1 Alors Job reprit son discours de sagesse: | 1 Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said: |
2 Que ne puis-je revenir aux lunes d’autrefois, aux jours où Dieu veillait sur moi, | 2 Who will grant to me that I might be as I was in former months, according to the days when God kept watch over me? |
3 quand brillait sa lampe au dessus de ma tête et qu’à sa lumière je traversais les ténèbres! | 3 At that time, his lamp shined over my head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness. |
4 Comme je voudrais retrouver mon âge mûr, lorsque Dieu protégeait ma tente, | 4 I was then just as in the days of my youth, when God was privately in my tabernacle. |
5 lorsque le Puissant était encore avec moi, et que mes garçons se tenaient autour de moi, | 5 At that time, the Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me. |
6 lorsque mes pieds baignaient dans la crème et que l’huile pour moi ruisselait de la roche! | 6 Then, I washed my feet with butter, and a boulder poured out rivers of oil for me. |
7 Quand j’allais à la Porte, au haut de la cité, j’installais mon siège sur la place. | 7 When I went to the gate of the city, or to the main street, they prepared a chair for me. |
8 À ma vue les jeunes s’écartaient, les personnes d’âge se mettaient debout, | 8 The youths saw me and hid themselves, and the elders, rising up, remained standing. |
9 les chefs interrompaient leurs discours et tenaient la main sur leur bouche; | 9 The leaders stopped talking, and they placed a finder over their mouth. |
10 les princes baissaient la voix et devenaient comme muets. | 10 The commanders subdued their voice, and their tongue adhered to their throat. |
11 29:21Ils m’écoutaient et ne bronchaient pas, ils se taisaient attendant mon avis. | 11 The ear that heard me, blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave testimony for me. |
12 29:22 Quand j’avais parlé, nul ne répliquait; mon discours tombait sur eux goutte à goutte: | 12 This was because I had freed the poor, who cried out, and the orphan, who had no helper. |
13 29:23 c’était la pluie qu’ils attendaient, l’averse de printemps qui calmait leur soif. | 13 The blessing of him who would have been destroyed came upon me, and I consoled the heart of the widow. |
14 29:24 Si je leur souriais, ils n’osaient y croire, ils ne perdaient rien de mes signes de bonne humeur. | 14 I put on justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment, like a robe and a diadem. |
15 29:25 Je prenais la tête et leur montrais un chemin; j’étais comme le roi au milieu de ses troupes, je les menais à mon gré. | 15 I was an eye for the blind and a foot for the lame. |
16 29:11 Celui qui m’écoutait me félicitait, celui qui me voyait m’approuvait. | 16 I was the father of the poor; and if I lacked knowledge about any case, I investigated very diligently. |
17 29:12 Car je délivrais le pauvre qui appelle, l’orphelin et celui qui n’a pas d’appui. | 17 I crushed the jaws of the impious, and I took away prey from his teeth. |
18 29:13 À moi la bénédiction du désespéré! je rendais la joie au cœur de la veuve. | 18 And I said, “I will die in my little nest, and like a palm tree, I will multiply my days. |
19 29:14 Je faisais de la justice mon vêtement, la droiture était mon manteau, mon turban. | 19 My root has been spread beside the waters, and the dew will remain with my harvest. |
20 29:15 J’étais les yeux de l’aveugle, et le pied du boiteux c’était encore moi. | 20 My glory will always be restored, and my bow will be restored to my hand.” |
21 29:16 J’étais un père pour les pauvres, je défendais la cause de l’étranger. | 21 Those who heard me, expected vindication, and they listened closely in silence to my counsel. |
22 29:17 Je brisais les crocs du criminel, et d’entre ses dents je faisais tomber sa proie. | 22 To my words, they dared to add nothing, and my eloquence poured over them. |
23 29:18 Aussi je pensais: “Je mourrai déjà vieux, mes jours seront nombreux comme les grains de sable. | 23 They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for belated rains. |
24 29:19 Mes racines s’allongent vers les eaux, et sur mon feuillage la rosée se dépose. | 24 If I had ever laughed at them, they would not have believed it, and the light of my face was not cast down towards the ground. |
25 29:20 Ma gloire, tout comme moi se garde neuve mon arc dans ma main reste vert.” | 25 If I wished to go to them, I sat down first, and, though I sat like a king surrounded by an army, yet I was a comforter to whose who mourned. |