Job 20
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,
Çophar de Naama prit la parole et dit:
2 For this cause my thoughts are troubling me and driving me on.
Eh bien! Mes réflexions m’incitent à répliquer et aussi les impressions que je ressens.
3 I have to give ear to arguments which put me to shame, and your answers to me are wind without wisdom.
Quand j’entends des reproches qui sont un affront pour moi, ma raison me dicte une réponse.
4 Have you knowledge of this from early times, when man was placed on the earth,
Connais-tu ce fait qui a existé de tout temps, depuis que l’homme est placé sur la terre:
5 That the pride of the sinner is short, and the joy of the evil-doer but for a minute?
que le triomphe des méchants est éphémère et que la joie du pervers ne dure qu’un instant?
6 Though he is lifted up to the heavens, and his head goes up to the clouds;
Dût sa stature monter jusqu’au ciel et sa tête atteindre les nuages,
7 Like the waste from his body he comes to an end for ever: those who have seen him say, Where is he?
aussi sûrement que ses excréments, il périra sans retour: ceux qui le voyaient diront: "Où est-il?"
8 He is gone like a dream, and is not seen again; he goes in flight like a vision of the night.
Comme un songe, il s’envole, et l’on perd ses traces; il s’évanouit comme une vision nocturne.
9 The eye which saw him sees him no longer; and his place has no more knowledge of him.
L’Œil qui l’a contemplé ne le découvre plus; sa demeure n’a plus de regard pour lui.
10 His children are hoping that the poor will be kind to them, and his hands give back his wealth.
Ses fils devront solliciter la pitié des pauvres, et ses propres mains restituer la fortune acquise.
11 His bones are full of young strength, but it will go down with him into the dust.
Ses membres, tout pleins encore de vigueur juvénile, se verront couchés dans la poussière.
12 Though evil-doing is sweet in his mouth, and he keeps it secretly under his tongue;
S’Il arrive que la perversité soit douce à sa bouche, qu’il la fasse glisser sous sa langue;
13 Though he takes care of it, and does not let it go, but keeps it still in his mouth;
qu’il la ménage longtemps, ne cessant de la savourer, et la retienne encore au fond de son palais,
14 His food becomes bitter in his stomach; the poison of snakes is inside him.
alors son aliment se transforme dans ses entrailles et devient dans son sein l’amer venin de l’aspic.
15 He takes down wealth as food, and sends it up again; it is forced out of his stomach by God.
Il a dévoré une fortune et il faut qu’il la rejette: Dieu l’expulsera de ses intestins.
16 He takes the poison of snakes into his mouth, the tongue of the snake is the cause of his death.
C’Est du poison d’aspic qu’il suçait: il périra par la langue de la vipère.
17 Let him not see the rivers of oil, the streams of honey and milk.
Qu’il n’espère point se délecter aux flots des ruisseaux de miel, des torrents de lait!
18 He is forced to give back the fruit of his work, and may not take it for food; he has no joy in the profit of his trading.
Il faut qu’il rende le fruit de son labeur, avant de le consommer; il en sera de même des biens qu’il s’est acquis par ses échanges: il n’en tirera aucun plaisir.
19 Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up;
C’Est qu’il a écrasé les faibles et les a abandonnés à eux-mêmes; il a ruiné des maisons par la rapine et ne les a point rebâties.
20 There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight.
C’Est qu’il n’a pas connu la paix intérieure: il ne sauvera rien de ses plus chers trésors.
21 He had never enough for his desire; for this cause his well-being will quickly come to an end.
Rien n’échappait à ses appétits; aussi son bien-être n’aura-t-il aucune durée.
22 Even when his wealth is great, he is full of care, for the hand of everyone who is in trouble is turned against him.
Alors qu’il regorge de biens, il est dans la gêne; la main de tout misérable s’abattra sur lui.
23 God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain.
Dieu se dispose à lui bourrer le ventre en lâchant contre lui son ardente colère, en la faisant pleuvoir sur lui en guise de nourriture.
24 He may go in flight from the iron spear, but the arrow from the bow of brass will go through him;
II voudra fuir les armes de fer: il sera transpercé par un arc d’airain.
25 He is pulling it out, and it comes out of his back; and its shining point comes out of his side; he is overcome by fears.
La flèche qui l’atteint, il la retire de son corps; elle sort étincelante du foie qu’elle a percé; l’épouvante le saisit.
26 All his wealth is stored up for the dark: a fire not made by man sends destruction on him, and on everything in his tent.
Tous les noirs désastres menacent les trésors qu’il a amassés; un feu que personne n’a attisé le consume et dévore tout ce qui est resté dans sa demeure.
27 The heavens make clear his sin, and the earth gives witness against him.
Les cieux dénoncent son crime et la terre se soulève contre lui.
28 The produce of his house is taken away into another country, like things given into the hands of others in the day of wrath.
Les biens de sa maison s’en vont; tout s’écroule au jour de la colère divine.
29 This is the reward of the evil man, and the heritage given to him by God.
Telle est la part que Dieu réserve à l’homme pervers; tel est l’héritage qui lui est destiné par la parole du Tout-Puissant.
