Acts 8
1 Then some men who revered God buried Stephen’s body in a tomb, and they mourned greatly and loudly for him. On that same day [people] started severely persecuting the believers [who were living] in Jerusalem. So most [of the believers] fled [to other places] throughout Judea and Samaria [provinces]. The apostles were the only [believers who remained in Jerusalem].
Saul avait approuvé le meurtre d’Étienne. Il y eut, ce jour-là, une grande persécution contre l’Église de Jérusalem; et tous, excepté les apôtres, se dispersèrent dans les contrées de la Judée et de la Samarie.
Des hommes pieux ensevelirent Étienne, et le pleurèrent à grand bruit.
3 While the people were killing Stephen, Saul was there approving of their killing Stephen. So Saul [also] began trying to destroy the group of believers. He entered houses one by one, he dragged away men and women [who believed in Jesus], and then he [arranged for] them to be put in prison.
Saul, de son côté, ravageait l’Église; pénétrant dans les maisons, il en arrachait hommes et femmes, et les faisait jeter en prison.
4 The believers who had left Jerusalem went to different places, where they continued preaching the message about Jesus.
Ceux qui avaient été dispersés allaient de lieu en lieu, annonçant la bonne nouvelle de la parole.
5 [One of those believers whose name was] Philip went down [from Jerusalem] to a city in Samaria [province]. There he was telling [the people that Jesus is] [MTY] the Messiah.
Philippe, étant descendu dans la ville de Samarie, y prêcha le Christ.
6 Many people there heard Philip [speak] and saw the miraculous things that he was doing. So they all (paid close attention to/listened carefully to) his words.
Les foules tout entières étaient attentives à ce que disait Philippe, lorsqu’elles apprirent et virent les miracles qu’il faisait.
7 For [example, when Philip commanded] evil spirits who controlled many people [that they should come out of them], they came out, while those spirits screamed. Also, many people who were paralyzed and [many others] who were lame were healed.
Car des esprits impurs sortirent de plusieurs démoniaques, en poussant de grands cris, et beaucoup de paralytiques et de boiteux furent guéris.
8 So [many people] [MTY] in that city greatly rejoiced.
Et il y eut une grande joie dans cette ville.
9 There was a man in that city whose name was Simon. He had been practicing sorcery for a long time, and he had been amazing the people in Samaria [province by doing that]. He continually claimed that he was a great/important person.
Il y avait auparavant dans la ville un homme nommé Simon, qui, se donnant pour un personnage important, exerçait la magie et provoquait l’étonnement du peuple de la Samarie.
10 All the people there, both ordinary and important people, listened to him. [Various ones of] them were saying, “This man works in extremely powerful ways [because] God has caused him to be a great [person].”
Tous, depuis le plus petit jusqu’au plus grand, l’écoutaient attentivement, et disaient: Celui-ci est la puissance de Dieu, celle qui s’appelle la grande.
11 They continued to listen to him carefully, because for a long time he had astonished them by practicing sorcery.
Ils l’écoutaient attentivement, parce qu’il les avait longtemps étonnés par ses actes de magie.
12 But then they believed Philip’s [message] when he preached to them about [how] God desires to rule [MET] [the lives of people who believe in him], and about Jesus being the Messiah [MTY]. Both the men and the women who believed in Jesus were baptized. {[Philip] was baptizing both the men and the women [who had come to believe in Jesus]}.
Mais, quand ils eurent cru à Philippe, qui leur annonçait la bonne nouvelle du royaume de Dieu et du nom de Jésus-Christ, hommes et femmes se firent baptiser.
13 Simon himself believed [Philip’s message] and, after he was baptized {after [Philip] baptized him}, he began to constantly accompany Philip. Simon was continually amazed because he often saw [Philip] doing many kinds of miraculous things.
Simon lui-même crut, et, après avoir été baptisé, il ne quittait plus Philippe, et il voyait avec étonnement les miracles et les grands prodiges qui s’opéraient.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that [many people] [PRS] [throughout] Samaria [district] had believed the message from God [about Jesus], they sent Peter and John there.
Les apôtres, qui étaient à Jérusalem, ayant appris que la Samarie avait reçu la parole de Dieu, y envoyèrent Pierre et Jean.
15 When Peter and John arrived in Samaria, they prayed for those [new believers] in order that the Holy Spirit’s [power] would come to them.
Ceux-ci, arrivés chez les Samaritains, prièrent pour eux, afin qu’ils reçussent le Saint-Esprit.
16 [Peter and John realized that] the Holy Spirit had not yet begun to empower any of them. They had been baptized {[Philip] had baptized them} [because they had believed] in [MTY] the Lord Jesus, [but they did not know about the Holy Spirit].
Car il n’était encore descendu sur aucun d’eux; ils avaient seulement été baptisés au nom du Seigneur Jésus.
17 [Then Peter and John] placed their hands on [the heads of] each person, and they received the [power of] [MTY] the Holy Spirit.
Alors Pierre et Jean leur imposèrent les mains, et ils reçurent le Saint-Esprit.
18 Simon saw [things that convinced him] that [God] had given the Spirit’s [power to people] as a result of the apostles placing their hands on them. So he offered [to give] money to the apostles,
Lorsque Simon vit que le Saint-Esprit était donné par l’imposition des mains des apôtres, il leur offrit de l’argent,
19 saying, “Enable me also to do what [you are doing], so that everyone on whom I place/put my hands may receive the Holy Spirit’s [power].”
en disant: Accordez-moi aussi ce pouvoir, afin que celui à qui j’imposerai les mains reçoive le Saint-Esprit.
20 But Peter said to him, “May you [(sg)] and your money go to hell, because you [mistakenly] think that you can buy [from us] what God [alone] gives to [people] (questioned)
Mais Pierre lui dit: Que ton argent périsse avec toi, puisque tu as cru que le don de Dieu s’acquérait à prix d’argent!
21 [God] has not authorized you to have any part of this ministry of giving [the Holy Spirit’s power], because he knows that you are not thinking rightly! (OR, because he knows that you are thinking completely wrongly.)
Il n’y a pour toi ni part ni lot dans cette affaire, car ton cœur n’est pas droit devant Dieu.
22 So stop thinking wickedly [like] that, and plead that the Lord, if he is willing, will forgive you [for what] you [wickedly] thought/planned [to do]
Repens-toi donc de ta méchanceté, et prie le Seigneur pour que la pensée de ton cœur te soit pardonnée, s’il est possible;
23 [Turn away from your evil ways], because I perceive that you [(sg)] are extremely envious of [us], and you [are] a slave of your [continual desire to do evil! God will certainly punish you severely]!”
car je vois que tu es dans un fiel amer et dans les liens de l’iniquité.
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord [God] that [he] will not do to me what you just said!”
Simon répondit: Priez vous-mêmes le Seigneur pour moi, afin qu’il ne m’arrive rien de ce que vous avez dit.
25 After [Peter and John] told [people there] what they knew personally [about the] Lord [Jesus] and declared to them the message about Jesus, they both returned to Jerusalem. [Along the way] they preached the good message [about Jesus to people] in many villages in Samaria [province].
Après avoir rendu témoignage à la parole du Seigneur, et après l’avoir prêchée, Pierre et Jean retournèrent à Jérusalem, en annonçant la bonne nouvelle dans plusieurs villages des Samaritains.
26 [One day] an angel whom the Lord [God] had sent commanded Philip, “Get ready and go south along the road that extends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” [That was] a road in a desert area.
Un ange du Seigneur, s’adressant à Philippe, lui dit: Lève-toi, et va du côté du midi, sur le chemin qui descend de Jérusalem à Gaza, celui qui est désert.
27 So Philip got ready and went [along that road]. Suddenly he met a man from Ethiopia. He was an important official who took care of all the funds for the queen [of] Ethiopia. [In his language people called their queen] Candace. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship [God],
Il se leva, et partit. Et voici, un Éthiopien, un eunuque, ministre de Candace, reine d’Éthiopie, et surintendant de tous ses trésors, venu à Jérusalem pour adorer,
28 and he was returning [home] and was seated [riding] in his chariot. [As he was riding], he was reading [out loud from] what the prophet Isaiah [had written] [MTY] [long ago].
s’en retournait, assis sur son char, et lisait le prophète Ésaïe.
29 [God’s] Spirit told Philip, “Go near to that chariot and keep walking close to [the man who is riding in] it!”
L’Esprit dit à Philippe: Avance, et approche-toi de ce char.
30 So Philip ran [to the chariot and kept running close to it]. Then he heard the official reading what the prophet Isaiah [had written]. He asked the man, “Do you [(sg)] understand what you are reading?”
Philippe accourut, et entendit l’Éthiopien qui lisait le prophète Ésaïe. Il lui dit: Comprends-tu ce que tu lis?
31 He answered Philip, “[No!] (I cannot possibly [understand it] if [there is] no one to explain it to me!/How can I [understand it] if [there is] no one to explain it to me?) [RHQ]” Acts 8:31b-35 Then the man said to Philip, “Please come up [and] sit beside me.” [So Philip did that].
Il répondit: Comment le pourrais-je, si quelqu’un ne me guide? Et il invita Philippe à monter et à s’asseoir avec lui.
32 The part of the Scriptures that the official was reading was this: He will [be silent when] they lead him away to kill him [like when] a sheep [is led away to be killed]. As a young sheep is silent when its wool is being cut off {someone cuts off its wool}, [similarly] he will not protest [MTY] [when people cause him to suffer].
Le passage de l’Écriture qu’il lisait était celui-ci: Il a été mené comme une brebis à la boucherie; Et, comme un agneau muet devant celui qui le tond, Il n’a point ouvert la bouche.
33 When he will be humiliated by being accused falsely {people will humiliate him [by accusing him falsely]}, [the rulers] (will not consider him innocent/will consider him guilty). No one will possibly be able to tell about his descendants, because he will be killed {people will kill him} without him having [any descendants] on the earth.
Dans son humiliation, son jugement a été levé. Et sa postérité, qui la dépeindra? Car sa vie a été retranchée de la terre.
34 The official asked Philip [about these words that he was reading], “Tell me, who was the prophet writing about? [Was he writing] about himself or about someone else?”
L’eunuque dit à Philippe: Je te prie, de qui le prophète parle-t-il ainsi? Est-ce de lui-même, ou de quelque autre?
35 So Philip began [to explain] that Scripture passage. He told him the good message about [MTY] Jesus. [So the official understood and believed in Jesus].
Alors Philippe, ouvrant la bouche et commençant par ce passage, lui annonça la bonne nouvelle de Jésus.
36 While they were traveling along the road, they came to [a place where there was a pond of] water [near the road]. Then the official said [to Philip], “Look, [there is a pond of] water! (I would like you to baptize me, because I do not know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent [you] from baptizing me.}/Do you know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent [you] from baptizing me}?) [RHQ]”
Comme ils continuaient leur chemin, ils rencontrèrent de l’eau. Et l’eunuque dit: Voici de l’eau; qu’est-ce qui empêche que je sois baptisé?
Philippe dit: Si tu crois de tout ton cœur, cela est possible. L’eunuque répondit: Je crois que Jésus-Christ est le Fils de Dieu.
38 So the official told [the driver] to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the official went down into the [pond of] water, and [Philip] baptized him.
Il fit arrêter le char; Philippe et l’eunuque descendirent tous deux dans l’eau, et Philippe baptisa l’eunuque.
39 When they came up out of the water, suddenly God’s Spirit took Philip away. The official never saw Philip again. But [although he never saw Philip again], the official continued going along the road, very happy [that God had saved him].
Quand ils furent sortis de l’eau, l’Esprit du Seigneur enleva Philippe, et l’eunuque ne le vit plus. Tandis que, joyeux, il poursuivait sa route,
40 Philip then realized [that the Spirit had miraculously taken him to] Azotus [town]. While he traveled around [in that region], he continued proclaiming the message [about Jesus] in all the towns [between Azotus and Caesarea. And he was still proclaiming] it when he finally arrived in Caesarea [city].
Philippe se trouva dans Azot, d’où il alla jusqu’à Césarée, en évangélisant toutes les villes par lesquelles il passait.
