Job 3
1 Après cela Job ouvrit la bouche, et maudit le jour de sa naissance.
Finally, Job spoke, and he cursed the day that he was born.
2 Et il parla.
He said,
3 Périsse le jour auquel je suis né, et la nuit dans laquelle il fut dit: Un homme a été conçu!
“I wish that the day when I was born could be eradicated, and also the night when I was conceived.
4 Que ce jour soit changé en ténèbres; que Dieu ne s’en enquière pas d’en haut, et qu’il ne soit point éclairé de la lumière.
I wish that the day when I was born would have been covered in darkness. I wish that God who is in heaven [MTY] would have forgotten about that day, and that the sun would not have shone on it.
5 Que des ténèbres et une ombre de mort l’obscurcissent; qu’une obscurité s’en empare, et qu’il soit enveloppé d’amertume.
I wish that thick/intense darkness would have filled that day, and that a black cloud would have come over it and blotted out all light and caused people to be terrified.
6 Cette nuit, qu’un tourbillon ténébreux en prenne possession, qu’elle ne soit pas comptée dans les jours de l’année, ni mise au nombre des mois.
I wish that the night when I was conceived would be erased from the calendar, with the result that it would never again appear as one night in any month, and that it would not be included in any calendar.
7 Que cette nuit soit solitaire, et qu’elle ne mérite pas de louanges.
I wish that no child would again be conceived on that night of the month [MET], and that no one would again be happy on that night.
8 Qu’ils la maudissent, ceux qui maudissent le jour, qui sont prêts à susciter Léviathan.
I want those people who (curse/put evil spells on) days—those who know how to arouse/awaken the great sea monster—to curse that day.
9 Que les étoiles soient couvertes des ténèbres de son obscurité; qu’elle attende une lumière, et ne la voie point, ni la naissance de l’aurore qui se lève;
I wish that the stars that shone early in the morning on that day [after I was conceived] will not shine again. I want those stars to have wished in vain for light to shine; and that they would not have shone on that day.
10 Parce qu’elle n’a pas fermé le sein qui ma formé, et qu’elle n’a pas ôté les maux de devant mes yeux.
[That was an evil day] because my mother was able to conceive; instead, I was born, and I have now experienced all these terrible things.
11 Pourquoi ne suis-je pas mort dans le sein de ma mère? pourquoi, sorti de son sein, n’ai-je pas aussitôt péri?
“I wish that I had died [RHQ] when I was born— at the time I emerged from my mother’s womb.
12 Pourquoi ai-je été reçu sur des genoux? pourquoi allaité par des mamelles?
I wish that my mother had not [RHQ] allowed me to live. I wish that she had not nursed me.
13 Car maintenant, dormant, je serais en silence, et je reposerais dans mon sommeil,
If I had died at the time when I was born, I would be asleep, resting peacefully [in the place where the dead people are].
14 Avec les rois et les consuls; de la terre, qui se bâtissent de vastes solitudes;
I would be resting with kings whose [beautiful palaces] that they built are now in ruins (OR, who rebuilt [palaces] that had previously been destroyed), and I would be resting with their officials [who have also died].
15 Avec les princes qui possèdent de l’or, et remplissent leurs maisons d’argent.
I would be resting with princes who were wealthy, whose palaces were filled with gold and silver.
16 Ou bien je n’existerais pas, comme un avorton caché dans le sein de sa mère, ou comme ceux qui, conçus, n’ont pas vu la lumière.
I wish that I had been buried like a child who died in its mother’s womb and never lived to see the light.
17 C’est là que des impies ont cessé leur tumulte, et là que se reposent ceux qui ont perdu leur force.
After wicked people die, they do not cause any more troubles; those who are very tired now will rest.
18 Et ceux qui autrefois étaient enchaînes ensemble sont sans inquiétude; ils n’entendent pas la voix d’un exacteur.
Those who were in prison rest peacefully [after they die]; they no longer have slave-drivers who curse them.
19 Des grands et des petits sont là, et un esclave est délivré de son maître.
Rich people and poor people are alike after they die, and those who were slaves are no longer controlled by their masters.
20 Pourquoi la lumière a-t-elle été donnée aux malheureux, et la vie à ceux qui sont dans l’amertume de l’âme,
(“Why does God allow those who are suffering greatly [like me] to continue to remain alive?/I do not understand why God allows those who are suffering greatly [like me] to continue to remain alive.) [RHQ] Why does he allow those who are very miserable/distressed to keep living [RHQ]?
21 Qui attendent la mort (et elle ne vient pas), comme s’ils déterraient un trésor,
They long/want to die, but they do not die. They desire to die more than people desire to find a hidden treasure.
22 Et qui se réjouissent extrêmement, lorsqu’ils ont trouvé un sépulcre;
When they finally die and are buried, they are very happy.
23 À un homme dont la voie est cachée, et que Dieu entoure de ténèbres?
Those who do not know where they are [eventually] going when they die [RHQ], people whom God has forced [MET] to continue to live in misery, (it is not right that they continue to live./why do they continue to live?) [RHQ]
24 Avant que je mange, je soupire; et comme les eaux qui débordent, ainsi sont mes rugissements,
I continually cry very much; as a result, I cannot eat; and I can never stop groaning.
25 Parce que la frayeur que je redoutais m’est venue, et ce que j’appréhendais est arrivé.
Things that I always worried might happen to me, have happened to me; things that I always dreaded have happened to me.
26 N’ai-je pas dissimulé? n’ai-je pas gardé le silence? ne suis-je pas resté dans le repos? Cependant l’indignation de Dieu est venue sur moi.
Now I have no peace [in my inner being], I have no peace; I cannot rest; instead, I have only troubles.”
