< Job 12 >

1 Then Job said [to his three friends],
Mais Job répondit, et dit:
2 “You (talk as though/You think) [SAR] that you are the people [whom everyone should listen to], and that when you die, there will be no more wise people.
Vraiment, êtes-vous tout un peuple; et la sagesse mourra-t-elle avec vous?
3 But I have as much good sense as you do; I am (not less wise than/certainly as wise as [LIT]) you. Certainly everyone knows [RHQ] all that you have said.
J'ai du bon sens aussi bien que vous, et je ne vous suis point inférieur; et qui [est-ce qui ne sait] de telles choses?
4 My friends all laugh at me now. Previously I habitually requested God to help me, and he answered/helped me. I am righteous, a very godly man [DOU], but everyone laughs at me.
Je suis un homme qui est en risée à son ami, [mais] qui invoquera Dieu, et Dieu lui répondra. On se moque d'un homme qui est juste et droit.
5 Those [like you] who have no troubles make fun of me; they cause those [like me] who are already suffering to have more troubles.
Celui dont les pieds sont tout prêts à glisser, est selon la pensée de celui qui est à son aise, un flambeau dont on ne tient plus de compte.
6 Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].
Ce sont les tentes des voleurs [qui] prospèrent, et ceux-là sont assurés qui irritent le [Dieu] Fort, et ils sont ceux à qui Dieu remet tout entre les mains.
7 “But ask the wild animals [what they know about God], and [if they could speak] they would teach you. [If you could] ask the birds, they would tell you.
Et, en effet, je te prie, interroge les bêtes, et [chacune d'elles] t'enseignera; ou les oiseaux des cieux, et ils te le déclareront;
8 [If you could] ask the creatures [that crawl] on the ground, or the fish in the sea, they would tell you [about God].
Ou parle à la terre, et elle t'enseignera; même les poissons de la mer te le raconteront;
9 All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
Qui est-ce qui ne sait toutes ces choses, [et] que c'est la main de l'Eternel qui a fait cela?
10 He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
[Car c'est lui] en la main duquel est l'âme de tout ce qui vit, et l'esprit de toute chair humaine.
11 And when we [SYN] hear what other people [like you] say, we [RHQ] think carefully about what they say [to determine what is good and what is bad], like we [SYN] taste food [to determine what is good and what is bad].
L'oreille ne discerne-t-elle pas les discours, ainsi que le palais savoure les viandes?
12 Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
La sagesse est dans les vieillards, et l'intelligence [est le fruit] d'une longue vie.
13 but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
Mais en lui est la sagesse et la force; à lui appartient le conseil et l'intelligence.
14 If he tears [something] down, no one can rebuild it; if he puts someone in prison, no one can open [the prison doors to allow that person to escape].
Voilà, il démolira, et on ne rebâtira point; s'il ferme sur quelqu'un, on n'ouvrira point.
15 When he prevents rain from falling, everything dries up. When he causes a lot of rain to fall, [the result is that] there are floods.
Voilà, il retiendra les eaux, et tout deviendra sec; il les lâchera, et elles renverseront la terre.
16 He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.
En lui est la force et l'intelligence; à lui est celui qui s'égare, et celui qui le fait égarer.
17 He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
Il emmène dépouillés les conseillers, et il met hors du sens les juges.
18 He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].
Il détache la ceinture des Rois, et il serre leurs reins de sangles.
19 He takes from priests the sacred clothes that they wear, [with the result that they no longer can do their work], and takes power from those who rule others.
Il emmène nus ceux qui sont en autorité, et il renverse les forts.
20 He [sometimes] causes those whom others trust to be unable to speak, and he causes old men to no longer have good sense.
Il ôte la parole à ceux qui sont les plus assurés en leurs discours, et il prive de sens les anciens.
21 He causes those who have authority to be despised, and he causes those who are powerful to no longer have any power/strength.
Il répand le mépris sur les principaux; il rend lâche la ceinture des forts.
22 He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
Il met en évidence les choses qui étaient cachées dans les ténèbres, et il produit en lumière l'ombre de la mort.
23 He causes some nations to become very great, and [later] he destroys them; he causes the territory of some nations to become much larger, and [later] he causes them to be defeated and their people to be scattered.
Il multiplie les nations, et les fait périr; il répand çà et là les nations, et puis il les ramène.
24 He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
Il ôte le cœur aux Chefs des peuples de la terre, et les fait errer dans les déserts où il n'y a point de chemin.
25 They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”
Ils vont à tâtons dans les ténèbres, sans aucune clarté, et il les fait chanceler comme des gens ivres.

< Job 12 >