< 2 Chronicles 14 >
1 When Abijah died, he was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. His son Asa became the king. While Asa was ruling, there was peace in Judah for ten years.
Abia se coucha avec ses pères, et on l'enterra dans la ville de David. Asa, son fils, régna à sa place; de son temps, le pays se reposa pendant dix ans.
2 Asa did things that Yahweh his God considers to be right and good.
Asa fit ce qui est bien et droit aux yeux de Yahweh, son Dieu. Il fit disparaître les autels de l'étranger et les hauts lieux,
3 His workers got rid of the altars to worship foreign gods that were on the high hills. They smashed the sacred stone pillars and cut down the poles for worshiping [the goddess] Asherah.
il brisa les stèles et coupa les aschérahs.
4 Asa commanded the people of Judah to worship [only] Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors worshiped, and to obey his laws and commands.
Il ordonna à Juda de rechercher Yahweh, le Dieu de ses pères, et d'accomplir la loi et le précepte.
5 His workers destroyed all the shrines on the hilltops and the altars for burning incense [to idols] in every town in Judah. As a result, there was peace while Asa ruled the kingdom [of Judah].
Il fit disparaître de toutes les villes de Juda les hauts lieux et les statues; et le royaume fut en repos devant lui.
6 His workers built cities and constructed walls around them. No army attacked Judah during that time, because Yahweh enabled them to have peace.
Il bâtit des villes fortes en Juda; car le pays était en repos, et il n'y eut pas de guerre contre lui pendant ces années là, parce que Yahweh lui donna du repos.
7 Asa said to the people of Judah, “We should protect these towns by building walls around them, with watchtowers and gates that have bars. This country still belongs to us because we have requested Yahweh our God to help us. We requested him for his help, and he has given us peace in our entire country.” So they built buildings and prospered.
Il dit à Juda: " Bâtissons ces villes, entourons-les de murs, de tours, de portes et de serrures; le pays est encore ouvert devant nous; car nous avons recherché Yahweh, notre Dieu; nous l'avons recherché, et il nous a donné du repos de tous cotés. " Ils bâtirent donc et réussirent.
8 Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah. They all carried large shields and spears. He also had 280,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin [in his army]. They carried [smaller] shields, and bows [and arrows]. They were all brave soldiers.
Asa avait une armée de trois cent mille hommes de Juda, portant le bouclier et la lance, et de deux cent quatre-vingt mille de Benjamin, portant le bouclier et tirant de l'arc, tous vaillants hommes.
9 Zerah, a man from Ethiopia/Sudan, marched with a huge army and 300 chariots to attack [the army of Judah and Benjamin]. They went as far as [the town of] Mareshah [about 25 miles/southwest of Jerusalem].
Zara, l'éthiopien, sortit contre eux avec une armée d'un million d'hommes et trois cents chars, et il s'avança jusqu'à Marésa.
10 Asa went [with his army] to fight against them, and both armies took their positions in the Zephathah Valley.
Asa sortit contre lui, et ils se rangèrent en bataille dans la vallée de Séphata, près de Marésa.
11 Then Asa cried out to Yahweh his God, saying, “Yahweh, there is no one like you who can help those who have very little power to resist a mighty army. Yahweh our God, help us, because we are relying on you; and trusting in you we have come [to fight] against this huge army. Yahweh, you are our God; do not allow anyone to defeat you.”
Asa cria vers Yahweh, son Dieu, et dit: " Yahweh, vous pouvez secourir celui qui est faible aussi facilement que celui qui est fort; secourez-nous, Yahweh, notre Dieu! Car c'est sur vous que nous nous appuyons, et c'est en votre nom que nous sommes venus contre cette multitude. Yahweh, vous êtes notre Dieu: qu'un homme ne l'emporte pas contre vous! "
12 Then Yahweh enabled Asa and the army of Judah to defeat the army from Ethiopia. They fled,
Yahweh frappa les Ethiopiens devant Asa et devant Juda, et les Ethiopiens prirent la fuite.
13 and Asa and his army pursued them [to the southwest] as far as Gerar. A huge number of the soldiers from Ethiopia were killed, with the result that those [who were not killed] were unable to fight any more. They were greatly defeated by Yahweh and his army, and the men of Judah carried away a great amount of their possessions.
Asa et le peuple qui était avec lui les poursuivirent jusqu'à Gérare, et il tomba un si grand nombre d'Ethiopiens, qu'il n'y eut plus pour eux espoir de rétablissement, car ils furent brisés devant Yahweh et devant son camp. Asa et son peuple firent un très grand butin;
14 The men of Judah were able to destroy the people in villages near Gerar because Yahweh had caused the people there to become terrified [and unable to fight]. The army of Judah took away all the valuable things from those villages.
ils frappèrent toutes les villes autour de Gérare, car la terreur de Yahweh était sur elles; ils pillèrent toutes les villes, car il s'y trouvait un grand butin.
15 They also attacked the places where the local people who took care of domestic animals had set up their tents, and they took away big herds of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
Ils frappèrent aussi les tentes des troupeaux, et ils capturèrent un grand nombre de brebis et des chameaux; et ils s'en revinrent à Jérusalem.