Jeremiah 48
1 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Moab: Disaster is coming to the town of Nebo, because it will be destroyed. The town of Kiriathaim will be captured and humiliated; the fortress will be torn down and its people shamed.
Et le septième mois, Ismaël fils de Nathanias, fils d'Eléasa, de la famille royale, vint, avec dix hommes chez Godolias à Masphath, et ils y mangèrent ensemble.
2 No one praises Moab anymore. People in Heshbon are plotting, “We will destroy Moab as a nation. People of the town of Madmen, we will silence you too—you will be attacked by swords and chased down.”
Et Ismaël et ses dix hommes se levèrent, et ils tuèrent Godolias, que le roi de Babylone avait fait gouverneur de la terre,
3 Listen to the cries from Horonaim: “Violence and terrible destruction!”
Et tous les Juifs qui étaient avec lui, et tous les Chaldéens qui se trouvaient là.
4 Moab will be smashed. Hear the little ones crying for help.
Et le lendemain de la mort de Godolias, que nul ne savait encore,
5 People weep as they go up to Luhith; and as they come down to Horonaim their sad cries at the destruction echo around.
Quatre-vingts hommes vinrent de Sichem, de Salem et de Samarie, le menton rasé, les vêlements déchirés, se frappant la poitrine, portant dans leurs mains de l'encens et de la manne, pour les offrir dans le temple du Seigneur.
6 Run away! Save yourselves! Be like a scrawny tamarisk tree in the desert!
Et Ismaël sortit de la ville à leur rencontre, et ils marchaient et ils pleuraient, et il leur dit: Entrez chez Godolias.
7 It's because you put your confidence in what you do and what you own that you too will be captured. Your god Chemosh will be taken into exile along with his priests and leaders.
Et lorsqu'ils furent au milieu de la ville il les égorgea et les jeta dans un puits.
8 The invaders will attack every town; not a single one will escape destruction. The valley will be ruined, and the plain will be destroyed, for the Lord has spoken.
Mais il s'en trouva dix qui dirent à Ismaël: Ne nous tue pas; car nous avons dans les champs des trésors, du froment, de l'orge et de l'huile. Et il passa outre, et il ne les tua pas au milieu de leurs frères.
9 Put up gravestones in Moab, because the country will become a wasteland. Its towns will be turned into ruins where no one lives.
Or le puits où Ismaël jeta ceux qu'il avait tués, c'est le grand puits que fit le roi Asa, par crainte de Baasa, roi d'Israël, et qu'Ismaël remplit de cadavres.
10 A curse on those who don't do the Lord's work properly. A curse on those who don't use their swords to kill.
Et Ismaël emmena tout le peuple qui était resté en Masphath, et les filles du roi, que le chef des cuisines avait confiées à Godolias, fils d'Achicam; et il partit pour la terre au delà des fils d'Ammon.
11 The people of Moab have been living comfortably since the country was founded. They're like wine that hasn't been disturbed, not poured from one container to another. So the taste and fragrance remains the same. They haven't experienced exile.
Or Joanan, fils de Garée, et tous les chefs de l'armée qui étaient avec lui, apprirent tout le mal qu'avait fait Ismaël.
12 But watch out, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will send them “winemakers” who will pour them out like wine. They will empty out the Moabites, and smash them like jars.
Et ils mirent en marche toute leur armée; et ils partirent pour le combattre, et ils l'atteignirent près des grandes eaux de Gabaon.
13 Then the Moabites will feel let down by Chemosh, just as the people of Israel felt let down when they trusted in the golden calf idol at Bethel.
Et quand tout le peuple qui était avec Ismaël vit Joanan et les chefs de l'armée qu'il commandait,
14 How on earth can you Moabites say, “We're heroes, strong men ready to fight in battle”?
Ils retournèrent auprès de Joanan.
15 Moab is going to be destroyed and its towns conquered. Its finest young men will be killed, declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
Mais Ismaël échappa avec huit hommes, et s'enfuit chez les fils d'Ammon.
16 Moab's doom is about to happen; destruction is rushing down on them.
Et Joanan et les officiers de l'armée qui étaient avec lui recueillirent tous les restes du peuple, qui s'étaient éloignés d'Ismaël, et les hommes capables de porter les armes, ainsi que les femmes, le butin et les eunuques, et ils les ramenèrent à Gabaon.
17 Mourn for them, all you surrounding nations, everyone who knows them! Let others know how the great scepter has been smashed, the rod that once proudly ruled!
Et ils marchèrent, et ils firent halte à Gaberochamea, près de Bethléhem, pour se rendre en Égypte,
18 Come down from your glory and sit on the dusty ground, you who live in Dibon, for Moab's destroyer will come and attack you, destroying your fortresses.
Loin des Chaldéens; car ils en avaient crainte, parce que Ismaël avait tué Godolias, que le roi de Babylone avait fait gouverneur de la terre.
19 Stand at the roadside and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the men and women who are running away to escape, “What's happened?”
20 Moab has been humiliated because it has been defeated. Weep and wail! Shout out beside the River Arnon that Moab has been destroyed!
21 Punishment has arrived on the towns of the high plain—on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
22 on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
23 on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
24 on Kerioth, Bozrah, and on all the towns of Moab, whether far away or nearby.
25 Moab's strength is gone; their power has been broken, declares the Lord.
26 Make the people of Moab drunk, because they defied the Lord. Then they will roll around in their own vomit, as people laugh at them.
27 Didn't you Moabites used to ridicule the Israelites? But they weren't ever found to be thieves, were they? Yet whenever you talk about them, you shake your heads in contempt.
28 You people living in Moab, run from your towns, go and live among the rocks. Be like a dove nesting on the cliffs at the entrance to a ravine.
29 We know all about how pompous Moabites are, how extremely proud and conceited they are, arrogantly thinking so highly of themselves.
30 I'm well aware of how disrespectful they are, declares the Lord, but it doesn't matter. They make empty boasts, and what they do is just as empty.
31 So I will weep for Moab; I will cry out for all the Moabites; I will mourn for the people of Kir-heres.
32 will weep for you, people of the town of Sibmah with its vineyards, more than I weep for the town of Jazer. Your vines have spread to the sea, and all the way to Jazer. But the destroyer has stolen your harvest of summer fruit and grapes.
33 There's no more celebration and happiness in Moab's orchards and fields. I have stopped the grape juice flowing from the winepresses. No one shouts for joy as they tread out the grapes. No, their shouts now are not because of joy!
34 Cries for help reach from Heshbon to Elealeh and all the way to Jahaz. They're shouting out from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah, for even the water in the Nimrim Brook has dried up.
35 I'm going to finish off those in Moab who sacrifice on the pagan high places and burn incense to their gods, declares the Lord.
36 So I mourn inside like a flute playing a sad song for Moab; like a flute playing a funeral tune for the people of Kir-heres, because they've lost everything of value that they worked for.
37 As signs of their mourning, every head is shaved, every beard is trimmed, every hand has a gash, and every waist is wearing sackcloth.
38 Everyone is mourning on all the flat roofs and streets of Moab, because I have smashed the country like a jar nobody wants, declares the Lord.
39 Moab is completely shattered! Listen to them cry! See how the Moabites turn away in shame! All the surrounding nations are horrified at what's happened to the country, and ridicule its people.
40 This is what the Lord says: Watch as an enemy like an eagle swoops down, spreading its wings as it attacks Moab.
41 Kirioth has been conquered, and the fortresses captured. At that time Moab's warriors will be as scared as a woman in labor.
42 Moab will cease to exist as a nation because they defied the Lord.
43 You people living in Moab, what's waiting for you are terror, traps, and snares, declares the Lord.
44 You will run away in terror and fall into a trap, and when you climb out of the trap, you'll be caught in a snare. I will do this to the Moabites at the time when they're punished, declares the Lord.
45 Those who run away will be left defenseless in Heshbon where they went for protection, because fire blazes out from Heshbon, a fire from where Sihon once reigned. It burns up the whole country of Moab and its defiant people.
46 What a disaster has come to you Moabites! The people of Chemosh have been wiped out. Your sons and daughters have been taken prisoner and have gone into exile.
47 But even so, later on, I will bring the people of Moab back from exile, declares the Lord. This is the end of the description of the judgment on Moab.
