Ézéchiel 31
1 Et il arriva, la onzième année, au troisième [mois], le premier [jour] du mois, que la parole de l’Éternel vint à moi, disant:
Almost eleven years [after we had been taken to Babylonia], on the first day of the third month [of that year], Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
2 Fils d’homme, dis au Pharaon, roi d’Égypte, et à sa multitude: À qui es-tu semblable dans ta grandeur?
“You human, say to the King of Egypt and all of his people, ‘[You think that] there is [RHQ, IRO] no country whose power is as great as the power of your country.
3 Voici, Assur était un cèdre sur le Liban, beau par sa ramure, et touffu, donnant de l’ombre, et de haute taille, et sa cime était au milieu des rameaux feuillus.
You think that your country is as great as Assyria was: Assyria was previously like [MET] a tall cedar tree in Lebanon; [it was as though] it had big beautiful branches that provided shade for [other trees in] the forest. It was very tall; its top was above the leaves of the other trees.
4 Les eaux l’ont fait grandir, l’abîme l’a élevé en hauteur; ses rivières coulaient autour de ses plants, et il envoyait ses canaux à tous les arbres des champs.
Water came from deep springs, and as a result that cedar tree grew tall and very green. Then water flowed around the base of the tree into channels that took water to other nearby trees.
5 C’est pourquoi sa hauteur s’éleva par-dessus tous les arbres des champs, et ses branches se multiplièrent et ses rameaux s’allongèrent, parce qu’il poussait à cause des grandes eaux.
That huge tree grew very tall, higher than all the other trees around it. Its branches grew very thick and long [DOU] because of the abundant water [at the base of the tree].
6 Tous les oiseaux des cieux faisaient leurs nids dans ses rameaux, et toutes les bêtes des champs faisaient leurs petits sous ses branches, et toutes les nations nombreuses habitaient sous son ombre.
Birds built their nests in the branches, and wild animals gave birth to their babies under those branches. [And it was as though people of] all the great nations lived in the shade of that tree.
7 Et il était beau dans sa grandeur et dans la longueur de ses branches, parce que sa racine était auprès de grandes eaux.
It was majestic and beautiful; its branches spread out widely because the roots of the tree grew down into the ground where there was a plentiful supply of water.
8 Les cèdres dans le jardin de Dieu ne le cachaient pas, les cyprès n’égalaient point ses rameaux, et les érables n’étaient pas comme ses branches; aucun arbre dans le jardin de Dieu ne lui était semblable en beauté.
The cedar trees in my garden [in Eden] were not as great as that tree, and the branches of the pine/cypress trees were not as long and thick as the branches of that cedar tree. And the branches of the plane trees were not as long and thick, either. No tree in my garden was as beautiful as that cedar tree.
9 Je l’avais fait beau dans la multitude de ses branches, et tous les arbres d’Éden, qui étaient dans le jardin de Dieu, lui portaient envie.
Because I caused that tree to become very beautiful with its magnificent green branches, [all the leaders of other countries represented by] [MET] those other trees in Eden envied [the country represented by] that tree.’
10 C’est pourquoi, ainsi dit le Seigneur, l’Éternel: Parce que tu t’es élevé en hauteur…, et qu’il a dressé sa cime au milieu des rameaux feuillus et que son cœur s’est élevé dans sa hauteur,
Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘That tree, which [represents Assyria], grew very tall, and its top was higher than the other trees, and it became very proud because of being very tall.
11 je l’ai livré en la main du puissant des nations; il l’a traité à son gré. Je l’ai chassé à cause de son iniquité.
Therefore, I enabled another mighty nation to conquer it and to destroy it as it deserved to be destroyed. I have already discarded it.
12 Et des étrangers, les terribles d’entre les nations, l’ont coupé et l’ont laissé là; ses branches sont tombées sur les montagnes et dans toutes les vallées, et ses rameaux ont été brisés dans tous les ravins de la terre; et tous les peuples de la terre se sont retirés de dessous son ombre et l’ont laissé là.
A foreign army, one that has caused people of other nations to be terrified, cut it down and left it. Its branches fell on the mountains and in the valleys. Some of its branches lay broken in all the ravines in the land. All the people of other nations came out from being under its shade and left it.
13 Tous les oiseaux des cieux demeurent sur son [tronc] renversé, et toutes les bêtes des champs sont sur ses branches;
Birds (settled/went to live) on the fallen tree, and wild animals lived among its branches.
14 afin qu’aucun des arbres [plantés près] des eaux ne s’élève dans sa hauteur, et ne dresse sa cime au milieu des rameaux feuillus, et qu’aucun de ceux qui boivent des eaux ne se soutienne par lui-même dans sa hauteur; car eux tous sont livrés à la mort, [pour s’en aller] dans les lieux bas de la terre, au milieu des fils des hommes, vers ceux qui descendent dans la fosse.
The result of what I have done is that no other trees, even if they have plenty of water, will ever grow very high and become proud, and lift their tops above the branches of other trees. I do not want any other tree to grow high like that cedar tree did; trees will all certainly die and decay in the ground, like people die and go down to their graves.’
15 Ainsi dit le Seigneur, l’Éternel: Au jour de sa descente au shéol, je fis mener deuil; à cause de lui, je couvris l’abîme et j’en retins les fleuves, et les grandes eaux furent arrêtées; et à cause de lui, je mis en deuil le Liban, et tous les arbres des champs défaillirent à cause de lui. (Sheol h7585)
This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘When that great tree was cut down, [it was as though] the springs that watered it mourned for it, because I caused the plentiful water [from the springs] to dry up. I caused [the mountains in] Lebanon to become black, and all the trees there to wither. (Sheol h7585)
16 Du bruit de sa chute je fis trembler les nations, quand je le fis descendre dans le shéol avec ceux qui descendent dans la fosse; et tous les arbres d’Éden, l’élite et le meilleur du Liban, tous ceux qui buvaient des eaux, furent consolés dans les lieux bas de la terre. (Sheol h7585)
I caused the people of other nations to tremble when they heard that tree fall to the ground. [They realized] that it would decay, like all people who die and are buried decay. And all the [leaders of other countries represented by] other beautiful trees in my garden in Eden and in Lebanon, were like beautiful trees [that were very proud]. They were ones which had roots that grew down deep into the [ground where there was plenty of] water. They were comforted when [the king represented by] [MET] that cedar tree was there with them in the place where the dead people are. (Sheol h7585)
17 Ceux-là aussi sont descendus avec lui dans le shéol, vers ceux qui ont été tués par l’épée, et [qui, étant] son bras, habitaient sous son ombre au milieu des nations. – (Sheol h7585)
The [leaders of other countries represented by] [MET] trees that grew in the shade of the huge tree, [the allies of] the great nation [that the cedar tree represents], had also joined those who had been killed by the sword and gone down to where the dead people are. (Sheol h7585)
18 À qui es-tu semblable ainsi, en gloire et en grandeur, parmi les arbres d’Éden? Ainsi tu seras abaissé avec les arbres d’Éden jusque dans les lieux bas de la terre; tu seras couché, au milieu des incirconcis, avec ceux qui ont été tués par l’épée. C’est là le Pharaon et toute sa multitude, dit le Seigneur, l’Éternel.
[This parable is about you] people of Egypt. [You think that] [RHQ, IRO] there is no other nation that is as great and glorious as yours is. But your nation will also be destroyed, [as Assyria was], along with those other nations. Your people will be there among the other people who are not fit to worship me, people who have been killed by their enemies’ swords. That is what will happen to the king of Egypt and all his people. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, [have predicted it].’”
