Habacuc 1
1 Oracle révélé à Habacuc, le prophète.
[I am] Habakkuk, a prophet. This is the [message that Yahweh] gave to me in a vision.
2 Que de temps j'ai crié, Éternel, et tu n'écoutes pas! je crie à toi: violence! et tu ne secours pas!
[I said, ] “Yahweh, how long must I continue to call [to you] for help before you respond? I cry out to you [for help], saying that [people are acting] violently [everywhere], but you do not rescue us!
3 Pourquoi me rends-tu témoin du crime? et tu es spectateur de nos peines! Et l'oppression et la violence sont devant moi; il y a des débats et la discorde s'élève.
(Must I/I do not want to) continue seeing people doing what is unjust [RHQ]. Why do you not punish people who are doing what is wrong [RHQ]? I see people destroying things and [acting] violently. There is fighting and quarreling [everywhere].
4 Aussi la loi est sans vie, et jamais justice n'est rendue, car l'impie cerne le juste, aussi rend-on une justice pervertie.
No one obeys laws [PRS], and judges [PRS] never do what is fair/just. Wicked people always defeat righteous people [in the courts], with the result that matters are never decided fairly/justly.”
5 « Regardez parmi les nations et voyez! et étonnez-vous, soyez étonnés! car je vais faire une œuvre en vos jours! vous n'y croirez pas, si elle vous est annoncée.
[Yahweh replied to me, ] “[I know that what you say is true, but] look around at [what is happening in] the other nations; [if you look, ] you will be amazed, because I am doing something during this time that you would not believe [would happen], even if someone told you about it.
6 Car voici, je fais lever les Chaldéens, peuple rude et impétueux, qui s'avance au large sur la terre pour occuper des demeures qui ne sont pas à lui.
The soldiers of Babylonia are fierce/cruel and swift. And now I am causing them [to become very powerful]; they will march across the world and conquer [many] other countries.
7 Il est terrible et, formidable; de lui seul émanent son droit et sa fierté.
They are people whom [others] fear very much [DOU], and they do whatever they want to, paying no attention to the laws of other countries.
8 Et plus agiles que des panthères sont ses chevaux, plus rapides que les loups du soir, et ses chevaux fièrement bondissent, et ses cavaliers arrivent de loin; ils volent comme un aigle qui fond sur sa proie.
The horses [that pull their chariots] go faster than leopards, and they are fiercer than wolves are in the evening. The horses on which the soldiers ride gallop swiftly; the soldiers riding them come from distant places. They are like [SIM] eagles that swoop down to [snatch and] kill small animals.
9 Tous ils viennent pour sévir; un désir est sur leur visage: en avant! et il entraîne comme du sable les captifs.
As they ride along, [they are] determined to act violently. They advance like [SIM] a wind from the desert, gathering prisoners that are as [numerous as grains of] sand.
10 Et il se moque des rois, et les princes sont sa risée; de tout rempart il se moque; il élève une terrasse et s'en empare.
They make fun of kings and princes [of other countries], and they ridicule all the cities that have high walls around them. They pile dirt [outside those walls] [in order to climb up] and capture those cities.
11 Puis son audace s'accroît, et il passe outre, et devient criminel, car sa force est son Dieu. »
They rush past like the wind, and then they go [to attack other cities]. But they are very guilty, because [they think that] their own power is their god.”
12 Ne fus-tu pas de tout temps l'Éternel, mon Dieu, mon Saint? Nous ne périrons pas! Éternel, tu l'as commis au jugement! » ô rocher, tu l'as assigné pour punir!
[Then I said, ] “Yahweh, you have certainly [RHQ] always/forever been God. You are my Holy One; you will not die. So [why] have you appointed those men [from Babylonia] to judge and get rid of [us]? You are like [MET] a huge rock [under which we are protected/safe], so why have you sent them to punish us?
13 Toi dont les yeux sont trop purs pourvoir le crime, et qui ne peux être spectateur des maux, pourquoi verrais-tu des impies, te tairais-tu quand le méchant dévore un plus juste que lui?
You [SYN] are pure, and you cannot endure looking at what is evil, [so why] are you ignoring men who are treacherous? Why do you do nothing [to punish] those wicked men [from Babylonia] who destroy people who are more righteous than they [are]?
14 Tu assimiles donc l'homme aux poissons de la mer, aux reptiles qui n'ont point de souverain!
[Do you consider that] we are like fish in the sea, or like other creatures in the sea, that have no ruler?
15 Il tire tout avec l'hameçon, l'enlève avec son filet, et l'emporte dans sa nasse, et il en est joyeux et allègre.
[The soldiers of Babylonia think that we are fish] [RHQ] for them to pull out of the sea with hooks or to catch in their nets, while they rejoice and celebrate.
16 Pour cela il sacrifie à sa nasse et encense son filet, car par eux sa capture est riche et sa chère succulente.
If they catch us, they will [worship] their weapons [MET] with which they captured us, and offer sacrifices to them and burn incense in front of them! [They will say] ‘Those weapons have enabled us to become rich and be able to eat expensive food.’
17 Faut-il pour cela qu'il vide son filet et toujours égorge les peuples sans pitié?
[Will you allow] them to continue [to conquer people] [MET] forever? [Will you allow] them to destroy people of other nations without their being merciful [to anyone]?”
