Livre de Job 29

JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Job continua de s'exprimer en sentences et dit:	1 Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said:
2 Qui me fera revivre les mois d'antan, ces 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 où sa lampe brillait sur ma tête et sa lumière me guidait dans les ténèbres!	3 At that time, his lamp shined over my head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness.
4 Puissé-je revoir les jours de mon automne, quand Dieu protégeait ma tente,	4 I was then just as in the days of my youth, when God was privately in my tabernacle.
5 que Shaddaï demeurait avec moi et que mes garçons m'entouraient;	5 At that time, the Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me.
6 quand mes pieds baignaient dans le laitage, et du rocher coulaient des ruisseaux d'huile!	6 Then, I washed my feet with butter, and a boulder poured out rivers of oil for me.
7 Si je sortais vers la porte de la ville, si 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 gens se retiraient, les vieillards se mettaient debout.	8 The youths saw me and hid themselves, and the elders, rising up, remained standing.
9 Les notables arrêtaient leurs discours et mettaient la main sur leur bouche.	9 The leaders stopped talking, and they placed a finder over their mouth.
10 La voix des chefs s'étouffait et leur langue se collait au palais.	10 The commanders subdued their voice, and their tongue adhered to their throat.
11 A m'entendre, on me félicitait, à me voir, on me rendait témoignage.	11 The ear that heard me, blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave testimony for me.
12 Car je délivrais le pauvre en détresse et l'orphelin privé d'appui.	12 This was because I had freed the poor, who cried out, and the orphan, who had no helper.
13 La bénédiction du mourant se posait sur moi et je rendais la joie au coeur de la veuve.	13 The blessing of him who would have been destroyed came upon me, and I consoled the heart of the widow.
14 J'avais revêtu la justice comme un vêtement, j'avais le droit pour manteau et turban.	14 I put on justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment, like a robe and a diadem.
15 J'étais les yeux de l'aveugle, les pieds du boiteux.	15 I was an eye for the blind and a foot for the lame.
16 C'était moi le père des pauvres; la cause d'un inconnu, je l'examinais.	16 I was the father of the poor; and if I lacked knowledge about any case, I investigated very diligently.
17 Je brisais les crocs de l'homme inique, d'entre ses dents j'arrachais sa proie.	17 I crushed the jaws of the impious, and I took away prey from his teeth.
18 Et je disais: "Je mourrai dans ma fierté, après des jours nombreux comme le sable.	18 And I said, “I will die in my little nest, and like a palm tree, I will multiply my days.
19 Mes racines ont accès à l'eau, la rosée se dépose la nuit sur mon feuillage.	19 My root has been spread beside the waters, and the dew will remain with my harvest.
20 Ma gloire sera toujours nouvelle et dans ma main mon arc reprendra force.	20 My glory will always be restored, and my bow will be restored to my hand.”
21 Ils m'écoutaient, dans l'attente, silencieux pour entendre mon avis.	21 Those who heard me, expected vindication, and they listened closely in silence to my counsel.
22 Quand j'avais parlé, nul ne répliquait, et sur eux, goutte à goutte, tombaient mes paroles.	22 To my words, they dared to add nothing, and my eloquence poured over them.
23 Ils m'attendaient comme la pluie, leur bouche s'ouvrait comme pour l'ondée tardive.	23 They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for belated rains.
24 Si je leur souriais, ils n'osaient y croire, ils recueillaient sur mon visage tout signe de faveur.	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 Je leur indiquais la route en siégeant à leur tête, tel un roi installé parmi ses troupes, et je les menaispartout à mon gré.	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.