1 Chronicles 19
1 Now it came about after this that death came to Nahash, the king of the children of Ammon, and his son became king in his place.
Sur ces entrefaites, Nahach, le roi des Ammonites, mourut, et son fils lui succéda.
2 And David said, I will be a friend to Hanun, the son of Nahash, because his father was a friend to me. So David sent men to him, to give him words of comfort on account of his father. And the servants of David came to Hanun, to the land of the children of Ammon, offering him comfort.
David se dit: "Je veux agir amicalement avec Hanoun, fils de Nahach, comme son père a agi à mon égard." Et David envoya des émissaires pour lui présenter des condoléances au sujet de son père, et les serviteurs de David se rendirent au pays des Ammonites pour porter des condoléances à Hanoun.
3 But the chiefs of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Does it seem to you that David is honouring your father, by sending comforters to you? is it not clear that these men have only come to go through the land and to make secret observation of it so that they may overcome it?
Mais les princes ammonites dirent à Hanoun: "Est-ce, à ton avis, pour honorer ton père que David t’a envoyé des consolateurs? N’Est-ce pas plutôt pour explorer, troubler et espionner le pays que ses serviteurs sont venus te trouver?"
4 So Hanun took David's servants, and cutting off their hair and the skirts of their robes up to the middle, sent them away.
Alors Hanoun fit saisir les serviteurs de David, ordonna de les raser et de couper la moitié de leurs vêtements jusqu’aux hanches, puis il les congédia.
5 Then certain men went and gave David word of what had been done to them. And he sent out with the purpose of meeting them; for the men were greatly shamed. And the king said, Keep where you are at Jericho till your hair is long again, and then come back.
Ceux-ci partis, on mit David au courant de ce qui était arrivé à ces hommes, et il envoya au-devant d’eux car ces hommes étaient accablés de honte et leur fit dire: "Restez à Jéricho jusqu’à ce que votre barbe ait repoussé, puis vous reviendrez."
6 And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves hated by David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver as payment for war-carriages and horsemen from Mesopotamia and Aram-maacah and Zobah.
Les Ammonites, voyant qu’ils s’étaient mis en mauvaise odeur auprès de David, envoyèrent, de concert avec Hanoun, mille kikkar d’argent pour soudoyer dans la Syrie du Double-Fleuve, dans la Syrie de Maakha et de Çoba des chars et des cavaliers.
7 So with this money they got thirty-two thousand war-carriages, and the help of the king of Maacah and his people, who came and took up their position in front of Medeba. And the children of Ammon came together from their towns for the fight.
Ils soudoyèrent ainsi trente-deux mille chars ainsi que le roi de Maakha et son peuple, qui vinrent camper devant Mèdeba; de leur côté, les Ammonites sortirent ensemble de leurs villes et entrèrent en campagne.
8 And David, hearing of it, sent Joab with all the army of fighting-men.
A cette nouvelle, David envoya Joab avec toute son armée de vaillants.
9 So the children of Ammon came out and put their forces in position on the way into the town; and the kings who had come were stationed by themselves in the field.
Les Ammonites s’avancèrent et se mirent en bataille à l’entrée de la ville, tandis que les rois qui étaient accourus restaient séparés dans la campagne.
10 Now when Joab saw that their forces were in position against him in front and at his back, he took all the best men of Israel, and put them in line against the Aramaeans;
Joab, voyant que la bataille le menaçait par-devant et par-derrière, fit choix des meilleurs guerriers d’Israël et les disposa devant les Syriens.
11 And the rest of the people he put in position against the children of Ammon with Abishai, his brother, at their head.
Pour le reste de l’armée, il le mit sous les ordres de son frère Abchaï et le rangea devant les Ammonites.
12 And he said, If the Aramaeans are stronger and get the better of me, then come to my help; and if the children of Ammon get the better of you, I will come to your help.
Et il dit: "Si les Syriens l’emportent sur moi, tu viendras à mon secours; si les Ammonites l’emportent sur toi, c’est moi qui viendrai te secourir.
13 Take heart, and let us be strong for our people and for the towns of our God; and may the Lord do what seems good to him.
Sois fort, soyons forts pour notre peuple et pour les villes de notre Dieu, et que le Seigneur agisse selon sa volonté!"
14 So Joab and the people who were with him went forward into the fight against the Aramaeans, and they went in flight before him.
Joab, avec la troupe qui l’accompagnait, engagea la bataille contre les Syriens, qui s’enfuirent devant lui.
15 And when the children of Ammon saw the flight of the Aramaeans, they themselves went in flight from Abishai, his brother, and came into the town. Then Joab came back to Jerusalem.
Les Ammonites, voyant fuir les Syriens, lâchèrent pied devant son frère Abchaï et rentrèrent dans la ville; et Joab revint à Jérusalem.
16 And when the Aramaeans saw that Israel had overcome them, they sent men to get the Aramaeans who were on the other side of the River, with Shophach, the captain of Hadadezer's army, at their head.
Mais les Syriens, se voyant battus par les Israélites, envoyèrent des messagers et firent avancer les Syriens de delà le Fleuve, sous le commandement de Chopakh, chef de l’armée de Hadadézer.
17 And word of this was given to David; and he got all Israel together and went over Jordan and came to Helam and put his forces in position against them. And when David's forces were in position against the Aramaeans, the fight was started.
Quand David en fut informé, il rassembla tout Israël, traversa le Jourdain, arriva à Hélam et aligna ses troupes en face d’eux. Il commença à combattre les Syriens, qui acceptèrent la bataille.
18 And the Aramaeans went in flight before Israel; and David put to the sword the men of seven thousand Aramaean war-carriages and forty thousand footmen, and put to death Shophach, the captain of the army.
Aram prit la fuite devant Israël, et David lui tua sept mille attelages et quarante mille hommes de pied. Il fit périr aussi Chopakh, chef de l’armée.
19 And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were overcome by Israel, they made peace with David and became his servants: and the Aramaeans would give no more help to the children of Ammon.
Les serviteurs de Hadadézer, voyant qu’Israël les avait défaits, firent la paix avec David et devinrent ses tributaires; et les Syriens ne furent plus disposés à venir en aide aux Ammonites.
