2 Rois 23

1 Le roi envoya, et l'on rassembla auprès de lui tous les anciens de Juda et de Jérusalem.

Then the king summoned all the elders of Jerusalem and [of the other places in] Judah.

2 Le roi monta à la maison de l'Éternel, avec tous les hommes de Juda et tous les habitants de Jérusalem, les prêtres, les prophètes et tout le peuple, petits et grands, et il lut devant eux toutes les paroles du livre de l'alliance qui se trouvait dans la maison de l'Éternel.

They went together to the temple, along with the priests and the prophets, and many other [HYP] people, from the most important people to the least important people. And while they listened, the king read to them all of the laws that Moses had written. He read from the scroll that had been found in the temple.

3 Le roi se tint debout près de la colonne et fit alliance devant l'Éternel de marcher après l'Éternel et d'observer ses commandements, ses témoignages et ses lois, de tout son cœur et de toute son âme, afin de confirmer les paroles de cette alliance qui sont écrites dans ce livre.

Then the king stood next to the pillar [where the kings stood when they made important announcements], and while Yahweh was listening, he repeated his promise to sincerely obey [DOU] all of Yahweh’s commands and regulations [DOU]. He also promised to (fulfill the conditions of/do what was written in) the agreement he made with Yahweh. And all the people also promised to obey the agreement.

4 Le roi ordonna à Hilkija, le grand prêtre, aux prêtres du second ordre et aux gardiens du seuil de sortir du temple de Yahvé tous les ustensiles qui avaient été fabriqués pour Baal, pour l'ashère et pour toute l'armée du ciel; il les brûla hors de Jérusalem, dans les champs du Cédron, et porta leurs cendres à Béthel.

Then the king commanded Hilkiah the Supreme Priest and all the other priests who assisted him and the men who guarded the entrance to the temple to bring out from the temple all the items that people had been using to worship Baal, the goddess Asherah, and the stars. [After they carried them out, ] they burned all those things outside the city near the Kidron Valley. Then they took all the ashes to Bethel, [because that city was already considered to be desecrated/unholy].

5 Il se débarrassa des prêtres idolâtres que les rois de Juda avaient chargés d'offrir des parfums sur les hauts lieux des villes de Juda et des environs de Jérusalem, et qui offraient des parfums à Baal, au soleil, à la lune, aux planètes et à toute l'armée du ciel.

There were many pagan priests that the previous kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the altars on the tops of hills in Judah. They had been offering sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. The king stopped them from doing those things.

6 Il fit sortir l'ashère de la maison de Yahvé, hors de Jérusalem, jusqu'au torrent de Cédron, et la brûla au torrent de Cédron; il la réduisit en poussière et en jeta la poussière sur les tombes des gens du peuple.

He [commanded that] the statue of the goddess Asherah [be] taken out of the temple. Then they took it outside Jerusalem, down to the Kidron Brook, and burned it. Then they pounded the ashes to powder and scattered that over the graves in the public cemetery.

7 Il démolit les maisons des prostituées qui se trouvaient dans la maison de l'Éternel, où les femmes tissaient des tentures pour les ashères.

He also destroyed the rooms in the temple where the temple male prostitutes lived. That was where women wove robes that were used to worship the goddess Asherah.

8 Il fit sortir tous les prêtres des villes de Juda et souilla les hauts lieux où les prêtres avaient brûlé de l'encens, depuis Guéba jusqu'à Beersheba; il brisa les hauts lieux des portes qui étaient à l'entrée de la porte de Josué, gouverneur de la ville, et qui se trouvaient à la gauche d'un homme, à la porte de la ville.

Josiah also brought [to Jerusalem] all the priests who were offering sacrifices in the other cities in Judah. He also desecrated the places on the tops of hills where the priests had burned incense [to honor idols], from Geba [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south]. Those priests were not allowed to offer sacrifices in the temple, but they [were allowed to] eat the unleavened bread that the priests [who worked in the temple] ate. He also [commanded that] the altars that were dedicated to the goat demons near the gate built by Joshua, the mayor of Jerusalem, [be] destroyed. Those altars were at the left of the main gate into the city.

9 Cependant, les prêtres des hauts lieux ne montaient pas à l'autel de Yahvé à Jérusalem, mais ils mangeaient des pains sans levain parmi leurs frères.

10 Il souilla Topheth, qui est dans la vallée des enfants de Hinnom, afin que personne ne fasse passer son fils ou sa fille par le feu pour Moloc.

Josiah also desecrated the place named Topheth, in the Hinnom Valley, in order that no one could offer his son or daughter there to be completely burned for a sacrifice to [the god] Molech.

11 Il enleva les chevaux que les rois de Juda avaient consacrés au soleil, à l'entrée de la maison de l'Éternel, près de la chambre de Nathan Melech, l'officier qui était à la cour, et il brûla au feu les chars du soleil.

He also removed the horses that the [previous] kings of Judah had dedicated to worshiping the sun, and he burned the chariots that were used in that worship. Those horses and chariots were kept in the courtyard outside the temple, near the entrance to the temple, and near the room where [one of Josiah’s] officials, whose name was Nathan-Melech, lived.

12 Le roi démolit les autels qui étaient sur le toit de la chambre haute d'Achaz, et que les rois de Juda avaient faits, et les autels que Manassé avait faits dans les deux cours de la maison de l'Éternel; il les abattit de là, et jeta leur poussière dans le torrent de Cédron.

Josiah also commanded his servants to tear down the altars that the previous kings of Judah had built on the roof of the palace, above the room where King Ahaz had stayed. They also tore down the altars that had been built by King Manasseh in the two courtyards outside the temple. He commanded that they be smashed to pieces and thrown down into the Kidron Valley.

13 Le roi souilla les hauts lieux qui étaient devant Jérusalem, à droite de la montagne de la corruption, et que Salomon, roi d'Israël, avait bâtis pour Astarté, l'abomination des Sidoniens, pour Kemosh, l'abomination de Moab, et pour Milcom, l'abomination des enfants d'Ammon.

He also commanded that the altars that King Solomon had built east of Jerusalem, south of Olive Tree Hill, be desecrated. Solomon had built them for the worship of the disgusting idols—the [statue of the goddess] Astarte [worshiped by the people in] Sidon [city], Chemosh the god of the Moab people-group, and Molech the god of the Ammon people-group.

14 Il brisa les piliers, abattit les mâts d'ashère et remplit leurs places d'ossements d'hommes.

They also broke into pieces the stone pillars that the Israeli people worshiped, and cut down the [pillars that honored the goddess] Asherah, and they scattered the ground there with human bones [to desecrate it].

15 Il démolit l'autel qui était à Béthel et le haut lieu qu'avait fait Jéroboam, fils de Nebath, qui avait fait pécher Israël; il brûla le haut lieu, le réduisit en poussière, et brûla l'Astre.

Furthermore, he commanded them to tear down the place of worship at Bethel which had been built by King Jeroboam, the king who persuaded the people of Israel to sin. They tore down the altar. Then they broke its stones into pieces and pounded them to become powder. They also burned the statue [of the goddess] Asherah.

16 Comme Josias se retournait, il aperçut les sépulcres qui étaient là dans la montagne; il envoya prendre les ossements dans les sépulcres, les brûla sur l'autel et le souilla, selon la parole de l'Éternel qu'avait proclamée l'homme de Dieu qui annonçait ces choses.

Then Josiah looked around and saw some tombs there on the hill. He commanded his men to take the bones out of those tombs and burn them on the altar. By doing that, he desecrated the altar. That was what a prophet had predicted many years before when Jeroboam was standing close to that altar at a festival. Then Josiah looked up and saw the tomb of the prophet who had predicted that.

17 Alors il dit: « Quel est ce monument que je vois? » Les hommes de la ville lui dirent: « C'est le tombeau de l'homme de Dieu qui est venu de Juda et qui a proclamé ces choses que tu as faites contre l'autel de Béthel. »

Josiah asked, “Whose tomb is that?” The people of Bethel replied, “It is the tomb of the prophet who came from Judah and predicted that these things that you have just now done to this altar would happen.”

18 Il dit: « Qu'il soit! Que personne ne déplace ses os. » On laissa donc ses os, avec les os du prophète qui était venu de Samarie.

Josiah replied, “Allow his tomb to remain as it is. Do not remove the prophet’s bones from the tomb.” So the people did not remove those bones, or the bones of the other prophet, the one who had come from Samaria.

19 Josias fit disparaître toutes les maisons des hauts lieux qui se trouvaient dans les villes de Samarie et que les rois d'Israël avaient construites pour irriter Yahvé, et il les traita comme il l'avait fait à Béthel.

In every city in Israel, at Josiah’s command, they tore down the shrines that had been built by the previous kings of Israel, which had caused Yahweh to become very angry. He did to all those shrines/altars the same thing that he had done to the altars at Bethel.

20 Il tua tous les prêtres des hauts lieux qui se trouvaient là, sur les autels, et il y brûla des ossements d'hommes, puis il retourna à Jérusalem.

He ordered that all the priests who offered sacrifices on the altars on the tops of hills must be killed on those altars. Then he burned human bones on every one of those altars [to desecrate them]. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

21 Le roi donna cet ordre à tout le peuple: « Fêtez la Pâque en l'honneur de Yahvé, votre Dieu, comme il est écrit dans ce livre de l'alliance. »

Then the king commanded all the people to celebrate the Passover Festival to honor Yahweh their God, which was written in the law of Moses that they should do [every year].

22 Certes, on n'a pas célébré une telle Pâque depuis l'époque des juges qui ont jugé Israël, ni pendant toute la durée des rois d'Israël et des rois de Juda;

During all the years that leaders ruled Israel and during all the years that kings had ruled Israel and Judah, they had not celebrated that festival.

23 mais la dix-huitième année du roi Josias, cette Pâque fut célébrée en l'honneur de Yahvé à Jérusalem.

But now, after Josiah had been ruling for almost 18 years, to [honor] Yahweh they celebrated the Passover Festival in Jerusalem.

24 Josias fit disparaître les esprits familiers, les sorciers, les théraphim, les idoles et toutes les abominations qu'on voyait dans le pays de Juda et à Jérusalem, afin de confirmer les paroles de la loi qui étaient écrites dans le livre que le prêtre Hilkija avait trouvé dans la maison de l'Éternel.

Furthermore, Josiah got rid of all the people in Jerusalem and other places in Judah who practiced sorcery and those who requested the spirits of dead people [to tell them what they should do]. He also removed from Jerusalem and from the other places in Judah all the household idols and all the other idols and abominable things. He did those things in order to obey what had been written in the scroll that Hilkiah had found in the temple.

25 Il n'y a pas eu de roi comme lui avant lui, qui se soit tourné vers l'Éternel de tout son cœur, de toute son âme et de toute sa force, selon toute la loi de Moïse, et il n'y en a pas eu comme lui qui se soit levé après lui.

Josiah was totally devoted to Yahweh. There had never been [in Judah or Israel] a king like him. He obeyed all the laws of Moses. And there has never since then been a king like Josiah.

26 Cependant, l'Éternel ne se détourna pas de l'ardeur de son grand courroux, avec lequel sa colère brûlait contre Juda, à cause de toutes les provocations que Manassé lui avait faites.

But Yahweh had become extremely angry with the people of Judah because of all the things that [King] Manasseh had done to infuriate him, and he continued to be very angry.

27 L'Éternel dit: « J'éloignerai aussi Juda de ma vue, comme j'ai éloigné Israël, et je rejetterai cette ville que j'ai choisie, Jérusalem, et la maison dont j'ai dit: 'Mon nom y sera'. »

He said, “I will do to Judah what I have done to Israel. I will banish the people of Judah, with the result that they will never enter my presence again. And I will reject Jerusalem, the city that I chose [to belong to me], and I will abandon the temple, the place where I said that I [MTY] should be worshiped.”

28 Le reste des actes de Josias, et tout ce qu'il a fait, cela n'est-il pas écrit dans le livre des Chroniques des rois de Juda?

[If you want to know more about] [RHQ] all the other things that Josiah did, they are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

29 De son temps, Pharaon Necoh, roi d'Égypte, monta contre le roi d'Assyrie jusqu'au fleuve Euphrate. Le roi Josias marcha contre lui, mais Pharaon Necoh le tua à Megiddo quand il le vit.

While Josiah was the king of Judah, King Neco of Egypt led his army north to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah tried to stop the army of Egypt at Megiddo [city], but Josiah was killed in a battle there.

30 Ses serviteurs le transportèrent mort dans un char depuis Megiddo, l'amenèrent à Jérusalem et l'enterrèrent dans son propre tombeau. Le peuple du pays prit Joachaz, fils de Josias, l'oignit et l'établit roi à la place de son père.

His officials placed his corpse in a chariot and took it back to Jerusalem, where it was buried in his own tomb, a tomb where the other previous kings had not been buried. Then the people of Judah poured [olive] oil on [the head of] Josiah’s son Joahaz, to appoint him to be the new king.

31 Joachaz avait vingt-trois ans lorsqu'il devint roi, et il régna trois mois à Jérusalem. Le nom de sa mère était Hamutal, fille de Jérémie, de Libna.

Joahaz was 23 years old when he became the king [of Judah], but he ruled from Jerusalem for [only] three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah [city].

32 Il fit ce qui est mal aux yeux de Yahvé, selon tout ce qu'avaient fait ses pères.

Joahaz did many things that Yahweh said were evil, just like many of his ancestors had done.

33 Pharaon Néco le mit en prison à Ribla, dans le pays de Hamath, pour qu'il ne règne pas à Jérusalem, et il imposa au pays un tribut de cent talents d'argent et un talent d'or.

King Neco’s [army came from Egypt and captured him and] tied him up with chains and took him as a prisoner to Riblah [town] in Hamath [district], to prevent him from continuing to rule in Jerusalem. Neco forced the people of Judah to pay to him (7,500 pounds/3,400 kg.) of silver and (75 pounds/34 kg.) of gold.

34 Le pharaon Néco établit roi Eliakim, fils de Josias, à la place de Josias, son père, et changea son nom en Jojakim; mais il emmena Joachaz, qui vint en Égypte et y mourut.

King Neco appointed another son of Josiah, Eliakim, to be the new king, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Then he took Joahaz to Egypt, and later Joahaz died there in Egypt.

35 Jojakim donna l'argent et l'or à Pharaon; mais il imposa le pays pour donner l'argent selon l'ordre de Pharaon. Il exigea l'argent et l'or des habitants du pays, de chacun selon son évaluation, pour les donner à Pharaon Néco.

King Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people [of Judah]. He collected more from the rich people and less from the poor people. He collected silver and gold from them, in order to pay to the king of Egypt what he commanded them to give.

36 Jojakim avait vingt-cinq ans lorsqu'il devint roi, et il régna onze ans à Jérusalem. Sa mère s'appelait Zebidah, fille de Pedaja, de Ruma.

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became the king [of Judah], and he ruled from Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah [town].

37 Il fit ce qui est mal aux yeux de Yahvé, selon tout ce qu'avaient fait ses pères.

He did many things that Yahweh says are evil, like his ancestors had done.