Judges 8
1 And the men of Ephraim came and said to him, Why did you not send for us when you went to war against Midian? And they said sharp and angry words to him.
Les hommes d'Ephraïm dirent à Gédéon: Pourquoi nous as-tu fait l'injure de ne point nous appeler quand tu marchais pour combattre les Madianites? Et ils lui parlèrent durement.
2 And he said to them, What have I done in comparison with you? Is not that which Ephraim took up after the grape-cutting better than all the grapes which Abiezer got in from the grape-cutting?
Et il leur dit: Qu'ai-je fait maintenant qui égale ce que vous avez fait? Une petite grappe d'Ephraïm ne vaut-t-elle pas mieux que la vendange d'Abiézer?
3 God has given into your hands the chiefs of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you? And when he said this, their feeling about him became kinder.
Le Seigneur a livré à vos mains les chefs de Madian, Oreb et Zeb. Aurais-je pu faire autant que vous? Alors, leur courroux se détourna de lui, quand il leur eut dit cette parole.
4 Then Gideon came to Jordan and went over it with his three hundred, overcome with weariness and in need of food.
Ensuite, Gédéon marcha au Jourdain, il le traversa, et les trois cents hommes avec lui; ils étaient affamés, mais ils poursuivaient toujours.
5 And he said to the men of Succoth, Give bread cakes to my people, for they are overcome with weariness, and I am going on after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.
Et Gédéon dit aux hommes de Socchoth: Donnez-moi des pains pour nourrir le peuple qui me suit, car ils tombent de défaillance; et voilà que je poursuis Zébé et Salmana, rois de Madian.
6 But the chiefs of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna even now in your hand that we are to give bread to your army?
Mais les chefs de Socchoth dirent: Est-ce que la main de Zébé et de Salmana est déjà dans ta main, pour que nous donnions des vivres à ta troupe?
7 Then Gideon said, Because of this, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will have you stretched on a bed of thorns of the waste land and on sharp stems, and have you crushed as grain is crushed on a grain-floor.
Et Gédéon dit: A cause de votre refus, lorsque le Seigneur aura livré à nos mains Zébé et Salmana, je broierai vos chairs à force de coups d'épines du désert et de Barcenim.
8 So he went up from there to Penuel and made the same request to the men of Penuel; but they gave him the same answer as the men of Succoth had given.
De là, il monta en Phanuel, où il leur fit la même demande; les hommes de Phanuel lui répondirent de la même manière que ceux de Socchoth.
9 So he said to the men of Penuel, When I come back in peace, I will have this tower broken down.
Et Gédéon dit aux hommes de Phanuel: A mon retour, après la paix, je démolirai cette tour.
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, those of all the army of the children of the east who were still living; for a hundred and twenty thousand of their swordsmen had been put to death.
Or, Zébé et Salmana étaient alors en Carcar; leur camp renfermait environ quinze mille hommes, débris de tout le camp des étrangers; et ceux qui avaient péri n'étaient pas moins de cent vingt mille portant l'épée.
11 And Gideon went up by the way used by the people living in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and made an attack on the army when they had no thought of danger.
Et Gédéon prit le chemin des ennemis dont les tentes étaient à l'orient de Nabé et de Jégébal, et il attaqua le camp, et le camp était sans méfiance.
12 And Zebah and Zalmunna went in flight; and he went after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and put all the army to the curse.
Et Zébé et Salmana s'étant enfuis, il les poursuivit, il les prit, et frappa d'épouvante l'armée entière.
13 Then Gideon, the son of Joash, went back from the fight:
Ensuite, Gédéon, fils de Joas, revint de la bataille des hauteurs d'Arès, où il l'avait livrée.
14 And taking prisoner a young man of the people of Succoth, he got from him, in answer to his questions, a list of the chiefs of Succoth and the responsible men, seventy-seven men.
Et il surprit un jeune garçon des hommes de Socchoth; il le questionna, et il écrivit, d'après lui, les noms des chefs et des anciens de Socchoth: soixante-dix-sept hommes.
15 So he came to the men of Succoth and said, Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, on account of whom you made sport of me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna even now in your hand, that we are to give bread to your army who are overcome with weariness?
Et Gédéon se rendit auprès des chefs de Socchoth, et il dit: Voici Zébé et Salmana, au sujet desquels vous m'avez outragé, disant: Est-ce que la main de Zébé et de Salmana est dans ta main, pour que nous donnions des vivres à tes hommes défaillants?
16 Then he took the responsible men of the town and had them crushed on a bed of thorns and sharp stems.
Puis, il prit les anciens de la ville; il prit des épines du désert et de Barcenim, et il fit meurtrir de coups avec les épines les hommes de la ville.
17 And he had the tower of Penuel broken down and the men of the town put to death.
Et il démolit la tour de Phanuel, et il tua les hommes de la ville.
18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, Where are the men whom you put to death at Tabor? And they gave answer, As you are, so were they; every one of them was like a king's son.
Et il dit à Zébé et Salmana: Comment étaient les hommes que vous avez tués au mont Thabor? Et ils dirent: Tel nous te voyons, tels ils étaient; ils semblaient des fils des rois.
19 And he said, They were my brothers, my mother's sons: by the life of the Lord, if you had kept them safe, I would not put you to death.
Et Gédéon dit.: C'étaient mes frères, fils de ma mère, vive le Seigneur! Si vous les aviez épargnés, je ne vous ferais point mourir.
20 Then he said to Jether, his oldest son, Up! Put them to death. But the boy did not take out his sword, fearing because he was still a boy.
Puis, il dit à Jéther, son premier-né: Lève-toi, et tue-les. Mais le jeune homme ne tira point son épée, car il avait crainte, parce qu'il était jeune encore.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Up! Put an end to us yourself: for you have a man's strength. Then Gideon got up and put Zebah and Zalmunna to death and took the ornaments which were on their camels' necks.
Zébé et Salmana dirent: Lève-toi toi-même, et tombe sur nous, car ta force est celle d'un homme. Gédéon se leva donc, et il tua Zébé et Salmana. Et il prit les croissants qui ornaient le cou de leurs chameaux.
22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Be our ruler, you and your son and your son's son after him; for you have been our saviour from the hands of Midian.
Israël dit alors à Gédéon: Seigneur, règne sur nous, toi et ton fils et le fils de ton fils, parce que tu nous as sauvés des mains de Madian.
23 But Gideon said to them, I will not be a ruler over you, and my son will not be a ruler over you: it is the Lord who will be ruler over you.
Mais Gédéon leur dit: Je ne règnerai point sur vous, et mon fils ne règnera point sur vous; le Seigneur règnera sur vous.
24 Then Gideon said to them, I have a request to make to you; let every man give me the ear-rings he has taken. (For they had gold ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
Et Gédéon ajouta: Je vous ferai une demande: Que chacun me donne, de sa part du butin, les pendants d'oreilles. Ces hommes avaient tous des pendants d'oreilles d'or, parce qu'ils étaient Ismaélites.
25 And they gave answer, We will gladly give them. So they put down a robe, every man dropping into it the ear-rings he had taken.
Ils répondirent: Nous te les donnerons avec empressement. Aussitôt, il déploya son manteau, et chacun y jeta les pendants d'oreilles de sa part de butin.
26 The weight of the gold ear-rings which he got from them was one thousand, seven hundred shekels of gold; in addition to the moon-ornaments and jewels and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and the chains on their camels' necks.
Le poids des pendants d'oreilles qu'il avait demandés, fut de dix-sept cents sicles d'or, outre les bossettes, les torsades, les vêtements et les robes de pourpre que portaient les rois de Madian, et les ornements qui entouraient le cou de leurs chameaux.
27 And Gideon made an ephod from them and put it up in his town Ophrah; and all Israel went after it there and were false to the Lord; and it became a cause of sin to Gideon and his house.
Gédéon en fit un éphod, et il le plaça en Ephratha, sa ville. Et là, tout Israël se prostitua à l'occasion de cet éphod, qui fut une pierre d'achoppement pour Gédéon et pour sa famille.
28 So Midian was broken before the children of Israel and the Midianites never got back their strength. And the land had peace for forty years, in the days of Gideon.
Et Madian fut réduit à rien devant les fils d'Israël; il ne continua plus de relever la tête, et la terre fut en repos quarante années durant les jours de Gédéon.
29 And Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went back to his house and was living there.
Jérobaal, fils de Joas, s'en retourna, et demeura dans sa maison.
30 Gideon had seventy sons, the offspring of his body; for he had a number of wives.
Il avait soixante-dix fils, nés de lui, parce qu'il avait beaucoup de femmes.
31 And the servant-wife he had in Shechem had a son by him, to whom he gave the name Abimelech.
Il avait aussi une concubine à Sichem, et celle-là, pareillement, lui donna un fils, qu'elle nomma Abimélech.
32 And Gideon, the son of Joash, came to his end when he was very old, and his body was put in the resting-place of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Gédéon, fils de Joas, mourut en sa ville, et il fut enseveli dans le sépulcre de Joas, son père, en Ephratha d'Abi-Esdri.
33 And after the death of Gideon, the children of Israel again went after the gods of Canaan and were false to the Lord, and made Baal-berith their god.
Gédéon mort, les fils d'Israël se pervertirent; ils se prostituèrent aux Baal, et ils firent alliance avec Baal afin qu'il fut leur dieu.
34 And the children of Israel did not keep in their minds the Lord their God, who had been their saviour from all their haters on every side;
Et les fils d'Israël ne se souvinrent plus du Seigneur, du Dieu qui les avait délivrés des mains de tous ceux d'alentour qui les opprimaient.
35 And they were not kind to the house of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, in reward for all the good he had done to Israel.
Et ils furent sans égard pour la maison de Jérobaal (le même que Gédéon), et ils oublièrent le bien que celui-ci avait fait à Israël.
