Psalms 78
1 A maschil of Asaph. Hear my teaching, my people, listen to the words of my mouth.
Cantique d’Asaph. Ecoute, ô mon peuple, mon enseignement; prête l’oreille aux paroles de ma bouche.
2 I will open my mouth in parables; I will sing about hidden things about the past.
Je vais ouvrir ma bouche pour dire des sentences, je publierai les mystères des temps anciens.
3 These are things that we have heard and learned, things that our ancestors have told us.
Ce que nous avons entendu, ce que nous avons appris, ce que nos pères nous ont raconté,
4 We will not keep them from their descendants. We will tell the next generation about the praiseworthy deeds of Yahweh, his strength, and the wonders that he has done.
nous ne le cacherons pas à leurs enfants; nous dirons à la génération future les louanges de Yahweh, et sa puissance, et les prodiges qu’il a opérés.
5 For he established covenant decrees in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel. He commanded our ancestors that they were to teach them to their children.
Il a mis une règle en Jacob, il a établi une loi en Israël, qu’il a enjoint à nos pères d’apprendre à leurs enfants,
6 He commanded this so that the generation to come might know his decrees, the children not yet born, who should tell them in turn to their own children.
pour qu’elles soient connues des générations suivantes, des enfants qui naîtraient et qui se lèveraient, pour les raconter à leur tour à leurs enfants.
7 Then they would place their hope in God and not forget his deeds but keep his commandments.
Ainsi ils mettraient en Dieu leur confiance, ils n’oublieraient pas les œuvres de Dieu, et ils observeraient ses préceptes;
8 Then they would not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose hearts were not right, and whose spirits were not committed and faithful to God.
ils ne seraient point, comme leurs pères, une race indocile et rebelle, une race au cœur volage, dont l’esprit n’est pas fidèle à Dieu.
9 The Ephraimites were armed with bows, but they turned back on the day of battle.
Les fils d’Ephraïm, archers habiles à tirer de l’arc, ont tourné le dos au jour du combat;
10 They did not keep the covenant with God, and they refused to obey his law.
ils n’ont pas gardé l’alliance de Dieu, ils ont refusé de marcher selon sa loi;
11 They forgot his deeds, the wonderful things that he had shown them.
ils ont mis en oubli ses grandes œuvres, et les merveilles qu’il leur avait montrées.
12 They forgot the marvelous things he did in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the land of Zoan.
Devant leurs pères, il avait fait des prodiges, au pays de l’Égypte, dans les campagnes de Tanis.
13 He divided the sea and led them across it; he made the waters to stand like walls.
Il ouvrit la mer pour les faire passer; Il retint les eaux dressées comme un monceau
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud and all the night with the light of fire.
Il les conduisit le jour par la nuée, et toute la nuit par un feu brillant.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, and he gave them water abundantly, enough to fill the depths of the sea.
Il fendit les rochers dans le désert, et il donna à boire comme des flots abondants.
16 He made streams flow out of the rock and made the water flow like rivers.
Du rocher il fit jaillir des ruisseaux, et couler l’eau par torrents.
17 Yet they continued to sin against him, rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
Mais ils continuèrent de pécher contre lui, de se révolter contre le Très-Haut dans le désert.
18 They challenged God in their hearts by asking for food to satisfy their appetites.
Ils tentèrent Dieu dans leur cœur, en demandant de la nourriture selon leur convoitise.
19 They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really lay out a table for us in the wilderness?
Ils parlèrent contre Dieu et dirent: « Dieu pourra-t-il dresser une table dans le désert?
20 See, when he struck the rock, waters gushed out and streams overflowed. But can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?”
Voici qu’il a frappé le rocher, et des eaux ont coulé, et des torrents se sont répandus; pourra-t-il aussi nous donner du pain ou bien procurer de la viande à son peuple? »
21 When Yahweh heard this, he was angry; so his fire burned against Jacob, and his anger attacked Israel,
Yahweh entendit et il fut irrité, un feu s’alluma contre Jacob, et la colère s’éleva contre Israël,
22 because they did not believe in God and did not trust in his salvation.
parce qu’ils n’avaient pas eu foi en Dieu et n’avaient pas espéré en son secours.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of the sky.
Cependant il commanda aux nuées d’en haut, et il ouvrit les portes du ciel;
24 He rained down manna for them to eat, and gave them the grain from heaven.
il fit pleuvoir sur eux la manne pour les nourrir, et leur donna le froment du ciel.
25 People ate the bread of angels. He sent them food in abundance.
Chacun mangea le pain des forts, Il leur envoya de la nourriture à satiété.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky, and by his power he guided the south wind.
Il fit souffler dans le ciel le vent d’orient, il amena par sa puissance le vent du midi;
27 He rained down meat on them like dust, birds as numerous as the sands of the sea.
il fit pleuvoir sur eux la viande comme de la poussière, et les oiseaux ailés comme le sable des mers.
28 They fell in the middle of their camp, all around their tents.
Il les fit tomber au milieu de leur camp, autour de leurs tentes.
29 So they ate and were full. He gave them what they craved.
Ils mangèrent et se rassasièrent à l’excès; Dieu leur donna ce qu’ils avaient désiré.
30 But they had not yet filled up; their food was still in their mouths.
Ils n’avaient pas encore satisfait leur convoitise, et leur nourriture était encore à leur bouche,
31 Then God's anger attacked them and killed the strongest of them. He brought down the young men of Israel.
quand la colère de Dieu s’éleva contre eux; il frappa de mort les mieux repus, il abattit les jeunes hommes d’Israël.
32 Despite this, they continued to sin and did not believe his wonderful deeds.
Après tout cela, ils péchèrent encore, et n’eurent pas foi dans ses prodiges.
33 Therefore God cut short their days; their years were filled with terror.
Alors il dissipa leurs jours comme un souffle, et leurs années par une fin soudaine.
34 Whenever God afflicted them, they would start to seek him, and they would return and look earnestly for him.
Quand il les frappait de mort, ils le cherchaient, ils revenaient, empressés à retrouver Dieu,
35 They would call to mind that God was their rock and that the Most High God was their rescuer.
ils se rappelaient que Dieu était leur rocher, et le Dieu Très-Haut leur libérateur.
36 But they would flatter him with their mouth and lie to him with their words.
Mais ils le trompaient par leurs paroles, et leur langue lui mentait;
37 For their hearts were not firmly fixed on him, and they were not faithful to his covenant.
leur cœur n’était pas ferme avec lui, ils n’étaient pas fidèles à son alliance.
38 Yet he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. Yes, many times he held back his anger and did not stir up all his wrath.
Mais lui est miséricordieux: il pardonne le péché et ne détruit pas; souvent il retint sa colère, et ne se livra pas à toute sa fureur.
39 He called to mind that they were made of flesh, a wind that passes away and does not return.
Il se souvenait qu’ils n’étaient que chair, un souffle qui s’en va et ne revient plus.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the barren regions!
Que de fois ils se révoltèrent contre lui dans le désert, ils l’irritèrent dans la solitude!
41 Again and again they challenged God and offended the Holy One of Israel.
Ils ne cessèrent de tenter Dieu et de provoquer le Saint d’Israël.
42 They did not think about his power, how he had rescued them from the enemy
Ils ne se souvinrent plus de sa puissance, du jour où il les délivra de l’oppresseur,
43 when he performed his terrifying signs in Egypt and his wonders in the region of Zoan.
où il montra ses prodiges en Égypte, ses actions merveilleuses dans les campagnes de Tanis.
44 He turned the Egyptians' rivers to blood so that they could not drink from their streams.
Il changea leurs fleuves en sang, et ils ne purent boire à leurs ruisseaux.
45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them and frogs that overran their land.
Il envoya contre eux le moucheron qui les dévora, et la grenouille qui les fit périr.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper and their labor to the locust.
Il livra leurs récoltes à la sauterelle, le produit de leur travail à ses essaims.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore trees with more hail.
Il détruisit leurs vignes par la grêle, et leurs sycomores par les grêlons.
48 He rained hail on their cattle and hurled lightning bolts at their livestock.
Il abandonna leur bétail à la grêle, et leurs troupeaux aux coups de la foudre.
49 The fierceness of his anger lashed out against them. He sent wrath, fury, and trouble like agents who bring disaster.
Il déchaîna contre eux le feu de son courroux, la fureur, la rage et la détresse, toute une armée d’anges de malheur.
50 He leveled a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague.
Il donna libre carrière à sa colère, il ne sauva pas leur âme de la mort, il livra leur vie à la destruction.
51 He killed all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstborn of their strength in the tents of Ham.
Il frappa tous les premiers-nés en Égypte, les prémices de la force sous les tentes de Cham.
52 He led his own people out like sheep and guided them through the wilderness like a flock.
Il fit partir son peuple comme des brebis, il les mena comme un troupeau dans le désert.
53 He led them secure and unafraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
Il les dirigea sûrement, sans qu’ils eussent rien à craindre, et la mer engloutit leurs ennemis.
54 Then he brought them to the border of his holy land, to this mountain that his right hand acquired.
Il les fit arriver jusqu’à sa frontière sainte, jusqu’à la montagne que sa droite a conquise.
55 He drove out the nations from before them and assigned them their inheritance. He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
Il chassa les nations devant eux, leur assigna par le sort leur part d’héritage, et fit habiter dans leurs tentes les tribus d’Israël.
56 Yet they challenged and defied the Most High God and did not keep his solemn commands.
Cependant ils ont encore tenté et provoqué le Dieu Très-Haut, et ils n’ont pas observé ses ordonnances.
57 They were unfaithful and acted treacherously like their fathers; they were as undependable as a faulty bow.
Ils se sont détournés et ont été infidèles comme leurs pères, ils se sont détournés comme un arc trompeur.
58 For they made him angry with their high places and provoked him to jealous anger with their idols.
Ils l’ont irrité par leurs hauts lieux, ils ont excité sa jalousie par leurs idoles.
59 When God heard this, he was angry and completely rejected Israel.
Dieu entendit et s’indigna, il prit Israël en grande aversion.
60 He abandoned the sanctuary of Shiloh, the tent where he had lived among people.
Il dédaigna la demeure de Silo, la tente où il habitait parmi les hommes.
61 He allowed his strength to be captured and gave his glory into the enemy's hand.
Il livra sa force à la captivité, et sa majesté aux mains de l’ennemi.
62 He handed his people over to the sword, and he was angry with his heritage.
Il abandonna son peuple au glaive, et il s’indigna contre son héritage.
63 Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs.
Le feu dévora ses jeunes hommes, et ses vierges n’entendirent pas le chant nuptial.
64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows could not weep.
Ses prêtres tombèrent par l’épée, et ses veuves ne se lamentèrent point.
65 Then the Lord awakened as one from sleep, like a warrior who shouts because of wine.
Le Seigneur se réveilla, comme un homme endormi, pareil au guerrier subjugué par le vin.
66 He drove his adversaries back; he put them to everlasting shame.
Il frappa ses ennemis par derrière, il leur infligea une honte éternelle.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph, and he did not chose the tribe of Ephraim.
Mais il prit en aversion la tente de Joseph, et il répudia la tribu d’Ephraïm.
68 He chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion that he loved.
Il choisit la tribu de Juda, la montagne de Sion qu’il aimait.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heavens, like the earth that he has established forever.
Et il bâtit son sanctuaire comme les hauteurs du ciel, comme la terre qu’il a fondée pour toujours.
70 He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds.
Il choisit David, son serviteur, et le tira des bergeries;
71 He took him from following the ewes with their young, and he brought him to be shepherd of Jacob, his people, and of Israel, his heritage.
Il le prit derrière les brebis mères, pour paître Jacob, son peuple, et Israël, son héritage.
72 David shepherded them with the integrity of his heart, and he guided them with the skill of his hands.
Et David les guida dans la droiture de son cœur, et il les conduisit d’une main habile.
