| 1 Eliphaz de Témân prit la parole et dit: | 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered: |
| 2 Un sage répond-il par des raisons en l'air et se repaît-il d'un vent d'est? | 2 "Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind? |
| 3 Se défend-il avec des mots inutiles et des discours sans profit? | 3 Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good? |
| 4 Tu fais plus: tu supprimes la crainte, tu discrédites les pieux entretiens devant Dieu. | 4 But you are doing away with the fear of God, and hindering meditation before God. |
| 5 Ta faute te dicte de telles paroles et tu adoptes le langage des astucieux. | 5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty. |
| 6 Ta propre bouche te condamne, et non pas moi, tes lèvres mêmes témoignent contre toi. | 6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you. |
| 7 Es-tu né le premier des hommes? Est-ce qu'on t'enfanta avant les collines? | 7 "Are you the first man that was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills? |
| 8 As-tu écouté au conseil de Dieu et accaparé la sagesse? | 8 Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself? |
| 9 Que sais-tu que nous ne sachions, que comprends-tu qui nous dépasse? | 9 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us? |
| 10 Il y a même parmi nous une tête chenue, un vieillard, chargé d'ans plus que ton père. | 10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father. |
| 11 Fais-tu peu de cas de ces consolations divines et du ton modéré de nos paroles? | 11 Are the consolations of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you? |
| 12 Comme la passion t'emporte! Et quels yeux tu roules, | 12 Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash, |
| 13 quand tu tournes contre Dieu ta colère en proférant tes discours! | 13 that you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go out of your mouth? |
| 14 Comment l'homme serait-il pur, resterait-il juste, l'enfant de la femme? | 14 What is man, that he can be clean? Or he that is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? |
| 15 A ses saints mêmes Dieu ne fait pas confiance, et les Cieux ne sont pas purs à ses yeux. | 15 Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his sight; |
| 16 Combien moins cet être abominable et corrompu, l'homme, qui boit l'iniquité comme l'eau! | 16 how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water! |
| 17 Je veux t'instruire, écoute-moi, te faire part de mon expérience | 17 "I will show you, hear me; and what I have seen I will declare |
| 18 et de la tradition des Sages, restés fidèles à leurs Pères, | 18 (what wise men have told, and their fathers have not hidden, |
| 19 à qui seuls fut donné le pays, sans qu'aucun étranger se fût mêlé à eux. | 19 to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them). |
| 20 "La vie du méchant est un tourment continuel, les années réservées au tyran sont comptées. | 20 The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless. |
| 21 Le cri d'alarme résonne à ses oreilles, en pleine paix le dévastateur fond sur lui. | 21 Terrifying sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him. |
| 22 Il ne compte plus échapper aux ténèbres et se voit désigné pour l'épée, | 22 He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, and he is destined for the sword. |
| 23 assigné en pâture au vautour. Il sait que sa ruine est imminente. L'heure des ténèbres | 23 He wanders abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?' He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand; |
| 24 l'épouvante, la détresse et l'angoisse l'envahissent, comme lorsqu'un roi décide l'assaut. | 24 distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king prepared for battle. |
| 25 Il levait la main contre Dieu, il osait braver Shaddaï! | 25 Because he has stretched forth his hand against God, and bids defiance to the Almighty, |
| 26 Il fonçait sur lui la tête baissée, avec un bouclier aux bosses massives. | 26 running stubbornly against him with a thick-bossed shield; |
| 27 Son visage s'était couvert de graisse, le lard s'était accumulé sur ses reins. | 27 because he has covered his face with his fat, and gathered fat upon his loins, |
| 28 Il avait occupé des villes détruites, des maisons inhabitées et prêtes à tomber en ruines; | 28 and has lived in desolate cities, in houses which no man should inhabit, which were destined to become heaps of ruins; |
| 29 mais il ne s'enrichira pas, sa fortune ne tiendra pas, il ne couvrira plus le pays de son ombre, (iln'échappera pas aux ténèbres), | 29 he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure, nor will he strike root in the earth; |
| 30 la flamme desséchera ses jeunes pousses, sa fleur sera emportée par le vent. | 30 he will not escape from darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots, and his blossom will be swept away by the wind. |
| 31 Qu'il ne se fie pas à sa taille élevée, car il se ferait illusion. | 31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; for emptiness will be his recompense. |
| 32 Avant le temps se flétriront ses palmes et ses rameaux ne reverdiront plus. | 32 It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green. |
| 33 Comme une vigne il secouera ses fruits verts, il rejettera, tel l'olivier, sa floraison. | 33 He will shake off his unripe grape, like the vine, and cast off his blossom, like the olive tree. |
| 34 Oui, l'engeance de l'impie est stérile, un feu dévore la tente de l'homme vénal. | 34 For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery. |
| 35 Qui conçoit la peine engendre le malheur et porte en soi un fruit de déception." | 35 They conceive mischief and bring forth evil and their heart prepares deceit." |
