Psalms 78
1 Understanding for Asaph. Attend, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
Cantique d’Asaph. Mon peuple, écoute mes instructions! Prêtez l’oreille aux paroles de ma bouche!
2 I will open my mouth in parables: I will utter propositions from the beginning.
J’ouvre la bouche par des sentences, Je publie la sagesse des temps anciens.
3 How great things have we heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
Ce que nous avons entendu, ce que nous savons, Ce que nos pères nous ont raconté,
4 They have not been hidden from their children, in another generation. Declaring the praises of the Lord, and his powers, and his wonders which he hath done.
Nous ne le cacherons point à leurs enfants; Nous dirons à la génération future les louanges de l’Éternel, Et sa puissance, et les prodiges qu’il a opérés.
5 And he set up a testimony in Jacob: and made a law in Israel. How great things he commanded our fathers, that they should make the same known to their children:
Il a établi un témoignage en Jacob, Il a mis une loi en Israël, Et il a ordonné à nos pères de l’enseigner à leurs enfants,
6 That another generation might know them. The children that should be born and should rise up, and declare them to their children.
Pour qu’elle fût connue de la génération future, Des enfants qui naîtraient, Et que, devenus grands, ils en parlassent à leurs enfants,
7 That they may put their hope in God and may not forget the works of God: and may seek his commandments.
Afin qu’ils missent en Dieu leur confiance, Qu’ils n’oubliassent pas les œuvres de Dieu, Et qu’ils observassent ses commandements,
8 That they may not become like their fathers, a perverse and exasperating generation. A generation that set not their heart aright: and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Afin qu’ils ne fussent pas, comme leurs pères, Une race indocile et rebelle, Une race dont le cœur n’était pas ferme, Et dont l’esprit n’était pas fidèle à Dieu.
9 The sons of Ephraim who bend and shoot with the bow: they have turned back in the day of battle.
Les fils d’Éphraïm, armés et tirant de l’arc, Tournèrent le dos le jour du combat.
10 They kept not the covenant of God: and in his law they would not walk.
Ils ne gardèrent point l’alliance de Dieu, Et ils refusèrent de marcher selon sa loi.
11 And they forgot his benefits, and his wonders that he had shewn them.
Ils mirent en oubli ses œuvres, Ses merveilles qu’il leur avait fait voir.
12 Wonderful things did he do in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis.
Devant leurs pères il avait fait des prodiges, Au pays d’Égypte, dans les campagnes de Tsoan.
13 He divided the sea and brought them through: and he made the waters to stand as in a vessel.
Il fendit la mer et leur ouvrit un passage, Il fit dresser les eaux comme une muraille.
14 And he conducted them with a cloud by day: and all the night with a light of fire.
Il les conduisit le jour par la nuée, Et toute la nuit par un feu éclatant.
15 He struck the rock in the wilderness: and gave them to drink, as out of the great deep.
Il fendit des rochers dans le désert, Et il donna à boire comme des flots abondants;
16 He brought forth water out of the rock: and made streams run down as rivers.
Du rocher il fit jaillir des sources, Et couler des eaux comme des fleuves.
17 And they added yet more sin against him: they provoked the most High to wrath in the place without water.
Mais ils continuèrent à pécher contre lui, A se révolter contre le Très-Haut dans le désert.
18 And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking meat for their desires.
Ils tentèrent Dieu dans leur cœur, En demandant de la nourriture selon leur désir.
19 And they spoke ill of God: they said: Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Ils parlèrent contre Dieu, Ils dirent: Dieu pourrait-il Dresser une table dans le désert?
20 Because he struck the rock, and the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can he also give bread, or provide a table for his people?
Voici, il a frappé le rocher, et des eaux ont coulé, Et des torrents se sont répandus; Pourra-t-il aussi donner du pain, Ou fournir de la viande à son peuple?
21 Therefore the Lord heard, and was angry: and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel.
L’Éternel entendit, et il fut irrité; Un feu s’alluma contre Jacob, Et la colère s’éleva contre Israël,
22 Because they believed not in God: and trusted not in his salvation.
Parce qu’ils ne crurent pas en Dieu, Parce qu’ils n’eurent pas confiance dans son secours.
23 And he had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of heaven.
Il commanda aux nuages d’en haut, Et il ouvrit les portes des cieux;
24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the bread of heaven.
Il fit pleuvoir sur eux la manne pour nourriture, Il leur donna le blé du ciel.
25 Man ate the bread of angels: he sent them provisions in abundance.
Ils mangèrent tous le pain des grands, Il leur envoya de la nourriture à satiété.
26 He removed the south wind from heaven: and by his power brought in the southwest wind.
Il fit souffler dans les cieux le vent d’orient, Et il amena par sa puissance le vent du midi;
27 And he rained upon them flesh as dust: and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea.
Il fit pleuvoir sur eux la viande comme de la poussière, Et comme le sable des mers les oiseaux ailés;
28 And they fell in the midst of their camp, round about their pavilions.
Il les fit tomber au milieu de leur camp, Tout autour de leurs demeures.
29 So they did eat, and were filled exceedingly, and he gave them their desire:
Ils mangèrent et se rassasièrent abondamment: Dieu leur donna ce qu’ils avaient désiré.
30 They were not defrauded of that which they craved. As yet their meat was in their mouth:
Ils n’avaient pas satisfait leur désir, Ils avaient encore leur nourriture dans la bouche,
31 And the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat ones amongst them, and brought down the chosen men of Israel.
Lorsque la colère de Dieu s’éleva contre eux; Il frappa de mort les plus vigoureux, Il abattit les jeunes hommes d’Israël.
32 In all these things they sinned still: and they believed not for his wondrous works.
Malgré tout cela, ils continuèrent à pécher, Et ne crurent point à ses prodiges.
33 And their days were consumed in vanity, and their years in haste.
Il consuma leurs jours par la vanité, Et leurs années par une fin soudaine.
34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned, and came to him early in the morning.
Quand il les frappait de mort, ils le cherchaient, Ils revenaient et se tournaient vers Dieu;
35 And they remembered that God was their helper: and the most high God their redeemer.
Ils se souvenaient que Dieu était leur rocher, Que le Dieu Très-Haut était leur libérateur.
36 And they loved him with their mouth: and with their tongue they lied unto him:
Mais ils le trompaient de la bouche, Et ils lui mentaient de la langue;
37 But their heart was not right with him: nor were they counted faithful in his covenant.
Leur cœur n’était pas ferme envers lui, Et ils n’étaient pas fidèles à son alliance.
38 But he is merciful, and will forgive their sins: and will not destroy them. And many a time did he turn away his anger: and did not kindle all his wrath.
Toutefois, dans sa miséricorde, il pardonne l’iniquité et ne détruit pas; Il retient souvent sa colère et ne se livre pas à toute sa fureur.
39 And he remembered that they are flesh: a wind that goeth and returneth not.
Il se souvint qu’ils n’étaient que chair, Un souffle qui s’en va et ne revient pas.
40 How often did they provoke him in the desert: and move him to wrath in the place without water?
Que de fois ils se révoltèrent contre lui dans le désert! Que de fois ils l’irritèrent dans la solitude!
41 And they turned back and tempted God: and grieved the holy one of Israel.
Ils ne cessèrent de tenter Dieu, Et de provoquer le Saint d’Israël.
42 They remembered not his hand, in the day that he redeemed them from the hand of him that afflicted them:
Ils ne se souvinrent pas de sa puissance, Du jour où il les délivra de l’ennemi,
43 How he wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Tanis.
Des miracles qu’il accomplit en Égypte, Et de ses prodiges dans les campagnes de Tsoan.
44 And he turned their rivers into blood, and their showers that they might, not drink.
Il changea leurs fleuves en sang, Et ils ne purent en boire les eaux.
45 He sent amongst them divers sores of flies, which devoured them: and frogs which destroyed them.
Il envoya contre eux des mouches venimeuses qui les dévorèrent, Et des grenouilles qui les détruisirent.
46 And he gave up their fruits to the blast, and their labours to the locust.
Il livra leurs récoltes aux sauterelles, Le produit de leur travail aux sauterelles.
47 And he destroyed their vineyards with hail, and their mulberry trees with hoarfrost.
Il fit périr leurs vignes par la grêle, Et leurs sycomores par la gelée.
48 And he gave up their cattle to the hail, and their stock to the fire.
Il abandonna leur bétail à la grêle, Et leurs troupeaux au feu du ciel.
49 And he sent upon them the wrath of his indignation: indignation and wrath and trouble, which he sent by evil angels.
Il lança contre eux son ardente colère, La fureur, la rage et la détresse, Une troupe de messagers de malheur.
50 He made a way for a path to his anger: he spared not their souls from death, and their cattle he shut up in death.
Il donna libre cours à sa colère, Il ne sauva pas leur âme de la mort, Il livra leur vie à la mortalité;
51 And he killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt: the firstfruits of all their labour in the tabernacles of Cham.
Il frappa tous les premiers-nés en Égypte, Les prémices de la force sous les tentes de Cham.
52 And he took away his own people as sheep: and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
Il fit partir son peuple comme des brebis, Il les conduisit comme un troupeau dans le désert.
53 And he brought them out in hope, and they feared not: band the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
Il les dirigea sûrement, pour qu’ils fussent sans crainte, Et la mer couvrit leurs ennemis.
54 And he brought them into the mountain of his sanctuary: the mountain which his right hand had purchased. And he cast out the Gentiles before them: and by lot divided to them their land by a line of distribution.
Il les amena vers sa frontière sainte, Vers cette montagne que sa droite a acquise.
55 And he made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.
Il chassa devant eux les nations, Leur distribua le pays en héritage, Et fit habiter dans leurs tentes les tribus d’Israël.
56 Yet they tempted, and provoked the most high God: and they kept not his testimonies.
Mais ils tentèrent le Dieu Très-Haut et se révoltèrent contre lui, Et ils n’observèrent point ses ordonnances.
57 And they turned away, and kept not the covenant: even like their fathers they were turned aside as a crooked bow.
Ils s’éloignèrent et furent infidèles, comme leurs pères, Ils tournèrent, comme un arc trompeur.
58 They provoked him to anger on their hills: and moved him to jealousy with their graven things.
Ils l’irritèrent par leurs hauts lieux, Et ils excitèrent sa jalousie par leurs idoles.
59 God heard, and despised them, and he reduced Israel exceedingly as it were to nothing.
Dieu entendit, et il fut irrité; Il repoussa fortement Israël.
60 And he put away the tabernacle of Silo, his tabernacle where he dwelt among men.
Il abandonna la demeure de Silo, La tente où il habitait parmi les hommes;
61 And he delivered their strength into captivity: and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.
Il livra sa gloire à la captivité, Et sa majesté entre les mains de l’ennemi.
62 And he shut up his people under the sword: and he despised his inheritance.
Il mit son peuple à la merci du glaive, Et il s’indigna contre son héritage.
63 Fire consumed their young men: and their maidens were not lamented.
Le feu dévora ses jeunes hommes, Et ses vierges ne furent pas célébrées;
64 Their priests fell by the sword: and their widows did not mourn.
Ses sacrificateurs tombèrent par l’épée, Et ses veuves ne pleurèrent pas.
65 And the Lord was awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine.
Le Seigneur s’éveilla comme celui qui a dormi, Comme un héros qu’a subjugué le vin.
66 And he smote his enemies on the hinder parts: he put them to an everlasting reproach.
Il frappa ses adversaires en fuite, Il les couvrit d’un opprobre éternel.
67 And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph: and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
Cependant il rejeta la tente de Joseph, Et il ne choisit point la tribu d’Éphraïm;
68 But he chose the tribe of Juda, mount Sion which he loved.
Il préféra la tribu de Juda, La montagne de Sion qu’il aimait.
69 And he built his sanctuary as of unicorns, in the land which he founded for ever.
Et il bâtit son sanctuaire comme les lieux élevés, Comme la terre qu’il a fondée pour toujours.
70 And he chose his servant David, and took him from the hocks of sheep: he brought him from following the ewes great with young,
Il choisit David, son serviteur, Et il le tira des bergeries;
71 To feed Jacob his servant, and Israel his inheritance.
Il le prit derrière les brebis qui allaitent, Pour lui faire paître Jacob, son peuple, Et Israël, son héritage.
72 And he fed them in the innocence of his heart: and conducted them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Et David les dirigea avec un cœur intègre, Et les conduisit avec des mains intelligentes.
