantement des chèvres sauvages dans les rochers? ou as-tu observé des biches lorsqu’elles enfantaient?
“[Job], do you know at what time/season [of the year] the female mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the wild deer while their fawns were being born?
2 As-tu compté les mois de leur conception, et sais-tu le temps de leur enfantement?
Do you know how many months pass from the time they become pregnant until their fawns are born?
3 Elles se courbent pour mettre bas leur faon, et elles enfantent, et elles poussent des hurlements.
[When they give birth, ] they crouch down so that the fawns do not [get hurt by] falling to the ground when they are born.
4 Leurs petits se séparent et vont au pâturage; ils sortent et ne reviennent pas vers elles.
The young fawns grow up in the open fields, and then they leave their mothers and do not return to them again.
5 Qui a laissé aller l’onagre libre, qui a rompu ses liens?
“Who allows the wild donkeys to go wherever they want [DOU]?
6 Je lui ai donné dans la solitude une maison, et ses lieux de retraite dans une terre de sel.
I am the one who put them in the desert, in places where grass does not grow.
7 Il méprise la multitude d’une ville, et il n’entend pas le cri d’un exacteur.
They do not like the noise in the cities; [in the desert] they do not have to listen to the shouts of those who force donkeys to work.
8 Il regarde de tous côtés les montagnes, lieux de son pâturage, et il cherche tous les herbages verts.
They go to the hills to find food; there they search for grass to eat.
9 Est-ce qu’un rhinocéros voudra te servir, ou demeurera-t-il à ton étable?
:Will a wild ox agree to work for you? Will it allow you to keep it penned up at night in the place where you put feed for your animals?
10 Est-ce que tu lieras un rhinocéros à tes traits, pour qu’il laboure? ou rompra-t-il les glèbes des vallons après toi?
And can you fasten it with a rope so that it will plow furrows/trenches in your fields?
11 Est-ce que tu auras confiance en sa grande force, et lui laisseras-tu tes travaux?
Since it is very strong, can you trust it to work for you? Can you go away after you tell it what work it should do [and assume that it will do that work]?
12 Est-ce que tu croiras qu’il te rendra tes semailles et qu’il remplira ton aire?
Can you rely on it to come back [from the field], bringing your grain to the place where you thresh it?
13 L’aile de l’autruche est semblable aux ailes du héron et de l’épervier.
“[Think also about] the ostriches. [They] joyfully flap their wings, but they do not have wing feathers [that enable them to fly] like storks do.
14 Quand elle abandonne ses œufs sur la terre, sera-ce toi, par hasard, qui les réchaufferas dans la poussière?
Ostriches lay their eggs on top of the ground [and then walk away], leaving the eggs to be warmed in the sand.
15 Elle oublie qu’un pied les foulera, ou que la bête des champs les écrasera.
Ostriches do not worry that some wild animal may step on the eggs and crush them [DOU].
16 Elle est dure pour ses petits, comme s’ils n’étaient pas les siens, elle a rendu son travail inutile, en les abandonnant, aucune crainte ne l’y obligeant.
Ostriches act cruelly towards their chicks; they act as though the chicks belonged to some other ostrich. They are not concerned if [their chicks die], [and so] the laying of the eggs was in vain.
17 Car Dieu l’a privée de sagesse, et ne lui a pas donné l’intelligence.
That is because I did not allow ostriches to be wise. I did not enable them to be intelligent.
18 Dans l’occasion, elle élève en haut ses ailes; elle se rit du cheval et de celui qui le monte.
But, when they get up and begin to run, they scornfully laugh at horses with their riders [because the horses cannot run as fast as the ostriches!]
19 Est-ce que tu donneras au cheval de la force, ou environneras-tu son cou de hennissements?
And [think about] horses. [Job], are you the one who caused horses to be strong? Are you the one who put flowing (manes/long hair) on their necks?
20 Est-ce que tu le feras bondir comme les sauterelles? La gloire de ses naseaux est la terreur.
Are you the one who enabled them to leap forward like locusts? When they (snort/blow loudly through their noses), they cause people to be afraid.
21 Il creuse de son sabot la terre, il s’élance avec audace; il court au-devant des hommes armés;
They paw the ground, rejoicing about being very strong, as they prepare to rush into a battle.
22 Il méprise la peur, il ne cède pas au glaive.
[It is as if] they laugh at the thought of being afraid. They are not afraid of anything! They do not run away when [the soldiers in the battle are fighting each other with] swords.
23 Sur lui retentira le bruit du carquois, la lance étincellera ainsi que le bouclier.
The quivers containing the riders’ arrows rattle against the horses’ sides, and the spears and javelins flash [in the light of the sun].
24 Bouillonnant et frémissant il dévore la terre, et ne tient aucun compte du bruit de la trompette, lorsqu’elle sonne le retour.
The horses paw the ground fiercely/excitedly, [wanting the battle to begin, ] and they rush into the battle when the trumpet is blown.
25 Dès qu’il entend le clairon, il dit: Oh! il sent de loin une guerre, l’exhortation des chefs, et les cris confus d’une armée.
They neigh [joyfully] when they hear someone blowing the trumpet. They can smell a battle even when they are far away, and they understand what it means when the commanders shout their commands [to their soldiers].
26 Est-ce par ta sagesse que l’épervier se couvre de ses plumes, étendant ses ailes vers le midi?
“[And think about big birds.] Are you the one who enabled hawks to spread their wings and fly to the south [for the winter]?
27 Est-ce à ton ordre que l’aigle s’élèvera, et placera son nid dans les lieux les plus élevés?
Do eagles fly high up [into the cliffs] to make their nests because you commanded them to do that?
28 C’est dans des pierres qu’il demeure, et c’est sur des rocs escarpés et des rochers inaccessibles qu’il fait son séjour.
They live in [holes in] those cliffs. They are safe in those high pointed rocks [because no animals can reach them there].
29 De là il contemple sa proie, et ses yeux voient de loin.
As they watch carefully from there, they see far away the animals that they can kill (OR, dead bodies of animals).
30 Ses petits lécheront le sang, et partout où est un cadavre, soudain il est présent.
After an eagle kills an animal, the baby eagles drink the blood of that animal.”
