1 Sofar de Nahama prit alors la parole: | 1 Zophar of Naamath spoke next. He said: |
2 Ceci justifie mes réflexions: je veux répondre et dire tout ce que je sens. | 2 My thoughts urge me to reply to this, and hence the impatience that grips me. |
3 Quand on me remet en place de façon humiliante, mes pensées m’inspirent une réponse. | 3 I have put up with prating that outrages me and now my mind inspires me with an answer. |
4 Ne sais-tu pas que depuis toujours, depuis que l’homme a été mis sur terre, | 4 Do you not know, that since time began and human beings were set on the earth, |
5 le triomphe des méchants est de courte durée la joie de l’impie n’est que d’un instant. | 5 the triumph of the wicked has always been brief, and the sinner's gladness has never lasted long? |
6 Sa taille a beau s’élever jusqu’au ciel, et sa tête toucher les nuages, | 6 Towering to the sky he may have been, his head touching the clouds; |
7 comme un fantôme il disparaît pour toujours, et ceux qui le voyaient demandent: “Où est-il?” | 7 but he vanishes, like a phantom, once for al , while those who used to see him, ask, 'Where is he?' |
8 C’est comme un rêve envolé: on ne le trouve plus, comme un fantasme de la nuit: il a fui. | 8 Like a dream that leaves no trace he takes his flight, like a vision in the night he flies away. |
9 On s’était habitué à le voir: c’est fini, les lieux qu’il fréquentait ne le reverront plus. | 9 The eye accustomed to see him sees him no more, his home wil never set eyes on him again. |
10 20:11 Sa carcasse était pleine de force juvénile, la voilà couchée avec lui dans la poussière! | 10 His sons will have to reimburse the poor and his children pay back his riches. |
11 20:12 Sa bouche savourait le mal, il le cachait sous sa langue, | 11 His bones used to be ful of youthful vigour: and there it lies, in the dust with him, now! |
12 20:13 il l’aimait tant qu’il ne le lâchait pas mais le gardait sous son palais… | 12 Evil was sweet to his mouth, he would shelter it under his tongue; |
13 20:14 Mais cette nourriture se change en ses entrailles, elle devient un poison dans son ventre: | 13 cultivating it careful y, he would let it linger on his palate. |
14 20:15 le voici qui vomit les richesses dévorées, Dieu les fait ressortir de son ventre. | 14 Such food goes bad in his bel y, working inside him like the poison of a viper. |
15 20:16 Il suçait du venin de serpent: c’est une morsure de vipère qui le tue! | 15 Now he has to vomit up the wealth that he has swal owed, God makes him disgorge it. |
16 20:17 Il ne reverra pas les ruisseaux d’huile fraîche, les torrents de miel et de crème. | 16 He used to suck vipers' venom, and the tongue of the adder kills him. |
17 20:18 Il lui faut rendre son gain: il n’a pu l’avaler; les fruits de son commerce ne seront pas pour lui. | 17 No more will he know the streams of oil or the torrents of honey and cream. |
18 20:19 C’est qu’il opprimait les pauvres, il volait la maison au lieu de la bâtir. | 18 When he gives back his winnings, his cheerfulness wil fade, and the satisfied air he had whenbusiness was thriving. |
19 20:10 Ses fils rembourseront les pauvres, de ses mains, peut-être, il redonnera sa fortune. | 19 Since he once destroyed the huts of the poor, plundering houses instead of building them up, |
20 Sa cupidité n’était jamais satisfaite, on ne se sauvait pas de son appétit: | 20 since his avarice could never be satisfied, now al his hoarding will not save him; |
21 il dévorait et nul n’y échappait. C’est pourquoi son bonheur n’a pas duré. | 21 since nothing could escape his greed, his prosperity wil not last. |
22 En pleine réussite, les problèmes l’assaillent, et le malheur le frappe à coups redoublés. | 22 When he has everything he needs, want wil seize him, and misery wil light on him with all its force. |
23 Alors qu’il est en train de se remplir le ventre, Dieu décharge sur lui sa colère et fait pleuvoir sur lui ses flèches. | 23 On him God looses al his burning wrath, hurling against his flesh a hail of arrows. |
24 Échappe-t-il à la lame de fer? l’arc de bronze le transperce! | 24 If he escapes the weapons of iron, the bow of bronze wil transfix him. |
25 La flèche est ressortie par son dos, la pointe a traversé son foie: le voilà sous le coup d’une angoisse de mort, | 25 Out of his back sticks an arrow, from his gal a shining point. The terrors advance on him, |
26 et son destin, ce sont les ténèbres. Un feu que nul n’a allumé le dévore et consume les survivants de sa tente. | 26 all the hidden darknesses are waiting to carry him off. A fire unlit by human hand devours him, andconsumes what is left in his tent. |
27 Les cieux ont dévoilé ses crimes, et la terre se soulève contre lui. | 27 The heavens lay bare his iniquity, and the earth rises up against him. |
28 L’inondation emporte sa maison: ce sont les eaux de la colère de Dieu. | 28 The income of his house pours away, like the torrents, on the day of retribution. |
29 Voilà le sort que Dieu réserve au méchant, l’héritage que Dieu lui promet. | 29 Such is the fate God reserves for the wicked, the inheritance he assigns to the accursed! |