Juges 15
1 Quelque temps après, à l’époque de la moisson des blés, Samson alla voir sa femme, en apportant un chevreau. Il dit: « Je veux entrer auprès de ma femme dans sa chambre. » Mais son père ne lui accorda pas l’entrée;
Then, after some time, when the days of the wheat harvest were near, Samson arrived, intending to visit his wife, and he brought her a kid from the goats. And when he wanted to enter her bedroom, as usual, her father prohibited him, saying:
2 et son père dit: « J’ai pensé que tu avais pour elle de la haine, et je l’ai donnée à ton ami. Est-ce que sa jeune sœur n’est pas plus belle qu’elle? Qu’elle soit ta femme à sa place. »
“I thought that you would hate her, and therefore I gave her to your friend. But she has a sister, who is younger and more beautiful than she is. And she may be a wife for you, instead of her.”
3 Samson leur dit: « Cette fois je serai innocent envers les Philistins, si je leur fais du mal. »
And Samson answered him: “From this day, there shall be no guilt for me against the Philistines. For I will do harm to you all.”
4 Et Samson s’en alla. Il attrapa trois cents renards et, ayant pris des torches, il tourna les renards queue contre queue, et mit une torche entre les deux queues, au milieu.
And he went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he joined them tail to tail. And he tied torches between the tails.
5 Il alluma ensuite les torches et lâcha les renards dans les moissons des Philistins; il embrasa depuis les tas de gerbes jusqu’aux blés sur pied et aux plantations d’oliviers.
And setting these on fire, he released them, so that they might rush from place to place. And immediately they went into the grain fields of the Philistines, setting these on fire, both the grain that was already bound for carrying, and what was still standing on the stalk. These were completely burned up, so much so that the flame also consumed even the vineyards and the olive groves.
6 Les Philistins dirent: « Qui a fait cela? » On répondit: « C’est Samson, le gendre du Thamnéen, parce que celui-ci lui a pris sa femme et l’a donnée à son ami. » Et les Philistins étant montés, ils la brûlèrent, elle et son père.
And the Philistines said, “Who has done this thing?” And it was said: “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took away his wife, and gave her to another. He has done these things.” And the Philistines went up and burned the woman as well as her father.
7 Samson leur dit: « C’est ainsi que vous agissez! Eh bien, je ne cesserai qu’après m’être vengé de vous. »
And Samson said to them, “Even though you have done this, I will still fulfill vengeance against you, and then I will be quieted.”
8 Et il les battit rudement, cuisse et hanche; il descendit ensuite et demeura dans la caverne du rocher d’Etam.
And he struck them with a tremendous slaughter, so much so that, out of astonishment, they laid the calf of the leg upon the thigh. And descending, he lived in a cave of the rock at Etam.
9 Alors les Philistins montèrent et campèrent en Juda, se répandant en Léchi.
And so the Philistines, ascending into the land of Judah, made camp at the place which was later called Lehi, that is, the Jawbone, where their army spread out.
10 Les hommes de Juda dirent: « Pourquoi êtes-vous tournés contre nous? » Ils répondirent: « Nous sommes montés pour lier Samson, afin de le traiter comme il nous a traités. »
And some from the tribe of Judah said to them, “Why have you ascended against us?” And they responded, “We have come to bind Samson, and to repay him for what he has done to us.”
11 Trois mille hommes de Juda descendirent à la caverne du rocher d’Etam, et dirent à Samson: « Ne sais-tu pas que les Philistins sont nos maîtres? Qu’est-ce que tu nous as fait là? » Il leur répondit: « Je les ai traités comme ils m’ont traité. »
Then three thousand men of Judah descended to the cave of the rock at Etam. And they said to Samson: “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why would you want to do this?” And he said to them, “As they have done to me, so I have done to them.”
12 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 voulez pas me tuer. »
And they said to him, “We have come to bind you, and to deliver you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear and promise to me that you will not kill me.”
13 Ils lui répondirent en disant: « Non; nous voulons seulement te lier et te livrer entre leurs mains, mais nous ne te ferons pas mourir. » Et l’ayant lié de deux cordes neuves, ils le firent monter du rocher.
They said: “We will not kill you. But we will deliver you tied.” And they bound him with two new cords. And they took him from the rock at Etam.
14 Lorsqu’il arriva à Léchi, les Philistins poussèrent à sa rencontre des cris de joie. Alors l’Esprit de Yahweh le saisit, et les cordes qu’il avait aux bras devinrent comme des fils de lin brûlés par le feu, et ses liens tombèrent de ses mains.
And when he had arrived at the place of the Jawbone, and the Philistines, shouting aloud, had met him, the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him. And just as flax is usually consumed by a hint of fire, so were the ties with which he was bound broken and released.
15 Trouvant une mâchoire d’âne fraîche, il étendit la main, la saisit et en frappa mille hommes.
And finding a jawbone which was laying there, that is, the jawbone of a donkey, snatching it up, he put to death a thousand men with it.
16 Et Samson dit: « Avec une mâchoire d’âne, je les ai bien asinés (rossés), avec une mâchoire d’âne, j’ai frappé mille hommes. »
And he said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, with the jaw of the colt of a donkey, I have destroyed them, and I have struck down a thousand men.”
17 Quand il eut achevé de parler, il jeta de sa main la mâchoire, et nomma ce lieu Ramath-Léchi.
And when he had completed these words, singing, he threw the jawbone from his hand. And called the name of that place Ramath-Lehi, which is translated as ‘the elevation of the jawbone.’
18 Dévoré par la soif, il invoqua Yahweh, et dit: « C’est vous qui avez accordé par la main de votre serviteur cette grande délivrance; et maintenant, faut-il que je meure de soif et que je tombe entre les mains des incirconcis? »
And being very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, and he said: “You have given, to the hand of your servant, this very great salvation and victory. But see that I am dying of thirst, and so I will fall into the hands of the uncircumcised.”
19 Et Dieu fendit le rocher creux qui est à Léchi, et il en sortit de l’eau. Samson but, son esprit se ranima et il reprit vie. C’est pourquoi on a appelé cette source En-Hakkoré; elle existe à Léchi, jusqu’à ce jour.
And so the Lord opened a large tooth in the jawbone of the donkey, and water went out from it. And having drank it, his spirit was revived, and he recovered his strength. For this reason, the name of that place was called ‘the Spring called forth from the jawbone,’ even to the present day.
20 Samson jugea Israël, au temps des Philistins, pendant vingt ans.
And he judged Israel, in the days of the Philistines, for twenty years.
