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.
Et les hommes d'Ephraïm lui dirent: Qu'est-ce de ta part que cette manière d'agir envers nous, de ne pas nous appeler lorsque tu marchais à l'attaque de Madian? Et ils le prirent à partie avec véhémence.
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 d'égal à vos exploits? le grappillage d'Ephraïm n'est-il pas préférable à 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.
C'est entre vos mains que Dieu a livré les princes Madianites Oreb et Zeeb. Qu'ai-je pu faire aussi bien que vous? Alors l'animosité qu'ils avaient contre lui, s'apaisa, comme il parlait ainsi.
4 Then Gideon came to Jordan and went over it with his three hundred, overcome with weariness and in need of food.
Et Gédéon, arrivé sur le Jourdain, le passa avec les trois cents hommes qui l'accompagnaient fatigués et poursuivant 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.
Alors il dit aux gens de Succoth: Donnez donc des galettes de pain à la troupe qui me suit, car elle est rendue, et je suis à la poursuite de Zébah et Tsalmunna, 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?
Et les chefs de Succoth lui dirent: Tiens-tu déjà captifs Zébah et Tsalmunna pour que nous donnions du pain à ton escorte?
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: Eh bien! si l'Éternel met Zébah et Tsalmunna en mon pouvoir, je triturerai votre chair avec des ronces de la steppe et des chardons.
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.
Et de là il monta à Pnuel, et il y tint le même langage, et les gens de Pnuel lui firent la même réponse que les gens de Succoth.
9 So he said to the men of Penuel, When I come back in peace, I will have this tower broken down.
Et il dit aussi aux gens de Pnuel: Si je reviens sain et sauf, je raserai cette tour-là.
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 Zébah et Tsalmunna étaient à Carcor avec leur armée d'environ quinze mille hommes, total de ce qui était resté de toute l'armée des enfants de l'Orient: cent vingt mille hommes tirant l'épée avaient péri.
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 s'avança du côté de ceux qui logent dans des tentes, à l'orient de Noba et de Jogbeha et dressa son camp, tandis que [l'autre] camp était en sécurité.
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 Zébah et Tsalmunna prirent la fuite, et il les poursuivit, et fit prisonniers les deux rois de Madian, Zébah et Tsalmunna: il avait jeté l'épouvante dans tout le camp.
13 Then Gideon, the son of Joash, went back from the fight:
Alors Gédéon, fils de Joas, revint de la guerre et partit de la hauteur qui domine Hérès.
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 arrêta un jeune homme d'entre les gens de Succoth, qu'il interrogea, et qui lui désigna par écrit les chefs de Succoth et les Anciens, 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?
Puis il se présenta aux gens de Succoth et dit: Voici Zébah et Tsalmunna desquels vous me disiez ironiquement: Tiens-tu déjà Zébah et Tsalmunna captifs, pour que nous donnions du pain à tes gens épuisés?
16 Then he took the responsible men of the town and had them crushed on a bed of thorns and sharp stems.
Et il saisit les Anciens de la ville et prit des ronces de la steppe et des chardons, et les fit servir au supplice des hommes de Succoth.
17 And he had the tower of Penuel broken down and the men of the town put to death.
Et il rasa la tour de Pnuel, et massacra les gens 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 Zébah et Tsalmunna: Comment étaient les hommes que vous avez égorgés au Thabor? Et ils dirent: Tel tu es, tels ils étaient: ils avaient chacun la prestance de fils de 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 il dit: C'étaient mes frères, fils de ma mère. Par la vie de l'Éternel, si vous leur eussiez laissé la vie, je ne vous égorgerais pas.
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.
Et il dit à Jéther, son premier-né: Va, égorge-les! Mais l'enfant ne tirait pas l'épée, parce qu'il avait peur, car c'était encore un enfant.
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.
Alors Zébah et Tsalmunna dirent: Allons, toi-même, jette-toi sur nous! car tel est l'homme, telle est sa force. Alors Gédéon se leva et égorgea Zébah et Tsalmunna. Et il prit les lunules qui étaient au 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.
Et les hommes d'Israël dirent à Gédéon: Domine sur nous, et toi et ton fils et le fils de ton fils, parce que tu nous as sauvés des mains des Madianites.
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.
Et Gédéon leur dit: Je ne dominerai point sur vous, et mon fils ne dominera point sur vous; c'est l'Éternel qui doit dominer 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 leur dit: J'ai une demande à vous faire: donnez-moi chacun une boucle de narine de votre butin! (Car ils portaient à la narine des boucles d'or, étant 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.
Et ils dirent: Nous te les donnerons. Et ils étendirent un manteau et chacun y jeta une boucle de narine de son 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.
Et le poids des boucles de narine d'or qu'il demanda, fut de mille sept cents sicles d'or, non compris les lunules et les pendants d'oreille et les vêtements de pourpre que portaient les rois de Madian, et les colliers qui étaient au 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.
Et Gédéon en fit un Ephod, et il le plaça dans sa ville, à Ophra; et tout Israël alla s'y prostituer, et ce fut un piège pour Gédéon et pour sa maison.
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.
C'est ainsi que les Madianites plièrent devant les enfants d'Israël, et ils ne relevèrent plus la tête. Et le pays eut un repos de quarante ans à l'époque de Gédéon.
29 And Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went back to his house and was living there.
Et Jérubbaal, fils de Joas, s'en alla habiter dans sa maison.
30 Gideon had seventy sons, the offspring of his body; for he had a number of wives.
Or Gédéon eut soixante-dix fils, issus de son sang, car 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.
Et sa concubine, qui était à Sichem, lui enfanta un fils, et il lui donna le nom d'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.
Et Gédéon, fils de Joas, mourut dans une belle vieillesse, et reçut la sépulture dans le tombeau de Joas, son père, à Ophra des Abi-Ezrites.
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.
Et lorsque Gédéon fut mort, de nouveau les enfants d'Israël se prostituèrent aux Baals, et ils firent leur dieu de Baal-Berith.
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 enfants d'Israël ne se souvinrent pas de l'Éternel, leur Dieu, qui les avait sauvés des mains de tous leurs ennemis d'alentour.
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 ne montrèrent pas à la maison de Jérubbaal, de Gédéon, une affection proportionnée à tout le bien qu'il avait fait à Israël.
