1 Eliphaz de Témân prit la parole et dit: | 1 But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, said: |
2 Si on t'adresse la parole, le supporteras-tu? Mais qui pourrait garder le silence! | 2 If we start to speak to you, perhaps you will take it badly, but who can hold back the words he has conceived? |
3 Vois, tu faisais la leçon à beaucoup d'autres, tu rendais vigueur aux mains débiles; | 3 Behold, you have taught many, and you have strengthened weary hands. |
4 tes propos redressaient l'homme qui chancelle, fortifiaient les genoux qui ploient. | 4 Your words have reassured the wavering, and you have fortified the trembling knees. |
5 Et maintenant, ton tour venu, tu perds patience, atteint toi-même, te voilà tout bouleversé! | 5 But now the scourge has overcome you, and you falter. It has touched you, and you are disturbed. |
6 Ta piété ne t'inspire-t-elle pas confiance, ta vie intègre n'est-elle pas ton assurance? | 6 Where is your reverence, your fortitude, your patience, and the perfection of your ways? |
7 Souviens-toi: quel est l'innocent qui a péri? Où donc a-t-on vu des justes exterminés? | 7 Consider this, I beg you: who ever perished being innocent? Or when have the righteous been destroyed? |
8 Je parle d'expérience: ceux qui labourent l'iniquité et sèment le malheur, les moissonnent. | 8 In fact, I have instead seen those who work iniquity and who sow resentments, reap them, |
9 Sous l'haleine de Dieu ils périssent, au souffle de sa colère ils sont anéantis. | 9 perishing by the breath of God, and being consumed by the wrath of his spirit. |
10 Les rugissements du lion, les cris du fauve, comme les crocs des lionceaux sont brisés. | 10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of young lions have been worn away. |
11 Le lion périt faute de proie, et les petits de la lionne se dispersent. | 11 The tiger has perished because it does not have prey, and the young lions have been scattered. |
12 J'ai eu aussi une révélation furtive, mon oreille en a perçu le murmure. | 12 Furthermore, a word was spoken to me in secret, and, as if by theft, my ears received the pulse of its whisper. |
13 A l'heure où les rêves agitent confusément l'esprit, quand une torpeur envahit les humains, | 13 In the horror of a vision by night, when men are accustomed to be overtaken by a deep sleep, |
14 un frisson d'épouvante me saisit et remplit tous mes os d'effroi. | 14 fear and trembling seized me and all my bones were terrified. |
15 Un souffle glissa sur ma face, hérissa le poil de ma chair. | 15 And when a spirit passed before me, the hair on my body stood up. |
16 Quelqu'un se dressa... je ne reconnus pas son visage, mais l'image restait devant mes yeux. Unsilence... puis une voix se fit entendre: | 16 There appeared an image before my eyes, someone whose face I did not recognize, and I heard a voice like a gentle breeze. |
17 "Un mortel est-il juste devant Dieu, en face de son Auteur, un homme serait-il pur? | 17 Should man be justified in relation to God, or will a man be more pure than his Maker? |
18 A ses serviteurs mêmes, Dieu ne fait pas confiance, et il convainc ses anges d'égarement. | 18 Behold, those who serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he finds imperfection. |
19 Que dire des hôtes de ces maisons d'argile, posées elles-mêmes sur la poussière? On les écrase commeune mite; | 19 How much more will those who live in houses of clay, which have an earthly foundation, be consumed like the moth? |
20 un jour suffit à les pulvériser. A jamais ils disparaissent, car nul ne les ramène, | 20 From morning all the way to evening, they will be cut down, and because no one understands, they will be destroyed without ceasing. |
21 Leur piquet de tente est arraché, et ils meurent dénués de sagesse." | 21 But those who are left behind will be taken away from them; they will die, and not in wisdom. |