Numbers 23
1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”
Alors Balaam dit à Balak: "Dresse-moi ici sept autels, et prépare-moi ici sept taureaux et sept béliers."
2 So Balak did as Balaam requested. Then Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on every altar.
Balak fit ce qu’avait dit Balaam; puis Balak et Balaam offrirent un taureau et un bélier sur chaque autel.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand at your burnt offering and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” So he went away to a hilltop with no trees.
Balaam dit à Balak: "Demeure près de ton holocauste; moi je m’en irai: peut-être l’Éternel s’offrira-t-il à ma rencontre, et, quoi qu’il me révèle, je t’en ferai part." Et il s’en alla dans la solitude.
4 While he was on the hilltop, God met him, and Balaam said to him, “I have built seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each one.”
Dieu se présenta à Balaam, qui lui dit: "J’Ai dressé les sept autels, et j’ai offert un taureau et un bélier sur chaque autel."
5 Yahweh put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak and speak to him.”
L’Éternel mit sa parole dans la bouche de Balaam, et lui dit: "Retourne vers Balak, et tu parleras de la sorte…"
6 So Balaam returned to Balak, who was standing by his burnt offering, and all the leaders of Moab were with him.
II retourna vers lui et le trouva debout près de son holocauste, lui et tous les princes de Moab.
7 Then Balaam began to speak his prophecy and said, “Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. 'Come, curse Jacob for me,' he said. 'Come, defy Israel.'
Et il proféra son oracle en disant: "II me fait venir d’Aram, Balak roi de Moab; il m’appelle des monts de l’orient: "Viens maudire pour moi Jacob! Oui, viens menacer Israël!"
8 How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I oppose those whom Yahweh does not oppose?
Comment maudirais-je celui que Dieu n’a point maudit? Comment menacerai-je, quand l’Éternel est sans colère?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him; from the hills I look at him. See, there is a people who live alone and do not consider themselves as just an ordinary nation.
Oui, je le vois de la cime des rochers, et du haut des collines, je le découvre: ce peuple, il vit solitaire, iI ne se confondra point avec les nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even only one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of a righteous person, and let my life's end be like his!”
Qui peut compter la poussière de Jacob, nombrer la multitude d’Israël? Puissé-je mourir comme meurent ces justes, et puisse ma fin ressembler à la leur!".
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have blessed them.”
Balak dit à Balaam: "Que m’as-tu fait! J’Ai eu recours à toi pour maudire mes ennemis, et voilà que tu les bénis, au contraire!"
12 Balaam answered and said, “Should I not be careful to say only what Yahweh puts in my mouth?”
Mais il répondit: "Certes, ce que l’Éternel met dans ma bouche, ne dois-je pas fidèlement le redire?"
13 So Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the nearest of them, not all of them. There you will curse them for me.”
Balak lui dit: "Viens, je te prie, avec moi dans un autre lieu, d’où tu pourras voir ce peuple: tu n’en verras que les derniers rangs, tu ne le verras pas tout entier. Et maudis-le moi de là."
14 So he took Balaam into the field of Zophim, to the top of Mount Pisgah, and built seven more altars. He offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
Il le conduisit au plateau de Çofîm, sur la crête du Pisga; il y dressa sept autels, et offrit sur chaque autel un taureau et un bélier.
15 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet with Yahweh over there.”
Balaam dit à Balak: "Tiens-toi ici, près de ton holocauste, et moi, j’attendrai là-bas la rencontre."
16 So Yahweh met Balaam and put a message in his mouth. He said, “Return to Balak and give him my message.”
L’Éternel se présenta à Balaam, inspira un discours à ses lèvres, lui disant: "Va rejoindre Balak, et tu parleras ainsi…"
17 Balaam returned to him, and look, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. Then Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh said?”
Il revint près de lui, et le trouva debout près de son holocauste, les princes de Moab à ses côtés. Et Balak lui demanda: "Qu’a dit l’Éternel?"
18 Balaam began his prophecy. He said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear. Listen to me, you son of Zippor.
Il proféra son oracle en ces termes: "Prépare-toi, Balak, à m’entendre; prête-moi l’oreille, fils de Cippor!
19 God is not a man, that he should lie, Or a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he promised anything without doing it? Has he said he would do something without carrying it out?
Dieu n’est pas un mortel, pour mentir, ni un fils d’Adam, pour qu’il se ravise; est-ce lui qui parle et ne tient point parole? Qui affirme et n’exécute point?
20 Look, I have been commanded to bless. God has given a blessing, and I cannot reverse it.
Oui, j’ai reçu mission de bénir; il a béni, je ne puis le dédire.
21 He has seen no hardship in Jacob or trouble in Israel. Yahweh their God is with them, and shouts for their king are among them.
Il n’aperçoit point d’iniquité en Jacob, il ne voit point de mal en Israël: l’Éternel, son Dieu, est avec lui, et l’amitié d’un roi le protège.
22 God brought them out of Egypt with strength like that of a wild ox.
Délivré, par ce Dieu, de l’Egypte, il a le vigoureux élan du réêm.
23 There is no sorcery that works against Jacob, and no fortune-telling harms Israel. Instead, it must be said about Jacob and Israel, 'Look what God has done!'
Il ne faut point de magie à Jacob, point de sortilège à Israël: ils apprennent à point nommé, Jacob et Israël, ce que Dieu a résolu.
24 Look, the people rise like a lioness, as a lion emerges and attacks. He does not lie down until he eats his victim and drinks the blood of what he has killed.”
Voyez! Ce peuple se lève comme un léopard, il se dresse comme un lion; il ne se reposera qu’assouvi de carnage, qu’enivré du sang de ses victimes!"
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them or bless them at all.”
Balak dit à Balaam: "Ne le maudis point, soit, mais ne le bénis point non plus."
26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you that I must say all that Yahweh tells me to say?”
Balaam répondit à Balak: "Ne t’avais-je pas fait cette déclaration: tout ce que dira l’Éternel, je dois le faire?"
27 So Balak replied to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God for you to curse them there for me.”
Et Balak dit à Balaam: "Viens donc, que je te conduise à une autre place; peut-être ce Dieu trouvera-t-il bon que, de là, tu me les maudisses."
28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which looks down on the wilderness.
Et Balak emmena Balaam sur la cime du Peor, qui domine la surface du désert.
29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”
Balaam dit à Balak: "Construis-moi ici sept autels, et prépare-moi ici sept taureaux et sept béliers."
30 So Balak did as Balaam had said; he offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
Balak fit ce qu’avait dit Balaam, et il offrit un taureau et un bélier sur chaque autel.
