Jonah 3
1 Then Yahweh said to Jonah again,
La parole de Yahweh fut adressée une seconde fois à Jonas, en ces termes:
2 “Go to that great city of Nineveh, and tell them the message that I gave you [previously].”
« Lève-toi, va à Ninive, la grande ville, et prêche-lui la prédication que je te dirai. »
3 So [this time] Jonah obeyed Yahweh, and he went to Nineveh. That city was so big that a person [had to walk] for three days to completely [go through] it.
Et Jonas se leva et alla à Ninive, selon la parole de Yahweh. Or Ninive était une ville grande devant Dieu, de trois journées de marche.
4 On the first day [after] Jonah [arrived], he [began walking] through the city. He was proclaiming (OR, At the end of that day he started proclaiming) to the people, “Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed {[God] will destroy Nineveh}!”
Jonas commença à pénétrer dans la ville la marche d’une journée; et il prêcha et dit: « Encore quarante jours et Ninive sera détruite!... »
5 The people of Nineveh believed God’s [message]. They [all] decided that everyone should begin (fasting/abstaining from food). So [everyone], including important people and unimportant people, [did that]. They [also] put on coarse cloth, [to show that they were sorry for having sinned].
Les gens de Ninive crurent en Dieu; ils publièrent un jeûne et se revêtirent de sacs, depuis le plus grand jusqu’au plus petit.
6 The King of Nineveh heard [what the people were doing]. [So] he took off his royal robes, and [he also] put on coarse cloth. He left his palace, and sat down where there were [cold] ashes, [to show that he also was sorry for having sinned].
La chose étant parvenue au roi de Ninive, il se leva de son trône, ôta son manteau, se couvrit d’un sac et s’assît sur la cendre.
7 Then he sent messengers to proclaim to [the people in] Nineveh: “My advisors and I have decreed that no one may eat or drink anything. Do not even allow your animals to eat or drink.
Et on cria dans Ninive et on dit, par décret du roi et de ses grands, ces paroles: « Que ni hommes ni bêtes, bœufs et brebis, ne goûtent rien, ne paissent pas et ne boivent pas d’eau;
8 Instead, every person must put on coarse cloth. [Put coarse cloth on] your animals, [too]. Then everyone must pray fervently to God. And everyone must stop doing evil actions/things, and stop acting violently [toward others].
qu’ils se couvrent de sacs, hommes et bêtes, qu’ils crient à Dieu avec force, et qu’ils se détournent chacun de sa mauvaise voie et des [actions] de violence que commettent ses mains!
9 Perhaps, [if everyone does that], God may change his mind and be merciful [to us], and stop being very angry with us, with the result that we will not die.”
Qui sait si Dieu ne viendra pas à se repentir, et s’il ne reviendra pas de l’ardeur de sa colère, en sorte que nous ne périssions pas? »
10 When they [all did that], God saw what they were doing, and he saw that they had stopped doing evil things. So [he pitied them, and] he did not get rid of them as he had threatened to do.
Dieu vit ce qu’ils faisaient, comment ils se détournaient de leur mauvaise voie; et Dieu se repentit du mal qu’il avait annoncé qu’il leur ferait; et il ne le fit pas.
