< Judges 15 >
1 But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not allow him to go in.
Quelque temps après, à l’époque de la moisson des blés, Samson alla voir sa femme, et lui porta un chevreau. Il dit: Je veux entrer vers ma femme dans sa chambre. Mais le père de sa femme ne lui permit pas d’entrer.
2 And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
J’ai pensé dit-il, que tu avais pour elle de la haine, et je l’ai donnée à ton compagnon. Est-ce que sa jeune sœur n’est pas plus belle qu’elle? Prends-la donc à sa place.
3 And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them harm.
Samson leur dit: Cette fois je ne serai pas coupable envers les Philistins, si je leur fais du mal.
4 And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between two tails.
Samson s’en alla. Il attrapa trois cents renards, et prit des flambeaux; puis il tourna queue contre queue, et mit un flambeau entre deux queues, au milieu.
5 And when he had lighted the torches, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing grain, with the vineyards and olives.
Il alluma les flambeaux, lâcha les renards dans les blés des Philistins, et embrasa les tas de gerbes, le blé sur pied, et jusqu’aux plantations d’oliviers.
6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
Les Philistins dirent: Qui a fait cela? On répondit: Samson, le gendre du Thimnien, parce que celui-ci lui a pris sa femme et l’a donnée à son compagnon. Et les Philistins montèrent, et ils la brûlèrent, elle et son père.
7 And Samson said to them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
Samson leur dit: Est-ce ainsi que vous agissez? Je ne cesserai qu’après m’être vengé de vous.
8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
Il les battit rudement, dos et ventre; puis il descendit, et se retira dans la caverne du rocher d’Étam.
9 Then the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
Alors les Philistins se mirent en marche, campèrent en Juda, et s’étendirent jusqu’à Léchi.
10 And the men of Judah said, Why have ye come up against us? And they answered, We have come to bind Samson, to do to him as he hath done to us.
Les hommes de Juda dirent: Pourquoi êtes-vous montés contre nous? Ils répondirent: Nous sommes montés pour lier Samson, afin de le traiter comme il nous a traités.
11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them.
Sur quoi trois mille hommes de Juda descendirent à la caverne du rocher d’Étam, et dirent à Samson: Ne sais-tu pas que les Philistins dominent sur nous? Que nous as-tu donc fait? Il leur répondit: Je les ai traités comme ils m’ont traité.
12 And they said to him, We have come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
Ils lui dirent: Nous sommes descendus pour te lier, afin de te livrer entre les mains des Philistins. Samson leur dit: Jurez-moi que vous ne me tuerez pas.
13 And they spoke to him, saying, No; but we will bind thee securely, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
Ils lui répondirent: Non; nous voulons seulement te lier et te livrer entre leurs mains, mais nous ne te ferons pas mourir. Et ils le lièrent avec deux cordes neuves, et le firent sortir du rocher.
14 And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
Lorsqu’il arriva à Léchi, les Philistins poussèrent des cris à sa rencontre. Alors l’esprit de l’Éternel le saisit. Les cordes qu’il avait aux bras devinrent comme du lin brûlé par le feu, et ses liens tombèrent de ses mains.
15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men with it.
Il trouva une mâchoire d’âne fraîche, il étendit sa main pour la prendre, et il en tua mille hommes.
16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of a donkey have I slain a thousand men.
Et Samson dit: Avec une mâchoire d’âne, un monceau, deux monceaux; Avec une mâchoire d’âne, j’ai tué mille hommes.
17 And it came to pass, when he had finished speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.
Quand il eut achevé de parler, il jeta de sa main la mâchoire. Et l’on appela ce lieu Ramath-Léchi.
18 And he was very thirsty, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die by thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
Pressé par la soif, il invoqua l’Éternel, et dit: C’est toi qui as permis par la main de ton serviteur cette grande délivrance; et maintenant mourrais-je de soif, et tomberais-je entre les mains des incirconcis?
19 But God opened an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water out of it; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: therefore he called the name of it Enhakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.
Dieu fendit la cavité du rocher qui est à Léchi, et il en sortit de l’eau. Samson but, son esprit se ranima, et il reprit vie. C’est de là qu’on a appelé cette source En-Hakkoré; elle existe encore aujourd’hui à Léchi.
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Samson fut juge en Israël, au temps des Philistins, pendant vingt ans.