Deutéronome 21
1 Quand on trouvera sur la terre que l’Éternel, ton Dieu, te donne pour la posséder, un homme tué, étendu dans les champs, sans qu’on sache qui l’a frappé,
“Suppose someone has been murdered in a field in the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, and you do not know who killed that person.
2 tes anciens et tes juges sortiront, et mesureront jusqu’aux villes qui sont autour de l’homme tué.
[If that happens], your elders and judges must go out to where that person’s corpse was found and measure the distance from there to each of the nearby towns.
3 Et [quand ils auront établi quelle est] la ville la plus rapprochée de l’homme tué, les anciens de cette ville prendront une génisse qui n’a pas servi et qui n’a pas tiré au joug,
Then the elders in the town that is closest to where the corpse was found must select a young cow that has never been used for doing work.
4 et les anciens de cette ville feront descendre la génisse dans une vallée [où coule un torrent] qui ne tarit pas, dans laquelle on ne travaille ni ne sème, et là, dans la vallée, ils briseront la nuque à la génisse.
They must take it to a place near a stream where the ground has never been plowed or planted. They must break its neck there in that valley.
5 Et les sacrificateurs, fils de Lévi, s’approcheront; car ce sont eux que l’Éternel, ton Dieu, a choisis pour faire son service et pour bénir au nom de l’Éternel; et ce sont eux qui prononceront sur tout différend et sur toute blessure.
The priests must go there also, because Yahweh our God has chosen them from the tribe of Levi to serve him and to be his representatives [MTY] when they bless people. And he has also chosen them to settle disputes in which someone has been injured.
6 Et tous les anciens de cette ville, qui sont les plus rapprochés de l’homme tué, laveront leurs mains sur la génisse à laquelle on aura brisé la nuque dans la vallée;
The elders from the closest town must wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken,
7 et ils prendront la parole et diront: Nos mains n’ont pas versé ce sang, et nos yeux ne l’ont pas vu.
and they must say, ‘We did not murder this person [MTY], and we did not see who did it.
8 Pardonne, ô Éternel, à ton peuple Israël que tu as racheté, et n’impute pas à ton peuple Israël le sang innocent. Et le sang leur sera pardonné.
Yahweh, forgive us, your Israeli people whom you rescued [from Egypt]. Do not consider (us to be guilty/that we should be punished because) of murdering someone who (is innocent/had not done something that is wrong). Instead, forgive us.’
9 Et toi, tu ôteras le sang innocent du milieu de toi, quand tu auras fait ce qui est droit aux yeux de l’Éternel.
By doing that, you will be doing what Yahweh considers to be right, and you will not be considered to be guilty for murdering that person.”
10 Si tu sors pour faire la guerre contre tes ennemis, et que l’Éternel, ton Dieu, les livre en ta main, et que tu en emmènes des captifs,
“When you [soldiers] go to fight against your enemies, and Yahweh our God enables you to defeat them [IDM], and (they become your prisoners/you capture them),
11 si tu vois parmi les captifs une femme belle de figure, et que tu t’attaches à elle, et que tu la prennes pour femme,
one of you may see among them a beautiful woman that he likes, and he may want to marry her.
12 tu l’introduiras dans l’intérieur de ta maison; et elle rasera sa tête et se fera les ongles,
He should take her to his home, and there she must shave [all the hair off] her head and cut her fingernails [to signify that now she does not belong to her people-group any more, but instead she is becoming an Israeli].
13 et elle ôtera de dessus elle le vêtement de sa captivité; et elle habitera dans ta maison, et pleurera son père et sa mère un mois entier; et après cela tu viendras vers elle, et tu seras son mari, et elle sera ta femme.
She must take off the clothes that she was wearing when she was captured, [and put on Israeli clothes]. She must stay in that man’s house and mourn for a month because of [leaving] her parents. After that, he will be allowed to marry her.
14 Et s’il arrive qu’elle ne te plaise pas, tu la renverras à son gré; mais tu ne la vendras point pour de l’argent: tu ne la traiteras pas en esclave, parce que tu l’as humiliée.
Later, if he no longer is pleased with her, he will be permitted to allow her to leave him. But because she was forced to have sex with him, he will not be allowed to treat her like a slave [and sell her to someone else].”
15 Si un homme a deux femmes, l’une aimée et l’autre haïe, et qu’elles lui aient enfanté des fils, tant celle qui est aimée que celle qui est haïe, et que le fils premier-né soit de celle qui est haïe,
“Suppose that a man has two wives, but he likes one of them and dislikes the other one. And suppose that they both give birth to sons, and the oldest son is the child of the woman that he does not like.
16 alors, le jour où il fera hériter à ses fils ce qui est à lui, il ne pourra pas faire premier-né le fils de celle qui est aimée, de préférence au fils de celle qui est haïe, lequel est le premier-né;
On the day when that man decides how he will divide his possessions for his sons to possess [after he dies], he must not favor the son of the wife that he loves by giving him [a bigger share, ] the share that the older son should receive.
17 mais il reconnaîtra pour premier-né le fils de celle qui est haïe, pour lui donner double portion de tout ce qui se trouvera être à lui; car il est le commencement de sa vigueur, le droit d’aînesse lui appartient.
He must give to the older son, the son of the wife whom he does not like, twice as much of his possessions. That son is his firstborn son, and he must be given the share that he should receive because of his being that man’s firstborn son.”
18 Si un homme a un fils indocile et rebelle, qui n’écoute pas la voix de son père ni la voix de sa mère, et qu’ils l’aient châtié, et qu’il ne les ait pas écoutés,
“Suppose there is a boy who is very stubborn and always (rebelling against/disobeying) [his parents], and who will not heed what they say to him. And suppose that they punish him but he still does not pay attention to what they tell him [MTY].
19 alors son père et sa mère le prendront et l’amèneront aux anciens de sa ville, à la porte de son lieu;
If that happens, his parents must take him to the (gate of/central meeting place in) the city where he lives and have him stand in front of the elders of the city.
20 et ils diront aux anciens de sa ville: Voici notre fils, il est indocile et rebelle, il n’écoute pas notre voix, il est débauché et ivrogne;
Then the parents must say to the elders of that city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and always rebelling against us. He will not pay attention to what we tell him [MTY]. He wastes a lot of money (OR, eats too much food) and gets drunk.’
21 et tous les hommes de sa ville le lapideront avec des pierres, et il mourra; et tu ôteras le mal du milieu de toi, et tout Israël l’entendra et craindra.
Then all the elders of that city must execute him by throwing stones at him. By doing that, you will get rid of this evil practice among you. And everyone in Israel will hear [about what happened] and they will be afraid [to do what he did].”
22 Et si un homme a commis un péché digne de mort, et qu’il ait été mis à mort, et que tu l’aies pendu à un bois,
“If someone is executed for having committed a crime for which he deserves to die, and you hang his corpse on a post,
23 son cadavre ne passera pas la nuit sur le bois; mais tu l’enterreras sans faute le jour même, car celui qui est pendu est malédiction de Dieu; et tu ne rendras pas impure la terre que l’Éternel, ton Dieu, te donne en héritage.
you must not allow his corpse to remain there all night. You must bury it on the day that he died, because [God] has cursed anyone whose corpse is allowed to remain on a post. [You must bury the corpse that day], in order that you do not defile the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you.”
