Lamentations 4
1 Comment l’or est-il devenu obscur, et l’or fin a-t-il été changé! [Comment] les pierres du lieu saint sont-elles répandues au coin de toutes les rues!
[Previously our people were like] [MET] pure gold, but now they are worthless. [Like] [MET] the sacred stones in the temple have been scattered, [our young men have been scattered].
2 Les fils de Sion, si précieux, estimés à l’égal de l’or fin, comment sont-ils réputés des vases de terre, ouvrage des mains d’un potier?
The young men of Jerusalem were as valuable as [MET] large amounts of gold, but now people consider that they are as worthless as [ordinary] clay pots.
3 Les chacals même présentent la mamelle, allaitent leurs petits; la fille de mon peuple est devenue cruelle comme les autruches du désert.
Even the [female] jackals/wolves feed their pups, but my people act cruelly [toward their children]; they are like [SIM] ostriches in the desert [that abandon their eggs].
4 La langue de celui qui tétait se colle par la soif à son palais; les petits enfants demandent du pain, personne ne le rompt pour eux.
[My people’s] infants’ tongues cling to the roofs/tops of their mouths because they are [extremely] thirsty; the children plead for some food, but no one gives them [any].
5 Ceux qui mangeaient des mets délicats sont là, périssant dans les rues; ceux qui étaient élevés sur l’écarlate embrassent le fumier.
People who [previously] ate fine food are [now] starving in the streets; those who previously lived luxuriously [MTY] [now] paw/dig through rubbish heaps [to find some food].
6 Et la peine de l’iniquité de la fille de mon peuple est plus grande que la peine du péché de Sodome qui fut renversée comme en un moment sans qu’on ait porté les mains sur elle.
[The people of] Sodom were struck with a disaster very suddenly, and there was no one to rescue them; but my people have been punished more severely than [the people of] Sodom were punished.
7 Ses nazaréens étaient plus purs que la neige, plus blancs que le lait; leur corps était plus vermeil que des rubis, leur taille un saphir.
Our leaders’ [behavior] was [previously] very pure, whiter [and brighter] than snow and milk; their bodies were redder than [red] coral/stones; they were very strong and healthy [MET].
8 Leur figure est plus sombre que le noir, on ne les connaît pas dans les rues; leur peau s’attache à leurs os, elle est sèche comme du bois.
But now their faces are blacker than soot, and no one recognizes them in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones, and it has become as dry as [SIM] a wooden [stick].
9 Ceux qui ont été tués par l’épée ont été plus heureux que ceux qui sont morts par la famine; parce que ceux-ci ont dépéri, consumés par le manque du produit des champs.
It is better to die in a battle [MTY] than to die of hunger. There was no food to harvest in the fields, so the people slowly starved until they died.
10 Les mains de femmes tendres ont cuit leurs enfants, ils ont été leur viande dans la ruine de la fille de mon peuple.
Women who [usually/previously] were very kind have [killed and] cooked their own children; they ate them [when there was no other food], when Jerusalem was surrounded [by enemy soldiers].
11 L’Éternel a accompli sa fureur, il a versé l’ardeur de sa colère et a allumé dans Sion un feu qui en a dévoré les fondements.
Yahweh has shown that he was extremely angry; [it is as though] he started/ignited a fire in Jerusalem that burned everything to ashes.
12 Les rois de la terre et tous les habitants du monde n’auraient pas cru que l’adversaire et l’ennemi entreraient dans les portes de Jérusalem.
None of the kings on the earth or anyone else believed that any of our enemies could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13 C’est à cause des péchés de ses prophètes, des iniquités de ses sacrificateurs, qui versaient au milieu d’elle le sang des justes.
[But that is what happened]; it happened because the prophets sinned; and the priests [also] sinned by causing innocent people to be executed [MTY].
14 Ils erraient aveugles par les rues, ils étaient souillés de sang, de sorte qu’on ne pouvait toucher leurs vêtements.
The prophets and priests wandered through the streets [as though they were] blind. No one would touch them because their clothes were stained with the blood [of people who had been killed].
15 Retirez-vous! un impur! leur criait-on; retirez-vous, retirez-vous, ne touchez pas!… Quand ils se sont enfuis, ils ont erré çà et là; on a dit parmi les nations: Ils n’auront plus leur demeure!
The people [who were alive] shouted, “Stay away [from us] [DOU]! You are defiled/untouchable! Do not touch us!” So the prophets and priests fled [from Israel], and they wandered around from one country to another, because people [in each country] kept saying to them, “You cannot stay here!”
16 La face de l’Éternel les a coupés en deux; il ne veut plus les regarder. Ils n’ont pas respecté la face des sacrificateurs, ils n’ont pas usé de grâce envers les vieillards.
It is Yahweh himself who has scattered them; he no longer is concerned about them. People do not respect [our] priests or leaders.
17 Pour nous, nos yeux se consumaient après un secours de vanité; nous avons attendu continuellement une nation qui ne sauvait pas.
We [SYN] continued to look for someone to help [us], but it was useless. We continued to watch to see if one of our allies would save us, but none of the nations that we were waiting for could help [us].
18 Ils ont fait la chasse à nos pas, de manière que nous ne pouvions pas marcher sur nos places: notre fin est proche, nos jours sont accomplis; notre fin est venue!
[Our] enemies were hunting for us, so we could not [even] walk in our streets [lest they seize us]. We were about to be captured; it was time for us to be killed.
19 Ceux qui nous poursuivaient ont été plus rapides que les aigles des cieux, ils nous ont donné la chasse sur les montagnes, ils nous ont tendu des embûches dans le désert.
Those who pursued us were faster than eagles [flying] in the sky. Even if we fled to the mountains or hid in the desert, they [went there ahead of us and] waited [to attack] us.
20 Le souffle de nos narines, l’oint de l’Éternel, a été pris dans leurs fosses, celui dont nous disions: Nous vivrons sous son ombre parmi les nations.
[Our king, ] whom Yahweh appointed, was the one who enabled us to remain alive [MTY]; he was the one whom we trusted to protect us [IDM] from [the armies of] other nations. But he was [captured] [like animals are] [MET] caught in a pit.
21 Sois dans l’allégresse et réjouis-toi, fille d’Édom, qui habites dans le pays d’Uts! La coupe passera aussi vers toi; tu en seras enivrée, et tu te mettras à nu!
You people of [IDM] Edom and Uz, [you may] be happy [about what is happening to us now], but [Yahweh] will be punishing [MTY] you [also]. You will become drunk and will be ashamed [because your enemies] will have stripped off your clothes.
22 La peine de ton iniquité a pris fin, fille de Sion; il ne te mènera plus captive. Il visitera ton iniquité, fille d’Édom; il découvrira tes péchés.
You [people of] [APO] Jerusalem, the time of your being punished will end; Yahweh will not allow you to continue to live in (exile/foreign countries). But [you people of] [APO] Edom, Yahweh will punish [you]; he will reveal the wicked things that you have done.
