Juges 16
1 Et Samson alla à Gaza, et il vit là une prostituée et entra vers elle.
One day Samson went to Gaza [city in the Philistia area]. He spent some time with a prostitute.
2 [Et on rapporta] aux Gazites, disant: Samson est venu ici. Et ils l’entourèrent, et le guettèrent toute la nuit à la porte de la ville, et se tinrent tranquilles toute la nuit, disant: À la lumière du matin, nous le tuerons.
People soon found out that Samson was there, so the men of Gaza gathered together at the city gate and waited all night. They said to themselves, “When it dawns tomorrow morning, we will kill him [when he tries to leave the city].”
3 Et Samson resta couché jusqu’au milieu de la nuit; et il se leva au milieu de la nuit; et il saisit les battants de la porte de la ville et les deux poteaux, et les arracha avec la barre, et les mit sur ses épaules, et les porta au sommet de la montagne qui est en face de Hébron.
But Samson did not stay there all night. At midnight, he got up. He went to the city gate, he took hold of its two posts, and he lifted it up out of the ground, with its [connecting cross] bar still attached. He put it on his shoulders and carried it [many miles] uphill to Hebron.
4 Et il arriva, après cela, qu’il aima une femme dans la vallée de Sorek, et son nom était Delila.
Later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, [and started to live with her]. She lived in Sorek Valley [in the Philistia area].
5 Et les princes des Philistins montèrent vers elle, et lui dirent: Persuade-le, et vois en quoi [consiste] sa grande force, et comment nous pourrions le vaincre et le lier pour l’humilier; et nous te donnerons chacun 1 100 [pièces] d’argent.
The Philistine leaders went to her and said, “Find out from Samson what makes him so strong. And find out how we can subdue him and tie him up securely. If you do that, each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”
6 Et Delila dit à Samson: Déclare-moi, je te prie, en quoi [consiste] ta grande force, et avec quoi tu pourrais être lié pour t’humilier.
So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes you so strong, and tell me how someone can subdue you and tie you up.”
7 Et Samson lui dit: Si on me liait avec sept cordelettes fraîches, qui ne soient pas desséchées, alors je deviendrais faible, et je serais comme un autre homme.
Samson said, “If someone ties me with seven new bowstrings, ones that are not dry yet, I will become as weak as other men.”
8 Et les princes des Philistins lui apportèrent sept cordelettes fraîches, qui n’étaient pas desséchées, et elle le lia avec ces [cordelettes].
So [after Delilah told that to the Philistine leaders], they brought seven new bowstrings to Delilah.
9 Et des hommes embusqués étaient chez elle dans la chambre; et elle lui dit: Les Philistins sont sur toi, Samson! Et il rompit les cordelettes comme se rompt une ficelle d’étoupe lorsqu’elle sent le feu; et sa force ne fut pas découverte.
Then she hid the men in one of the rooms in her house. Then [while Samson was sleeping], she tied him up with the bowstrings. Then she called out, “Samson! The Philistines have come here to capture you!” But Samson snapped the bowstrings as easily as though they were strings that had been singed in a fire. So the Philistines did not find out what made Samson so strong.
10 Et Delila dit à Samson: Voici, tu t’es moqué de moi et tu m’as dit des mensonges; maintenant déclare-moi, je te prie, avec quoi tu pourrais être lié.
Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have deceived me and lied to me! Now tell me [the truth, ] how someone can tie you up securely.”
11 Et il lui dit: Si on me liait bien avec des cordes neuves, dont on n’aurait fait aucun usage, alors je deviendrais faible, et je serais comme un autre homme.
Samson replied, “If someone ties me with new ropes, ones that have never been used, I will be as weak as other men.”
12 Et Delila prit des cordes neuves, et le lia avec ces [cordes], et lui dit: Les Philistins sont sur toi, Samson! Et les hommes embusqués étaient dans la chambre. Et il les rompit de dessus ses bras comme un fil.
So again, [she told the Philistine leaders, and] they [came and] hid in the room as they had done before. And again, while Samson was sleeping, she took the new ropes and tied him up with them. Then she called out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” But Samson snapped the ropes on his arms as easily as if they were threads.
13 Et Delila dit à Samson: Jusqu’ici tu t’es moqué de moi, et tu m’as dit des mensonges; déclare-moi avec quoi tu pourrais être lié. Et il lui dit: Si tu tissais sept tresses de ma tête avec le fil à tisser.
Then Delilah said, “You have deceived me and lied to me [again]! Please tell me how someone can tie you up securely!” Samson replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the threads you are weaving on the loom, and then fasten those threads with the pin [that makes the threads tight], then I will be as weak as other men.” So again, while Samson was sleeping on her lap, Delilah held the seven braids of his hair, and wove them into the threads on the loom,
14 Et elle les fixa avec la cheville, et lui dit: Les Philistins sont sur toi, Samson! Et il se réveilla de son sommeil, et arracha la cheville du tissu et le fil.
and she tightened them with the pin. Then she called out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” But Samson woke up and pulled out the pin, and pulled his hair from the threads on the loom.
15 Et elle lui dit: Comment dis-tu: Je t’aime, – et ton cœur n’est pas avec moi? Tu t’es moqué de moi ces trois fois; et tu ne m’as pas déclaré en quoi [consiste] ta grande force.
Then Delilah said to him, “How can you say that you love me when you do not tell me the truth about yourself? You have deceived me three times, and you still have not told me what really makes you so strong!”
16 Et il arriva, comme elle le tourmentait par ses paroles tous les jours et le pressait, que son âme en fut ennuyée jusqu’à la mort;
Day after day she nagged him like that. He thought he would die from her nagging [IDM].
17 et il lui déclara tout [ce qui était dans] son cœur, et lui dit: Le rasoir n’a jamais passé sur ma tête, car je suis nazaréen de Dieu dès le ventre de ma mère. Si j’étais rasé, ma force s’en irait de moi, et je deviendrais faible, et je serais comme tous les hommes.
Finally Samson told her the truth. He said, “I have been set apart for God since the day I was born. And because of that, my hair has never been cut. If my hair were shaved off, my strength would be gone, and I would be as weak as other men.”
18 Et Delila vit qu’il lui avait déclaré tout [ce qui était dans] son cœur; et elle envoya, et appela les princes des Philistins, disant: Montez cette fois, car il m’a déclaré tout [ce qui est dans] son cœur. Et les princes des Philistins montèrent vers elle, et apportèrent l’argent dans leur main.
Delilah realized that this time he had told her the truth. So she summoned the Philistine leaders again, saying, “Come back one more time, because Samson has really told me everything [about why he is so strong]”. So the Philistine leaders returned and brought to Delilah the money [that they promised to give her].
19 Et elle l’endormit sur ses genoux, et appela un homme, et rasa les sept tresses de sa tête; et elle commença de l’humilier, et sa force se retira de lui.
Again she lulled Samson to sleep, with his head in her lap. Then she called one of the Philistine men to come and shave off Samson’s hair. As he did that, Samson began to get weaker. And finally his strength was all gone.
20 Et elle dit: Les Philistins sont sur toi, Samson! Et il se réveilla de son sommeil, et se dit: Je m’en irai comme les autres fois, et je me dégagerai. Or il ne savait pas que l’Éternel s’était retiré de lui.
Then [after she tied him up], she called out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” He woke up and thought, “I will do as I did before. I will shake [these ropes] off myself and be free!” But he did not realize that Yahweh had left him.
21 Et les Philistins le saisirent et lui crevèrent les yeux, et le firent descendre à Gaza, et le lièrent avec des chaînes d’airain; et il tournait la meule dans la maison des prisonniers.
So the Philistine men seized him and gouged out his eyes. Then they took him to Gaza. There they put him in prison and bound him with bronze chains. They made him [turn a millstone to] grind grain [every day].
22 Et les cheveux de sa tête commencèrent à croître, après qu’il eut été rasé.
But his hair started to grow again.
23 Et les princes des Philistins s’assemblèrent pour offrir un grand sacrifice à Dagon, leur dieu, et pour se réjouir; et ils dirent: Notre dieu a livré entre nos mains Samson, notre ennemi.
[Several months later] the Philistine leaders celebrated a big festival. During the festival they offered sacrifices to their god Dagon. They praised him, saying, “Our god has enabled us to defeat our great enemy Samson!”
24 Et le peuple le vit, et ils louèrent leur dieu, car ils disaient: Notre dieu a livré entre nos mains notre ennemi, et le dévastateur de notre pays, et celui qui multipliait nos tués.
And when the other people saw Samson, they also praised their god Dagon, saying, “Samson ruined our crops and killed many of our people, but our god has put our enemy into our hands. Our god helped us to capture the one who has killed so many of us!”
25 Et il arriva, comme ils avaient le cœur joyeux, qu’ils dirent: Appelez Samson, et qu’il nous amuse! Et ils appelèrent Samson de la maison des prisonniers; et il joua devant eux; et ils le placèrent entre les colonnes.
By that time the people were half-drunk. They shouted, “Bring Samson out of the prison! Bring him here so that he can entertain us!” So they brought Samson from the prison and made fun of him. Then they made him stand in the center of the temple. They made him stand between the two pillars that held up the roof.
26 Et Samson dit au garçon qui le tenait par la main: Laisse-moi, et fais-moi toucher les colonnes sur lesquelles la maison est assise, et que je m’y appuie.
Samson said to the servant who was leading him by his hand, “Place my hands against the two pillars. I want to rest against them.”
27 Et la maison était remplie d’hommes et de femmes; et tous les princes des Philistins étaient là, et, sur le toit, environ 3 000 hommes et femmes qui regardaient Samson jouer.
At that time the temple was full of men and women. All the Philistine leaders were also there. And there were about 3,000 people on the roof, watching Samson and making fun of him.
28 Et Samson cria à l’Éternel, et dit: Seigneur Éternel! souviens-toi de moi, je te prie, et fortifie-moi, je te prie, seulement cette fois, ô Dieu! afin que, d’une seule vengeance, je me venge des Philistins pour mes deux yeux.
Then Samson prayed, saying, “Yahweh, my Lord, think about me again! Please give me strength one more time, so that I may get revenge on the Philistines for gouging out my eyes!”
29 Et Samson saisit les deux colonnes du milieu, sur lesquelles la maison était assise (et il s’appuya sur elles), l’une de sa main droite, et l’autre de sa main gauche.
Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars of the temple. He put his right hand on one pillar and his left hand on the other pillar.
30 Et Samson dit: Que mon âme meure avec les Philistins! Et il se pencha avec force, et la maison tomba sur les princes et sur tout le peuple qui y était. Et les morts qu’il fit mourir dans sa mort furent plus nombreux que ceux qu’il avait fait mourir pendant sa vie.
Then he shouted [to God], “Let me die with the Philistines!”, and he pushed with all his strength. [The pillars collapsed], and the temple crashed down on the Philistine leaders and all the other Philistine people, [and they all died]. So Samson killed more people when he died than he had killed all during his life.
31 Et ses frères et toute la maison de son père descendirent, et l’emportèrent; et ils le remontèrent, et l’enterrèrent entre Tsorha et Eshtaol dans le sépulcre de Manoah, son père. Et il avait jugé Israël 20 ans.
Later his brothers and their relatives went down [from Zorah to Gaza] to get his body. They took it back home and buried it between Zorah and Eshtaol, at the place where Samson’s father Manoah was buried. Samson had been Israel’s leader for 20 years.
