2 Chroniques 15
1 L'Esprit de Dieu descendit sur Azaria, fils d'Oded.
The Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Obed.
2 Il alla à la rencontre d'Asa, et lui dit: « Écoute-moi, Asa, et tout Juda et Benjamin! Yahvé est avec vous tant que vous êtes avec lui; si vous le cherchez, vous le trouverez; mais si vous l'abandonnez, il vous abandonnera.
Azariah went to talk with Asa, and said to him, “Asa and all [you men of the tribes of] Judah and Benjamin, listen to me. Yahweh is with you whenever you are trusting in him. If you request him [to help you], he will help you, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
3 Or, pendant longtemps, Israël a été sans le vrai Dieu, sans prêtre enseignant, et sans loi.
For many years the Israeli people did not know the true God, and they did not have priests or God’s laws.
4 Mais quand, dans leur détresse, ils se sont tournés vers Yahvé, le Dieu d'Israël, et l'ont cherché, ils l'ont trouvé.
But when they experienced trouble, they turned to Yahweh our God, and requested him to help them. And he helped them.
5 En ces temps-là, il n'y avait pas de paix pour celui qui sortait et pour celui qui entrait, mais de grandes détresses pour tous les habitants des pays.
At that time, people were not safe when they traveled, because all the people who lived in the nearby countries were experiencing many difficulties.
6 Ils furent mis en pièces, nation contre nation, et ville contre ville, car Dieu les troubla par toutes sortes d'épreuves.
The people of various nations were thoroughly defeated by [armies of] other nations, and people in some cities were crushed by [armies from] other cities, because God was allowing them to experience many difficulties.
7 Mais vous, soyez forts! Ne laissez pas vos mains se relâcher, car votre travail sera récompensé. »
But you people, you must be strong and do not become discouraged, because [God] will reward you for what you do [to please him.”]
8 Lorsque Asa entendit ces paroles et la prophétie d'Oded le prophète, il prit courage et fit disparaître les abominations de tout le pays de Juda et de Benjamin et des villes qu'il avait prises dans la montagne d'Éphraïm, et il renouvela l'autel de l'Éternel qui était devant le portique de l'Éternel.
When Asa heard what the prophet Azariah said, he was encouraged. He [commanded his workers to] remove all the detestable idols from everywhere in the land of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and from the towns that [his soldiers] had captured in the hills of the tribe of Ephraim. Asa’s workers repaired the altar [where people offered sacrifices] to Yahweh that was in front of the entrance to the temple [in Jerusalem].
9 Il rassembla tout Juda et Benjamin, et ceux qui habitaient avec eux, d'Éphraïm, de Manassé et de Siméon, car ils étaient venus à lui en abondance d'Israël, quand ils virent que Yahvé son Dieu était avec lui.
Then he gathered all [the people of the tribes of] Judah and Benjamin and many people from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living among them. [He was able to do that] because many people from [those tribes in] Israel had come to me to Judah when they realized that Yahweh, the God that Asa [worshiped], was helping him.
10 Ils s'assemblèrent donc à Jérusalem au troisième mois, la quinzième année du règne d'Asa.
After Asa had been ruling for almost 15 years, in May of that year, those people gathered in Jerusalem.
11 En ce jour-là, ils sacrifièrent à l'Éternel, sur le butin qu'ils avaient apporté, sept cents têtes de bétail et sept mille moutons.
At that time they sacrificed to Yahweh 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats, from the animals that they had captured [when they defeated the army of Ethiopia/Sudan].
12 Ils conclurent l'alliance de chercher l'Éternel, le Dieu de leurs pères, de tout leur cœur et de toute leur âme;
They solemnly made an agreement to very sincerely worship Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [worshiped].
13 et que quiconque ne chercherait pas l'Éternel, le Dieu d'Israël, serait mis à mort, petit ou grand, homme ou femme.
They promised to execute all those who would not worship Yahweh, including those who were important and those who were not important, both men and women.
14 Ils jurèrent à l'Éternel d'une voix forte, en poussant des cris, avec des trompettes et des cornets.
They shouted and blew trumpets and other horns while they solemnly promised to do that.
15 Tout Juda se réjouit de ce serment, car ils avaient juré de tout leur cœur, ils l'avaient cherché de tout leur désir, et ils l'avaient trouvé. Alors Yahvé leur donna du repos tout autour.
All the people who were living in Judah were happy with the agreement because they had solemnly and very sincerely promised to keep it. They eagerly requested help from Yahweh, and he helped them. So he enabled them to have peace throughout their country.
16 Il enleva aussi à Maaca, mère du roi Asa, le titre de reine-mère, parce qu'elle avait fait une image abominable d'Astarté; Asa abattit son image, la réduisit en poussière, et la brûla au torrent de Cédron.
King Asa’s grandmother Maacah had made a disgusting pole for [worshiping the goddess] Asherah. So Asa [commanded his workers to] cut down that pole and chop it into pieces and burn it in the Kidron Valley. He then did not allow Maacah to continue [to influence the people because of her] being the mother of the previous king.
17 Mais les hauts lieux ne furent pas enlevés d'Israël; cependant le cœur d'Asa fut parfait pendant toute sa vie.
Although Asa’s [workers] did not get rid of the shrines on the hilltops in Israel, he was very determined to [do what] pleased Yahweh all his life.
18 Il apporta à la maison de Dieu les choses que son père avait consacrées et qu'il avait lui-même consacrées, de l'argent, de l'or et des ustensiles.
He [ordered his workers to] bring into God’s temple all the silver and gold and other valuable items that he and his father had dedicated [to God].
19 Il n'y eut plus de guerre jusqu'à la trente-cinquième année du règne d'Asa.
There were no more wars [in Judah] until Asa had been ruling Judah almost 35 years.
