2 Samuel 11
1 Et il arriva, au retour de l’année, au temps où les rois entrent en campagne, que David envoya Joab, et ses serviteurs avec lui, et tout Israël; et ils détruisirent les fils d’Ammon et assiégèrent Rabba; mais David resta à Jérusalem.
[In that region], kings usually went [with their armies] to fight [their enemies] in the springtime. But the following year, in the springtime, David [did not do that. Instead, he] stayed in Jerusalem, and he sent [his commander] Joab [to lead the army]. So Joab went with the other officers and the rest of the Israeli army. They [crossed the Jordan River and] defeated the army of the Ammon people-group. Then they surrounded [their capital city, ] Rabbah.
2 Et il arriva, au temps du soir, que David se leva de dessus son lit de repos et se promena sur le toit de la maison du roi, et, du toit, il vit une femme qui se lavait, et la femme était très belle à voir.
Late one afternoon, after David got up from taking a nap, he walked around on the [flat] roof of his palace. He saw a woman who was bathing [in the courtyard of her house]. The woman was very beautiful.
3 Et David envoya et s’informa de cette femme, et on [lui] dit: N’est-ce pas là Bath-Shéba, fille d’Éliam, femme d’Urie, le Héthien?
David sent a messenger to find out who she was. [The messenger returned] and said, “She is [RHQ] Bathsheba. She is the daughter of Eliam, and her husband is Uriah, from the Heth people-group.”
4 Et David envoya des messagers, et la prit; et elle vint vers lui, et il coucha avec elle (et elle se purifia de son impureté); et elle s’en retourna dans sa maison.
Then David sent more messengers to get her. They brought her to David, and he (slept/had sex) [EUP] with her. (She had just finished performing the rituals to make herself pure [after her monthly menstrual period].) Then Bathsheba went back home.
5 Et la femme conçut; et elle envoya, et informa David et dit: Je suis enceinte.
[After some time], she realized that she was pregnant. So she sent a messenger to tell David [that she was pregnant].
6 Et David envoya vers Joab, [disant]: Envoie-moi Urie, le Héthien. Et Joab envoya Urie à David.
Then David sent a message to Joab. He said, “Send Uriah, from the Heth people-group, to me.” So Joab did that. He sent Uriah to David.
7 Et Urie vint vers lui; et David s’enquit de l’état de Joab, et de l’état du peuple, et de l’état de la guerre.
When he arrived, David asked if Joab was well, and if other soldiers were well, and how the war was progressing.
8 Et David dit à Urie: Descends dans ta maison, et lave tes pieds. Et Urie sortit de la maison du roi, et on envoya après lui un présent de la part du roi.
Then David, [hoping that Uriah would go home and sleep with his wife, ] said to Uriah, “Okay, go home and relax for a while. [IDM]” So Uriah left, and David gave someone a gift [of some food] to take to Uriah’s house.
9 Et Urie se coucha à l’entrée de la maison du roi avec tous les serviteurs de son seigneur, et ne descendit pas dans sa maison.
But Uriah did not go home. Instead, he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guards.
10 Et on le rapporta à David, disant: Urie n’est pas descendu dans sa maison. Et David dit à Urie: Ne viens-tu pas de voyage? Pourquoi n’es-tu pas descendu dans ta maison?
When someone told David that Uriah did not go to his house [that night], David [summoned him again and] said to him, “Why didn’t you go home [to be with your wife last night], after having been away for a long time?” [RHQ]
11 Et Urie dit à David: L’arche, et Israël, et Juda, habitent sous des tentes; et mon seigneur Joab et les serviteurs de mon seigneur campent dans les champs, et moi, j’entrerais dans ma maison pour manger et boire, et pour coucher avec ma femme? Tu es vivant, et ton âme est vivante, si je fais une telle chose!
Uriah replied, “The soldiers of Judah and Israel are camping in the open fields, and even our commander Joab is sleeping in a tent, and the sacred chest is with them. (How could I/It would not be right for me to) go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife [RHQ]. I solemnly declare [IDM] that I will never do such a thing!”
12 Et David dit à Urie: Demeure ici encore aujourd’hui, et demain je te renverrai. Et Urie demeura à Jérusalem ce jour-là et le lendemain.
Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today. I will let you return [to the battle] tomorrow.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and that night.
13 Et David l’appela, et il mangea et but devant lui, et [David] l’enivra; et il sortit le soir pour se coucher sur son lit avec les serviteurs de son seigneur, et il ne descendit pas dans sa maison.
The next day, David invited him [to a meal]. So Uriah had a meal with David, and David made him drink a lot of wine so that he would get drunk, [hoping that if he was drunk, he would sleep with his wife]. But that night, Uriah again did not go home. Instead, he slept on his cot with the king’s servants.
14 Et il arriva, le matin, que David écrivit une lettre à Joab, et l’envoya par la main d’Urie.
[Someone reported that to] David, [so] the next morning he wrote a letter to Joab, and gave it to Uriah to take to Joab.
15 Et il écrivit dans la lettre, disant: Placez Urie sur la première ligne au fort de la bataille, et retirez-vous d’auprès de lui, afin qu’il soit frappé et qu’il meure.
In the letter, he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is the (worst/most severe). Then command the soldiers to pull back from him, in order that he will be killed [by our enemies].”
16 Et il arriva que, comme Joab surveillait la ville, il plaça Urie à l’endroit où il savait qu’étaient de vaillants hommes.
[So after] Joab [got the letter], as his army was surrounding the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew that their enemies’ strongest and best soldiers would be fighting.
17 Et les hommes de la ville sortirent et se battirent contre Joab; et il en tomba quelques-uns d’entre le peuple, d’entre les serviteurs de David, et Urie, le Héthien, mourut aussi.
The men from the city came out and fought with Joab’s soldiers. They killed some of David’s officers, including Uriah.
18 Et Joab envoya, et rapporta à David tous les faits du combat.
Then Joab sent a messenger to David to tell him about the fighting.
19 Et il commanda au messager, disant: Quand tu auras achevé de dire au roi tous les faits du combat,
He said to the messenger, “Tell David the news about the battle. After you finish telling that to him,
20 s’il arrive que la fureur du roi monte, et qu’il te dise: Pourquoi vous êtes-vous approchés de la ville pour combattre? Ne savez-vous pas qu’on tire de dessus la muraille?
if David is angry [because so many officers were killed], he may ask you, ‘Why did your soldiers go so close to the city to fight [RHQ]? Did you not know that they would shoot [arrows at you while they were standing on top] of the city wall [RHQ]?
21 Qui frappa Abimélec, fils de Jerubbésheth? N’est-ce pas une femme qui jeta sur lui, de dessus la muraille, une meule tournante, et il en mourut à Thébets? Pourquoi vous êtes-vous approchés de la muraille? – alors tu diras: Ton serviteur Urie, le Héthien, est mort aussi.
Do you not remember how Abimelech, the son of Gideon, was killed? A woman [who lived] in Thebez threw a huge (millstone/stone for grinding grain) on him from [the top of] tower, and he died. So why did your troops go near to the city wall?’ If the king asks this, then tell him, ‘Your officer Uriah also was killed.’”
22 Et le messager s’en alla; et étant arrivé, il rapporta à David tout ce pour quoi Joab l’avait envoyé.
So the messenger went and told David everything that Joab told him to say.
23 Et le messager dit à David: Les hommes ont eu l’avantage sur nous; ils sont sortis contre nous dans la campagne, et nous les avons chargés jusqu’à l’entrée de la porte;
The messenger said to David, “Our enemies were very brave, and came out of the city to fight us in the fields. [They were defeating us] but we forced them back to the city gate.
24 et les archers ont tiré sur tes serviteurs de dessus la muraille, et des serviteurs du roi sont morts, et ton serviteur Urie, le Héthien, est mort aussi.
Then their archers shot arrows at us from [the top of] the city wall. They killed some of your officers. They killed your officer Uriah, too.”
25 Et David dit au messager: Tu diras ainsi à Joab: Que cela ne soit pas mauvais à tes yeux, car l’épée dévore tantôt ici, tantôt là; renforce le combat contre la ville, et détruis-la. Et toi, encourage-le.
David said to the messenger, “Go back to Joab and say to him, ‘Do not be distressed [about what happened], because no one ever knows who will be killed in a battle.’ Tell him that the next time his troops should attack the city more strongly, and capture it.”
26 Et la femme d’Urie apprit qu’Urie, son mari, était mort, et elle se lamenta sur son mari.
When Uriah’s wife [Bathsheba] heard that her husband had died, she mourned for him.
27 Et quand le deuil fut passé, David envoya, et la recueillit dans sa maison, et elle devint sa femme, et lui enfanta un fils. Mais la chose que David avait faite fut mauvaise aux yeux de l’Éternel.
When her time of mourning was ended, David sent messengers to bring her to the palace. Thus, she became David’s wife. She later gave birth to a son. But Yahweh was very displeased with what David had done.
