2 Kings 3
1 After Jehoshaphat had been ruling Judah for almost 18 years, Ahab’s son Joram became the king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria [city] for twelve years.
Joram, fils d’Achab, devint roi d’Israël à Samarie la dix-huitième année de Josaphat, roi de Juda; et il régna douze ans.
2 He did things that Yahweh considered to be evil, but he did not do as much evil as his father and mother had done, and he got rid of the pillar [for worshiping] Baal which his father had made.
Il fit ce qui est mal aux yeux de Yahweh, non pas toutefois comme son père et sa mère; car il fit disparaître la stèle de Baal, que son père avait faite.
3 But he committed the sins that [King] Jeroboam had committed and which led the Israeli people to sin, and he did not stop committing those sins.
Mais il s’attacha aux péchés de Jéroboam, fils de Nabat, qui avait fait pécher Israël, et il ne s’en détourna point.
4 Mesha, the king of Moab, raised sheep. [Every year] he was forced to give 100,000 lambs and the wool from 100,000 rams to the king of Israel, [because his kingdom was controlled by the king of Israel].
Mésa, roi de Moab, possédait des troupeaux, et il payait au roi d’Israël un tribut de cent mille agneaux et de cent mille béliers avec leurs toisons.
5 But after King Ahab died, Mesha rebelled against the king of Israel.
À la mort d’Achab, le roi de Moab se révolta contre le roi d’Israël.
6 So King Joram left Samaria and gathered together all his soldiers.
Le roi Joram sortit donc en ce jour-là de Samarie et passa en revue tout Israël.
7 Then he sent this message to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. So will your army join my army and fight against the army of Moab?” Jehoshaphat replied, “Yes, we will help you. We are ready to do whatever you want us to. My soldiers and my horses are ready to help you.”
S’étant mis en marche, il envoya dire à Josaphat, roi de Juda: « Le roi de Moab s’est révolté contre moi; viendras-tu avec moi attaquer Moab? » Josaphat répondit: « Je monterai; il en sera de moi comme de toi, de mon peuple comme de ton peuple, de mes chevaux comme de tes chevaux. »
8 He asked, “On which road shall we march to attack them?” Joram replied, “We will go [south to Jerusalem, where your army will join us. Then we will all go south of the Dead Sea, and then turn north] through the Edom Desert.”
Et il dit: « Par quel chemin monterons-nous? » Joram répondit: « Par le chemin du désert d’Edom. »
9 So the king of Israel [and his army] went with the kings of Judah and Edom [and their armies]. They marched for seven days. Then there was no water left for their soldiers or for their animals that carried supplies.
Le roi d’Israël, le roi de Juda et le roi d’Edom partirent. Après une marche de sept jours, il n’y eut point d’eau pour l’armée et pour les bêtes qui la suivaient.
10 The king of Israel exclaimed, “This is a terrible situation! [It seems that] Yahweh will allow the three of us to be captured by [the army of] [MTY] Moab!”
Alors le roi d’Israël dit: « Hélas! Yahweh a appelé ces trois rois pour les livrer aux mains de Moab! »
11 Jehoshaphat said, “Is there a prophet here who can ask Yahweh for us [what we should do]?” One of Joram’s army officers said, “Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is here. He was Elijah’s assistant.” [IDM]
Mais Josaphat dit: « N’y a-t-il ici aucun prophète de Yahweh, par qui nous puissions consulter Yahweh? » Un des serviteurs du roi d’Israël répondit et dit: « Il y a ici Élisée, fils de Saphat, qui versait l’eau sur les mains d’Élie. »
12 Jehoshaphat said, “[It will be good to ask him, because] he speaks what Yahweh tells him to say.” So those three kings went to Elisha.
Et Josaphat dit: « La parole de Yahweh est avec lui. » Le roi d’Israël, Josaphat, roi de Juda, et le roi d’Edom descendirent auprès de lui.
13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why do you come to me [RHQ]? Go and ask those prophets that your father and mother consulted!” But Joram replied, “No, [we want you to ask Yahweh, because it seems that] Yahweh is going to allow us three kings to be captured by the army of Moab.”
Élisée dit au roi d’Israël: « Que me veux-tu, toi? Va vers les prophètes de ton père et vers les prophètes de ta mère. » Et le roi d’Israël lui dit: « Non, car Yahweh a appelé ces trois rois pour les livrer entre les mains de Moab. »
14 Elisha replied, “I serve Yahweh, the commander of the armies of angels in heaven. As surely as he lives, if I did not respect Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not even think about doing anything to help you.
Élisée dit: « Yahweh des armées, devant qui je me tiens, est vivant! Si je n’avais égard à Josaphat, roi de Juda, je ne ferais aucune attention à toi et je ne te regarderais pas.
15 But, bring a musician to me.” [So they did that]. And when the musician played [on his harp], the power of Yahweh came on Elisha.
Maintenant, amenez-moi un joueur de harpe. » Et pendant que le joueur de harpe jouait, la main de Yahweh fut sur Élisée;
16 He said, “Yahweh says that he will cause this dry stream-bed to be full of water.
et il dit: « Ainsi dit Yahweh: Faites dans cette vallée des fosses et des fosses.
17 The result will be that your soldiers and your animals that carry supplies and your livestock will have plenty of water to drink.
Car ainsi dit Yahweh: Vous ne verrez point de vent et vous ne verrez point de pluie, et cette vallée se remplira d’eau, et vous boirez, vous, vos troupeaux et vos bêtes de somme.
18 That is not difficult for Yahweh to do. [But he will do more than that]. He will also enable you to defeat [the army of] Moab.
Mais cela est peu de chose aux yeux de Yahweh: il livrera Moab entre vos mains.
19 You will conquer all their beautiful cities, cities that have high walls around them. You must cut down all their fruit trees, stop water from flowing from their springs, and ruin their fertile fields by covering them with rocks.”
Vous frapperez toutes les villes fortes et toutes les villes de choix, vous abattrez tous les arbres fruitiers, vous boucherez toutes les sources d’eau, et vous désolerez, en les couvrant de pierres, tous les meilleurs champs. »
20 The next morning, at the time when they offered the sacrifices [of grain], they were surprised to see water flowing from Edom and covering the ground.
De fait le matin, à l’heure où l’on offre l’oblation, voici que l’eau arriva par le chemin d’Edom, et le pays fut rempli d’eau.
21 When the people of Moab heard that the three kings had come [with their armies] to fight against them, all the men who were able to fight in battles, from the youngest men to the oldest ones, were summoned, and they (took their positions/prepared to fight) at the [southern] border of their land.
Cependant, tous les Moabites ayant appris que les rois montaient pour les attaquer, on convoqua tous les hommes capables de ceindre le baudrier, et même au-delà, et ils se postèrent sur la frontière.
22 But when they rose early the next morning, they saw that the water across from them appeared to be as red as blood.
Ils se levèrent de bon matin et, quand le soleil brilla sur les eaux, les Moabites virent en face d’eux les eaux rouges comme du sang.
23 They exclaimed, “It is blood! The three enemy armies must have fought and killed each other! So let’s go and take everything that they have left!”
Ils dirent: « C’est du sang! Les rois sont détruits, ils se sont frappés les uns les autres; et maintenant Moabites, au pillage! »
24 But when they reached the area where the Israeli soldiers had set up their tents, the Israelis attacked the soldiers from Moab and forced them to retreat. The Israeli soldiers pursued the soldiers from Moab and killed many of them.
Et ils s’avancèrent vers le camp d’Israël. Mais les Israélites se levèrent et frappèrent Moab, qui prit la fuite devant eux. Pénétrant dans le pays, ils frappèrent Moab;
25 The Israelis also destroyed their cities. And whenever they passed fertile fields, they threw rocks on those fields, until the fields were covered with rocks. They stopped water from flowing from the springs and cut down the fruit trees. Finally, only [the capital city, ] Kir-Hareseth, remained. The Israeli soldiers who threw stones with slings surrounded the city and attacked it.
ils détruisirent les villes; chacun jetant sa pierre dans tous les meilleurs champs, ils les en remplirent; ils bouchèrent toutes les sources d’eau, ils abattirent tous les arbres fruitiers, au point que de Qir-Charoseth il ne resta que les pierres; les frondeurs l’avaient entourée et battue.
26 When the king of Moab realized that his army was being defeated, he took with him 700 men who fought with swords, and they tried to force a way through the Israeli lines of soldiers to escape to [get help from] the king of Syria, but they were unable to escape.
Quand le roi de Moab vit qu’il avait le dessous dans le combat, il prit avec lui sept cents hommes, l’épée nue à la main, pour se frayer un passage jusqu’au roi d’Edom; mais ils ne purent y réussir.
27 Then the king of Moab took his oldest son, who would have become the next king, and killed him and offered him for a sacrifice [to their god Chemosh], burning him on top of the city wall. The Israeli soldiers were horrified, with the result that they left that city and returned to their own country.
Prenant alors son fils premier-né, qui devait régner à sa place, il l’offrit en holocauste sur la muraille. Et une grande indignation s’empara d’Israël; et ils s’éloignèrent du roi de Moab et retournèrent dans leur pays.
