1 Cophar de Naamat prit la parole et dit: | 1 Zophar of Naamath spoke next. He said: |
2 Aussi mes pensées s'agitent pour répondre, de là cette impatience qui me possède. | 2 My thoughts urge me to reply to this, and hence the impatience that grips me. |
3 J'ai subi une leçon qui m'outrage, mais mon esprit me souffle la 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, de tout temps, depuis que l'homme fut mis sur terre, | 4 Do you not know, that since time began and human beings were set on the earth, |
5 l'allégresse du méchant est brève et la joie de l'impie ne dure qu'un instant. | 5 the triumph of the wicked has always been brief, and the sinner's gladness has never lasted long? |
6 Même si sa taille s'élevait jusqu'aux cieux, si sa tête touchait la nue, | 6 Towering to the sky he may have been, his head touching the clouds; |
7 comme un fantôme il disparaît à jamais, et ceux qui le voyaient disent: "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 Il s'envole comme un songe insaisissable, il s'enfuit comme une vision nocturne. | 8 Like a dream that leaves no trace he takes his flight, like a vision in the night he flies away. |
9 L'oeil habitué à sa vue ne l'aperçoit plus, à sa demeure il devient invisible. | 9 The eye accustomed to see him sees him no more, his home wil never set eyes on him again. |
10 Ses fils devront indemniser les pauvres, ses enfants restituer ses richesses. | 10 His sons will have to reimburse the poor and his children pay back his riches. |
11 Ses os étaient pleins d'une vigueur juvénile: la voilà étendue avec lui dans la poussière. | 11 His bones used to be ful of youthful vigour: and there it lies, in the dust with him, now! |
12 Le mal était doux à sa bouche: il l'abritait sous sa langue, | 12 Evil was sweet to his mouth, he would shelter it under his tongue; |
13 il le gardait soigneusement, le retenait au milieu du palais. | 13 cultivating it careful y, he would let it linger on his palate. |
14 Cet aliment dans ses entrailles se corrompt, devient au-dedans du fiel d'aspic. | 14 Such food goes bad in his bel y, working inside him like the poison of a viper. |
15 Il doit vomir les richesses englouties, et Dieu lui fait rendre gorge. | 15 Now he has to vomit up the wealth that he has swal owed, God makes him disgorge it. |
16 Il suçait du venin d'aspic: la langue de la vipère le tue. | 16 He used to suck vipers' venom, and the tongue of the adder kills him. |
17 Il ne connaîtra plus les ruisseaux d'huile, les torrents de miel et de laitage. | 17 No more will he know the streams of oil or the torrents of honey and cream. |
18 Il perdra sa mine réjouie en restituant ses gains, cet air satisfait du temps où les affaires prospéraient. | 18 When he gives back his winnings, his cheerfulness wil fade, and the satisfied air he had whenbusiness was thriving. |
19 Parce qu'il a détruit les cabanes des pauvres, volé des maisons au lieu d'en bâtir, | 19 Since he once destroyed the huts of the poor, plundering houses instead of building them up, |
20 parce que son appétit s'est montré insatiable, ses trésors ne le sauveront pas, | 20 since his avarice could never be satisfied, now al his hoarding will not save him; |
21 parce que nul n'échappait à sa voracité, sa prospérité ne durera pas. | 21 since nothing could escape his greed, his prosperity wil not last. |
22 En pleine abondance, l'angoisse le saisira, la misère, de toute sa force, fondra sur lui, | 22 When he has everything he needs, want wil seize him, and misery wil light on him with all its force. |
23 Dieu lâche sur lui l'ardeur de sa colère, lance contre sa chair une pluie de traits. | 23 On him God looses al his burning wrath, hurling against his flesh a hail of arrows. |
24 S'il fuit devant l'arme de fer, l'arc de bronze le transperce. | 24 If he escapes the weapons of iron, the bow of bronze wil transfix him. |
25 Une flèche sort de son dos, une pointe étincelante de son foie. Les terreurs s'avancent contre lui, | 25 Out of his back sticks an arrow, from his gal a shining point. The terrors advance on him, |
26 toutes les ténèbres cachées sont là pour l'enlever. Un feu qu'on n'allume pas le dévore et consume cequi reste sous 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 dévoilent son iniquité, et la terre se dresse contre lui. | 27 The heavens lay bare his iniquity, and the earth rises up against him. |
28 Le revenu de sa maison s'écoule, comme des torrents, au jour de la colère. | 28 The income of his house pours away, like the torrents, on the day of retribution. |
29 Tel est le sort que Dieu réserve au méchant, l'héritage qu'il assigne au maudit. | 29 Such is the fate God reserves for the wicked, the inheritance he assigns to the accursed! |