< Judges 15 >
1 But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
Au bout d’un certain temps, à l’époque de la récolte des blés, Samson voulut revoir sa femme et lui apporta un jeune chevreau, en disant: "Je désire aller auprès de ma femme, dans sa chambre"; mais le père de sa femme ne lui permit pas d’y entrer.
2 And her father said, I truly thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray you, instead of her.
"J’Ai pensé sérieusement, dit-il, que tu l’avais prise en haine, et je l’ai donnée à l’un de tes compagnons. Du reste, sa sœur cadette est mieux qu’elle, prends-la à sa place."
3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.
"Cela étant, répondit Samson, les Philistins ne pourront s’en prendre à moi si je leur fais du mal."
4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the middle between two tails.
Là-dessus il s’en alla prendre trois cents chacals, se munit de torches, et, attachant les animaux queue à queue, fixa une torche entre chaque paire de queues;
5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.
puis, ayant mis le feu aux torches, il lâcha les chacals dans les blés des Philistins et les incendia, blés en meule et blés sur pied, et jusqu’aux plants d’oliviers.
6 Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
Les Philistins demandèrent: "Qui a fait cela?" On leur dit: "C’Est Samson, le gendre du Timnite, parce que celui-ci a pris sa femme et l’a donnée à son compagnon." Et ils allèrent, et ils brûlèrent cette femme avec son père.
7 And Samson said to them, Though you have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
Samson leur dit: "Puisque vous agissez de la sorte, il faut que je me venge sur vous-mêmes, et alors seulement je serai tranquille."
8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelled in the top of the rock Etam.
Et il les battit dos et ventre, ce fut une défaite considérable, après quoi il se retira dans un creux de rocher près d’Etam.
9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
Les Philistins montèrent alors au pays de Juda, y établirent leur camp et se déployèrent vers Léhi.
10 And the men of Judah said, Why are you come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he has done to us.
Les hommes de Juda leur dirent: "Pourquoi venez-vous nous attaquer?" Ils répondirent: "C’Est pour prendre Samson que nous sommes venus, voulant lui rendre le mal qu’il nous a fait."
11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Know you not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that you have done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them.
Alors trois mille hommes de Juda descendirent au creux du rocher d’Etam, et dirent à Samson: "Ne sais-tu pas que les Philistins sont nos maîtres? Qu’est-ce donc que tu nous as fait là!" Il répondit: "Je les ai traités comme ils m’ont traité."
12 And they said to him, We are come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me, that you will not fall on me yourselves.
Ils reprirent: "Nous sommes venus pour t’enchaîner et te livrer aux Philistins." Et Samson leur dit: "Jurez-moi que vous ne voulez point me frapper!"
13 And they spoke to him, saying, No; but we will bind you fast, and deliver you into their hand: but surely we will not kill you. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
"Nullement, lui dirent-ils; nous voulons seulement te lier et te livrer à eux, mais nous ne te ferons pas mourir." Et ils le lièrent avec deux cordes neuves, et l’emmenèrent hors du rocher.
14 And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily on him, and the cords that were on his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
Comme il arrivait à Léhi et que les Philistins l’accueillaient avec des cris de triomphe, l’esprit divin le saisit, et les cordes qui serraient ses bras devinrent comme du lin roussi au feu, et les liens tombèrent de ses bras.
15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
Apercevant une mâchoire d’âne encore fraîche, il avança la main et s’en saisit, et en frappa un millier d’hommes.
16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps on heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
Et Samson s’écria: "Une troupe, deux troupes, vaincues par une mâchoire d’âne! Par une mâchoire d’âne, mille hommes en déroute!…"
17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.
En achevant ces mots il jeta la mâchoire à terre; et l’on appela ce lieu Ramath-Léhi.
18 And he was sore thirsty, and called on the LORD, and said, You have given this great deliverance into the hand of your servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
Comme il était fort altéré, il invoqua l’Eternel en disant: "Toi qui as assuré à la main de ton serviteur cette grande victoire, le laisseras-tu maintenant mourir de soif et tomber au pouvoir des incirconcis?"
19 But God split an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water out of there; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: why he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.
Dieu fendit la roche concave de Léhi, et il en sortit de l’eau; Samson but, revint à lui et fut réconforté. De là cette source s’est appelée, jusqu’à ce jour, la Source de l’Invocateur à Léhi.
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Samson gouverna Israël, à l’époque des Philistins, vingt années.