Isaïe 37
1 Et il arriva, quand le roi Ézéchias eut entendu [ces choses], qu’il déchira ses vêtements, et se couvrit d’un sac, et entra dans la maison de l’Éternel.
When King Hezekiah heard what they reported, he tore his clothes and put on clothes made of rough sackcloth [because he was very distressed]. Then he went into the temple of Yahweh [and prayed].
2 Et il envoya Éliakim, qui était [préposé] sur la maison, et Shebna, le scribe, et les anciens des sacrificateurs, couverts de sacs, vers Ésaïe le prophète, fils d’Amots;
Then he sent Eliakim, Shebna, and the (older/most important) priests, who were also wearing clothes made of rough sackcloth, to talk to me.
3 et ils lui dirent: Ainsi dit Ézéchias: Ce jour est un jour de détresse, et de châtiment, et d’opprobre; car les enfants sont venus jusqu’à la naissance, et il n’y a point de force pour enfanter.
He said to them, “Tell this to Isaiah: ‘King Hezekiah says that this is a day when we are greatly distressed. Other nations are causing us to be insulted and disgraced. We are like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth to a baby, but she does not have the strength that she needs to do it.
4 Peut-être l’Éternel, ton Dieu, entendra-t-il les paroles du Rab-Shaké, que le roi d’Assyrie, son seigneur, a envoyé pour outrager le Dieu vivant, et punira-t-il les paroles que l’Éternel, ton Dieu, a entendues. Fais donc monter une prière pour le résidu qui se trouve [encore].
[But] perhaps Yahweh our God has heard what the official from Assyria said. Perhaps he knows that his boss, the King of Assyria, sent him to insult the all-powerful God, and that Yahweh will punish the King of Assyria for what he said. And the king requests that you pray for the few of us who are still alive [here in Jerusalem].’”
5 Et les serviteurs du roi Ézéchias vinrent vers Ésaïe.
After those men gave me that message,
6 Et Ésaïe leur dit: Vous direz ainsi à votre seigneur: Ainsi dit l’Éternel: Ne crains pas à cause des paroles que tu as entendues, par lesquelles les serviteurs du roi d’Assyrie m’ont blasphémé.
I replied, “Tell the King, ‘This is what Yahweh says: “Those messengers from the King of Assyria have said evil things about me. But do not be disturbed by what they said.
7 Voici, je vais mettre en lui un esprit, et il entendra une nouvelle, et retournera dans son pays; et je le ferai tomber par l’épée dans son pays.
Listen to this: I will cause Sennacherib to hear a rumor [that the armies of Babylon are about to attack his country], and that will worry him. So he will return to his own country, and there I will cause him to be assassinated by [men using] swords.”’”
8 Et le Rab-Shaké s’en retourna, et trouva le roi d’Assyrie faisant la guerre à Libna; car il avait appris qu’il était parti de Lakis.
The official from Assyria found out that the King of Assyria [and his army] had captured Lachish [city] and that they were attacking Libnah, [which is a nearby city]. So the official left Jerusalem and went to Libnah [to report to the king what had happened in Jerusalem].
9 Et [le roi d’Assyrie] entendit dire touchant Tirhaka, roi d’Éthiopie: Il est sorti pour te faire la guerre. Lorsqu’il l’entendit, il envoya des messagers à Ézéchias, disant:
Soon after that, King [Sennacherib] received a report that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was leading his army to attack them. So before King Sennacherib left Libnah [with his army to fight against the army from Ethiopia], he sent other messengers to Hezekiah in Jerusalem with a letter. [In the letter he wrote this] to Hezekiah:
10 Vous parlerez ainsi à Ézéchias, roi de Juda, disant: Que ton Dieu, en qui tu te confies, ne te trompe point, disant: Jérusalem ne sera pas livrée en la main du roi d’Assyrie.
“Do not allow your god, on whom you are relying, to deceive you by promising you that Jerusalem will not be captured by my army.
11 Voici, tu as entendu ce que les rois d’Assyrie ont fait à tous les pays, les détruisant entièrement; et toi, tu serais délivré!
You have certainly heard what the armies of the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries; our armies have destroyed them completely. So, (do you think that you will escape?/do not think that your god will save you!) [RHQ]
12 Est-ce que les dieux des nations, que mes pères ont détruites, les ont délivrées, Gozan, et Charan, et Rétseph, et les fils d’Éden qui étaient en Thelassar?
Did the gods of the nations that were about to be destroyed by the armies of the previous kings of Assyria rescue them? Did those gods rescue Gozan [region], and Haran and Rezeph [cities in northern Syria], and the people of Eden [region] who were forced to go to Tel-Assar [city]?
13 Où est le roi de Hamath, et le roi d’Arpad, et le roi de la ville de Sepharvaïm, d’Héna, et d’Ivva?
What happened to the King of Hamath and the King of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah [cities]? [Did their gods rescue them] [RHQ]?”
14 Et Ézéchias prit la lettre de la main des messagers, et la lut, et monta dans la maison de l’Éternel; et Ézéchias la déploya devant l’Éternel.
Hezekiah received the letter that the messengers gave him, and he read it. Then he went up to the temple and spread out the letter in front of Yahweh.
15 Et Ézéchias pria l’Éternel, disant:
And [then] Hezekiah prayed this:
16 Éternel des armées, Dieu d’Israël, qui es assis entre les chérubins, toi, le Même, toi seul tu es le Dieu de tous les royaumes de la terre; toi, tu as fait les cieux et la terre.
“O Yahweh, Commander of the armies of angels, the God to whom [we] Israelis belong, you are seated on your throne above the statues of the creatures with wings, [above the Sacred Chest]. Only you are [truly] God. You rule all the kingdoms on this earth. You are the one who created everything on the earth and in the sky.
17 Éternel! incline ton oreille et écoute. Éternel! ouvre tes yeux, et vois; et écoute toutes les paroles de Sankhérib, qui a envoyé pour outrager le Dieu vivant.
[So], Yahweh, [please] listen to what I am saying, and look at [what is happening]! And listen to what Sennacherib has said to insult you, the all-powerful God!
18 Il est vrai, Éternel! les rois d’Assyrie ont dévasté tous les pays et leurs terres,
Yahweh, it is true that [the armies of] the kings of Assyria have completely destroyed many nations and ruined their land.
19 et ont jeté au feu leurs dieux; car ce n’étaient pas des dieux, mais l’ouvrage de mains d’homme, – du bois, et de la pierre; et ils les ont détruits.
And they have thrown all the idols of those nations into fires and burned them. But they were not [really] gods. They were only idols made of wood and stone, [and that is why they were destroyed easily].
20 Et maintenant, Éternel, notre Dieu! sauve-nous de sa main, afin que tous les royaumes de la terre sachent que toi seul tu es l’Éternel.
So now, Yahweh our God, [please] rescue us from the power [MTY] of [the King of Assyria], in order that [the people in] all the kingdoms of the world will know that you, Yahweh, are the only one who is [truly] God.”
21 Et Ésaïe, fils d’Amots, envoya vers Ézéchias, disant: Ainsi dit l’Éternel, le Dieu d’Israël: Quant à la prière que tu m’as faite au sujet de Sankhérib, roi d’Assyrie,
Then I sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what Yahweh, the God to whom [we] Israelis belong, says: Because you prayed about what King Sennacherib of Assyria [said],
22 c’est ici la parole que l’Éternel a prononcée contre lui: La vierge, fille de Sion, te méprise, elle se moque de toi; la fille de Jérusalem secoue la tête après toi.
this is what I say to him: ‘The people of Jerusalem despise you and make fun of you. They will wag/shake their heads to mock you while you flee from here.
23 Qui as-tu outragé et blasphémé? Et contre qui as-tu élevé la voix? C’est contre le Saint d’Israël que tu as levé tes yeux en haut.
Whom do you think you have been despising and ridiculing? Whom do you think you were shouting at? Whom do you think you were looking at [very] proudly/arrogantly? [It was I], the Holy One whom the Israelis worship!
24 Par tes serviteurs, tu as outragé le Seigneur, et tu as dit: Avec la multitude de mes chars j’ai gravi le haut des montagnes, les parties reculées du Liban, et je couperai ses hauts cèdres, l’élite de ses cyprès, et je parviendrai jusqu’à sa dernière cime, à la forêt de son Carmel.
The messengers whom you sent made fun of me. You said, “With my many chariots I have gone to the highest mountains, [even] to the highest mountains in Lebanon. We have cut down its tallest cedar [trees] and its nicest pine/cypress [trees]. We have been to the most distant/remote peaks and to its densest forests.
25 J’ai creusé, et j’ai bu de l’eau; et j’ai desséché avec la plante de mes pieds tous les fleuves de Matsor…
We have dug wells [in many countries] and drunk water [from them]. And by marching through [MTY] the streams of Egypt, we dried them all up [HYP]!”
26 N’as-tu pas entendu que j’ai fait cela dès longtemps, et que je l’ai formé dès les jours d’autrefois? Maintenant je l’ai fait arriver, pour que tu réduises en monceaux de ruines des villes fortes.
[But I, Yahweh, reply], “Have you never heard that long ago I determined [those things]; I planned them long ago, and now I have been causing those things to occur. I planned that your army would destroy cities and cause them to become piles of rubble.
27 Et leurs habitants ont été sans force, ils ont été terrifiés, et ont été couverts de honte; ils ont été [comme] l’herbe des champs et l’herbe verte, [comme] l’herbe des toits et la récolte flétrie avant qu’elle soit en tige.
The people in those cities have no power, and as a result they are dismayed and discouraged. They are [as frail as] [MET] grass and plants in the fields, as frail as grass that grows on the roofs of houses and is scorched by the hot east wind.
28 Mais je sais ton habitation, et ta sortie et ton entrée, et ta rage contre moi.
[But] I know [everything about you]; I know when you are [in your house and] when you go outside; I also know that you are (raging/speaking very angrily) against me.
29 Parce que tu es plein de rage contre moi, et que ton insolence est montée à mes oreilles, je mettrai mon anneau à ton nez et mon frein entre tes lèvres, et je te ferai retourner par le chemin par lequel tu es venu.
[So], because you have raged against me and because I have heard you speak very proudly/arrogantly, [it will be as though] I will put a hook in your nose and I will put an iron (bit/metal bar) in your mouth [in order that I can lead you where I want you to go], and I will force you to return [to your own country], on the same road on which you came [here, without conquering Jerusalem].”’
30 Et ceci en sera le signe pour toi: on mangera cette année ce qui lève des grains tombés, et la seconde année ce qui croît de soi-même; et la troisième année, vous sèmerez et vous moissonnerez, et vous planterez des vignes et vous en mangerez le fruit.
[Then I said to Hezekiah], ‘This will prove to you [that what I said will happen]: “This year, you(pl) will eat [only the crops] that grow by themselves, and next year the same thing will happen. But in the third year you will plant [crops] and harvest them; you will take care of your vineyards and eat the grapes.
31 Et ce qui est réchappé et demeuré de reste de la maison de Juda, poussera encore des racines en bas et produira du fruit en haut.
And [you] people who are still [here] in Judah, will be strong and prosper again [MET].
32 Car de Jérusalem sortira un résidu, et de la montagne de Sion ce qui est réchappé. La jalousie de l’Éternel des armées fera cela.
A small number of my people will survive, and they will spread out from Jerusalem [DOU].” That will happen because [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, am desiring very much to accomplish it.’
33 C’est pourquoi, ainsi dit l’Éternel touchant le roi d’Assyrie: Il n’entrera pas dans cette ville, et il n’y lancera point de flèche; il ne lui présentera pas le bouclier, et il n’élèvera point de terrasse contre elle.
And this is what [I], Yahweh, say about the King of Assyria: ‘His [armies] will not enter Jerusalem; they will not [even] shoot arrows into it. His soldiers will not [march outside] the city gates holding their shields, and they will not build high mounds of dirt against the walls of the city [to enable them to attack the city].
34 Il s’en retournera par le chemin par lequel il est venu, et il n’entrera pas dans cette ville, dit l’Éternel.
And their king will return [to his own country] on the same road on which he came [here]. He will not enter this city!’ [That will happen because I], Yahweh, have said it!
35 Et je protégerai cette ville, afin de la sauver, à cause de moi, et à cause de David, mon serviteur.
For the sake of my own reputation and because of what I promised King David, who served me [well], I will defend this city and prevent it from being destroyed.”
36 Et un ange de l’Éternel sortit, et frappa dans le camp des Assyriens 185 000 [hommes]; et quand on se leva le matin, voici, c’étaient tous des corps morts.
[That night], an angel from Yahweh went out to where the army of Assyria had set up their tents and killed 185,000 of their soldiers. When [the rest of the soldiers] woke up the next morning, they saw that there were corpses everywhere.
37 Et Sankhérib, roi d’Assyrie, partit et s’en alla et s’en retourna, et habita à Ninive.
Then King Sennacherib left and returned home to Nineveh [in Assyria], and stayed there.
38 Et il arriva, comme il se prosternait dans la maison de Nisroc, son dieu, qu’Adrammélec et Sharétser, ses fils, le frappèrent avec l’épée; et ils se sauvèrent dans le pays d’Ararat; et Ésar-Haddon, son fils, régna à sa place.
[One day], when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords. Then they escaped and went to the Ararat [region northwest of Nineveh]. And another of Sennacherib’s sons, Esarhaddon, became the King of Assyria.
