Job 14
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Job 14
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L`homme né de la femme! Sa vie est courte, sans cesse agitée. | As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble. |
Il naît, il est coupé comme une fleur; Il fuit et disparaît comme une ombre. | He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again. |
Et c`est sur lui que tu as l`oeil ouvert! Et tu me fais aller en justice avec toi! | Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him? |
Comment d`un être souillé sortira-t-il un homme pur? Il n`en peut sortir aucun. | If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible. |
Si ses jours sont fixés, si tu as compté ses mois, Si tu en as marqué le terme qu`il ne saurait franchir, | If his days are ordered, and you have knowledge of the number of his months, having given him a fixed limit past which he may not go; |
Détourne de lui les regards, et donne-lui du relâche, Pour qu`il ait au moins la joie du mercenaire à la fin de sa journée. | Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment. |
Un arbre a de l`espérance: Quand on le coupe, il repousse, Il produit encore des rejetons; | For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end. |
Quand sa racine a vieilli dans la terre, Quand son tronc meurt dans la poussière, | Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust; |
Il reverdit à l`approche de l`eau, Il pousse des branches comme une jeune plante. | Still, at the smell of water, it will make buds, and put out branches like a young plant. |
Mais l`homme meurt, et il perd sa force; L`homme expire, et où est-il? | But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he? |
Les eaux des lacs s`évanouissent, Les fleuves tarissent et se dessèchent; | The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry; |
Ainsi l`homme se couche et ne se relèvera plus, Il ne se réveillera pas tant que les cieux subsisteront, Il ne sortira pas de son sommeil. | So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep. |
Oh! si tu voulais me cacher dans le séjour des morts, M`y tenir à couvert jusqu`à ce que ta colère fût passée, Et me fixer un terme auquel tu te souviendras de moi! | If only you would keep me safe in the underworld, putting me in a secret place till your wrath is past, giving me a fixed time when I might come to your memory again! |
Si l`homme une fois mort pouvait revivre, J`aurais de l`espoir tout le temps de mes souffrances, Jusqu`à ce que mon état vînt à changer. | If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free. |
Tu appellerais alors, et je te répondrais, Tu languirais après l`ouvrage de tes mains. | At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands. |
Mais aujourd`hui tu comptes mes pas, Tu as l`oeil sur mes péchés; | For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked. |
Mes transgressions sont scellées en un faisceau, Et tu imagines des iniquités à ma charge. | My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe. |
La montagne s`écroule et périt, Le rocher disparaît de sa place, | But truly a mountain falling comes to dust, and a rock is moved from its place; |
La pierre est broyée par les eaux, Et la terre emportée par leur courant; Ainsi tu détruis l`espérance de l`homme. | The stones are crushed small by the force of the waters; the dust of the earth is washed away by their overflowing: and so you put an end to the hope of man. |
Tu es sans cesse à l`assaillir, et il s`en va; Tu le défigures, puis tu le renvoies. | You overcome him for ever, and he is gone; his face is changed in death, and you send him away. |
Que ses fils soient honorés, il n`en sait rien; Qu`ils soient dans l`abaissement, il l`ignore. | His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it. |
C`est pour lui seul qu`il éprouve de la douleur en son corps, C`est pour lui seul qu`il ressent de la tristesse en son âme. | Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad. |