Livre de Job 41

JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Ton espérance serait illusoire, car sa vue seule suffit à terrasser.	1 Whoever might vainly hope to do so need only see him to be overthrown.
2 Il devient féroce quand on l'éveille, qui peut lui résister en face?	2 Is he not relentless when aroused; who then dares stand before him?
3 Qui donc l'a affronté sans en pâtir? Personne sous tous les cieux!	3 Who has assailed him and come off safe-- Who under all the heavens?
4 Je parlerai aussi de ses membres, je dirai sa force incomparable.	4 I need hardly mention his limbs, his strength, and the fitness of his armor.
5 Qui a découvert par devant sa tunique, pénétré dans sa double cuirasse?	5 Who can strip off his outer garment, or penetrate his double corselet?
6 Qui a ouvert les battants de sa gueule? La terreur règne autour de ses dents!	6 Who can force open the doors of his mouth, close to his terrible teeth?
7 Son dos, ce sont des rangées de boucliers, que ferme un sceau de pierre.	7 Rows of scales are on his back, tightly sealed together;
8 Ils se touchent de si près qu'un souffle ne peut s'y infiltrer.	8 They are fitted each so close to the next that no space intervenes;
9 Ils adhèrent l'un à l'autre et font un bloc sans fissure.	9 So joined one to another that they hold fast and cannot be parted.
10 Son éternuement projette de la lumière, ses yeux ressemblent aux paupières de l'aurore.	10 When he sneezes, light flashes forth; his eyes are like those of the dawn.
11 De sa gueule jaillissent des torches, il s'en échappe des étincelles de feu.	11 Out of his mouth go forth firebrands; sparks of fire leap forth.
12 Ses naseaux crachent de la fumée, comme un chaudron qui bout sur le feu.	12 From his nostrils issues steam, as from a seething pot or bowl.
13 Son souffle allumerait des charbons, une flamme sort de sa gueule.	13 His breath sets coals afire; a flame pours from his mouth.
14 Sur son cou est campée la force, et devant lui bondit la violence.	14 Strength abides in his neck, and terror leaps before him.
15 Les fanons de sa chair sont soudés ensemble: ils adhèrent à elle, inébranlables.
16 Son coeur est dur comme le roc, résistant comme la meule de dessous.	16 His heart is hard as stone; his flesh, as the lower millstone.
17 Quand il se dresse, les flots prennent peur et les vagues de la mer se retirent.	17 When he rises up, the mighty are afraid; the waves of the sea fall back.
18 L'épée l'atteint sans se fixer, de même lance, javeline ou dard.	18 Should the sword reach him, it will not avail; nor will the spear, nor the dart, nor the javelin.
19 Pour lui, le fer n'est que paille, et l'airain, du bois pourri.	19 He regards iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.
20 Les traits de l'arc ne le font pas fuir: il reçoit comme un fétu les pierres de fronde.	20 The arrow will not put him to flight; slingstones used against him are but straws.
21 La massue lui semble un fétu, il se rit du javelot qui vibre.	21 Clubs he esteems as splinters; he laughs at the crash of the spear.
22 Il a sous lui des tessons aigus, comme une herse il passe sur la vase.	22 His belly is sharp as pottery fragments; he spreads like a threshing sledge upon the mire.
23 Il fait bouillonner le gouffre comme une chaudière, il change la mer en brûle-parfums.	23 He makes the depths boil like a pot; the sea he churns like perfume in a kettle.
24 Il laisse derrière lui un sillage lumineux, l'abîme semble couvert d'une toison blanche.	24 Behind him he leaves a shining path; you would think the deep had the hoary head of age.
25 Sur terre, il n'a point son pareil, il a été fait intrépide.	25 Upon the earth there is not his like, intrepid he was made.
26 Il regarde en face les plus hautains, il est roi sur tous les fils de l'orgueil.	26 All, however lofty, fear him; he is king over all proud beasts.