Job 20
1 Et Zophar de Naama répondit et dit:
Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,
2 Mes pensées vont, et pour cause, me fournir la réplique; aussi j'ai hâte de la faire:
For this cause my thoughts are troubling me and driving me on.
3 j'ai dû entendre une leçon qui m'outrage! mais l'esprit selon mes lumières répondra pour moi.
I have to give ear to arguments which put me to shame, and your answers to me are wind without wisdom.
4 Ne sais-tu pas que, de tout temps, depuis que l'homme fut placé sur la terre,
Have you knowledge of this from early times, when man was placed on the earth,
5 la joie des impies est de courte durée, et l'allégresse des profanes n'a qu'un instant?
That the pride of the sinner is short, and the joy of the evil-doer but for a minute?
6 Que sa grandeur s'élève jusques aux Cieux, et que sa tête touche aux nues,
Though he is lifted up to the heavens, and his head goes up to the clouds;
7 pour toujours il périt comme les excréments; ceux qui l'ont vu, demandent: Où est-il?
Like the waste from his body he comes to an end for ever: those who have seen him say, Where is he?
8 Il s'envole comme un songe, et on ne le retrouve pas; il a fui comme une vision nocturne;
He is gone like a dream, and is not seen again; he goes in flight like a vision of the night.
9 l'œil qui l'a vu, ne l'aperçoit plus, et sa demeure ne le reverra pas.
The eye which saw him sees him no longer; and his place has no more knowledge of him.
10 Les indigents accablent ses fils dont les mains doivent restituer ses biens,
His children are hoping that the poor will be kind to them, and his hands give back his wealth.
11 Ses os surabondaient d'une vigueur juvénile, et sur la poussière elle gît avec lui.
His bones are full of young strength, but it will go down with him into the dust.
12 Quelque douceur que sa bouche trouve au mal, qu'il le tienne en réserve sous sa langue,
Though evil-doing is sweet in his mouth, and he keeps it secretly under his tongue;
13 le savourant lentement, sans le laisser aller, mais le retenant collé à son palais,
Though he takes care of it, and does not let it go, but keeps it still in his mouth;
14 cet aliment qu'il prend, se transforme dans ses entrailles, et devient au dedans de lui un venin d'aspic,
His food becomes bitter in his stomach; the poison of snakes is inside him.
15 Il engloutit des richesses, et il les revomit; de son ventre Dieu les fait ressortir,
He takes down wealth as food, and sends it up again; it is forced out of his stomach by God.
16 il suce le venin de l'aspic, et la langue de la vipère le tue.
He takes the poison of snakes into his mouth, the tongue of the snake is the cause of his death.
17 Son regard n'est plus réjoui par les ruisseaux, ni par les fleuves, les torrents de miel et de lait.
Let him not see the rivers of oil, the streams of honey and milk.
18 Il restitue ses gains, et ne les consomme pas: autant il possède, autant il restitue, et il ne peut se réjouir.
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.
19 Car il écrasa, délaissa les pauvres, il ravit des maisons, et ne les releva pas;
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;
20 car il ne connut pas le repos dans son sein. Mais il ne se sauvera pas avec ce qu'il a de plus cher,
There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight.
21 Rien n'échappe à sa voracité, c'est pourquoi son bien-être ne dure pas.
He had never enough for his desire; for this cause his well-being will quickly come to an end.
22 Dans la plénitude de l'abondance, il est mis à la gêne; les bras des opprimés fondent sur lui.
Even when his wealth is great, he is full of care, for the hand of everyone who is in trouble is turned against him.
23 Voici Celui qui assouvira son avidité: Il enverra sur lui le feu de Sa colère, et fera pleuvoir sur lui Son pain de douleur;
God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain.
24 s'il fuit devant l'armure de fer, l'arc d'airain le transperce.
He may go in flight from the iron spear, but the arrow from the bow of brass will go through him;
25 Il extrait le dard de son corps avec le fer brillant qui lui a percé le foie; c'en est fait: il est sous les terreurs de la mort.
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.
26 Toutes les misères lui sont réservées en échange de ce qu'il a mis en réserve; un feu qu'on n'a pas à souffler, le dévore, et consume ce qui resterait dans sa tente.
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.
27 Le ciel dévoile son crime, et la terre s'élève contre lui.
The heavens make clear his sin, and the earth gives witness against him.
28 Tout le revenu de sa maison s'en va, s'écoulant au jour de Sa colère.
The produce of his house is taken away into another country, like things given into the hands of others in the day of wrath.
29 Telle est la part que Dieu donne à l'impie, et le lot que le Seigneur lui décerne.
This is the reward of the evil man, and the heritage given to him by God.
