Nombres 24
1 Et Balaam vit qu’il était bon aux yeux de l’Éternel de bénir Israël, et il n’alla pas, comme d’autres fois, à la rencontre des enchantements, mais il tourna sa face vers le désert.
Balaam now realized that Yahweh wanted to bless the Israeli people, [not curse them]. So he did not use magic/divination [like a shaman would do] to find out what Yahweh wanted, as he often did. Instead, he turned toward the desert.
2 Et Balaam leva ses yeux et vit Israël habitant dans ses tentes selon ses tribus; et l’Esprit de Dieu fut sur lui.
He saw the Israeli people camped there [in their tents], with each tribe gathered in its own group. Then the Spirit of God took control of him,
3 Et il proféra son discours sentencieux, et dit: Balaam, fils de Béor, dit, et l’homme qui a l’œil ouvert, dit:
and enabled him to give this prophetic message to Balak: “I, Balaam, the son of Beor, am giving this prophecy; I am speaking as a man who sees [what will happen in the future] clearly speaks.
4 Celui qui entend les paroles de Dieu, qui voit la vision du Tout-puissant, qui tombe et qui a les yeux ouverts, dit:
I hear this message from God; I see a vision from him who is all-powerful. My eyes are open as I prostrate myself in front of him.
5 Que tes tentes sont belles, ô Jacob! et tes demeures, ô Israël!
You descendants of Jacob, your tents are very beautiful; they are truly lovely!
6 Comme des vallées elles s’étendent, comme des jardins auprès d’un fleuve, comme des arbres d’aloès que l’Éternel a plantés, comme des cèdres auprès des eaux.
Your tents are spread out [in front of me like groves of palm trees in] valleys, like gardens alongside a river. They are like strong aloe trees/plants that Yahweh has planted, like [strong] cedar trees [that grow] along the rivers.
7 L’eau coulera de ses seaux; et sa semence sera au milieu de grandes eaux; Et son roi sera élevé au-dessus d’Agag, et son royaume sera haut élevé.
Your water buckets will always be full; the seeds [that you plant] will always have plenty of water [to make them grow]. The Israelis’ king will be greater than [King] Agag; the kingdom that he rules will be honored.
8 Dieu l’a fait sortir d’Égypte; il a comme la force des buffles; il dévorera les nations, ses ennemis; il cassera leurs os, et les frappera de ses flèches.
God brought the Israelis out of Egypt, [leading them along] with his great power [MTY] like a wild ox has. He devastates all the nations that oppose him; he breaks all those people’s bones into pieces, and shoots them with his arrows.
9 Il s’est courbé, il s’est couché comme un lion, et comme une lionne: qui le fera lever? Bénis sont ceux qui te bénissent, et maudits sont ceux qui te maudissent.
The Israelis are like lions that crouch and lie down, [ready to pounce on their prey] [SIM]. They are like lionesses [that are resting, but ready to attack]; no one [RHQ] would dare to arouse them! [God] will bless everyone who blesses you Israelis, and he will curse everyone who curses you.”
10 Alors la colère de Balak s’embrasa contre Balaam, et il frappa des mains; et Balak dit à Balaam: C’est pour maudire mes ennemis que je t’ai appelé, et voici, tu les as bénis expressément ces trois fois.
Then King Balak was extremely angry with Balaam. He showed with his hands that he was very angry, and he [shouted at Balaam], “I summoned you here to curse my enemies! Instead, you have (blessed/asked God to bless) them three times!
11 Et maintenant, fuis en ton lieu. J’avais dit que je te comblerais d’honneurs; et voici, l’Éternel t’a empêché d’en recevoir.
So now, get out of here! Go back home! I said that I would pay you a lot of money [if you cursed them], but Yahweh has prevented you from getting any pay!”
12 Et Balaam dit à Balak: N’ai-je pas aussi parlé à tes messagers que tu as envoyés vers moi, disant:
Balaam said to Balak, “[Do you not remember what] [RHQ] I told the messengers that you sent to me? I said,
13 Quand Balak me donnerait plein sa maison d’argent et d’or, je ne pourrais transgresser le commandement de l’Éternel pour faire de mon propre mouvement du bien ou du mal; ce que l’Éternel dira, je le dirai.
‘Even if Balak would give me a palace filled with silver and gold, I would not disobey Yahweh. I cannot do anything bad or anything that is good [that he does not approve of].’ And I told you that I could say only what Yahweh says to me.
14 Et maintenant, voici, je m’en vais vers mon peuple; viens, je t’avertirai de ce que ce peuple fera à ton peuple à la fin des jours.
So yes, I will return to my people, but first, allow me to tell you what will happen to you Moab people in the future.”
15 Et il proféra son discours sentencieux, et dit: Balaam, fils de Béor, dit, et l’homme qui a l’œil ouvert, dit:
So Balaam said this [to Balak]: “I, Balaam, son of Beor, am again giving a prophecy, speaking as a man who sees [what will happen in the future] clearly speaks.
16 Celui qui entend les paroles de Dieu, et qui connaît la connaissance du Très-haut, qui voit la vision du Tout-puissant, qui tombe et qui a les yeux ouverts, dit:
I hear a message from God; I know things that God, who lives in heaven, has [revealed to me]. I see a vision from him who is all-powerful. My eyes are open as I prostrate myself in front of him.
17 Je le verrai, mais pas maintenant; je le regarderai, mais pas de près. Une étoile surgira de Jacob, et un sceptre s’élèvera d’Israël, et transpercera les coins de Moab, et détruira tous les fils de tumulte.
The things that I see [in the vision] are not [going to happen] now; I see things [that God will cause to happen] in the future. A man who is [a descendant of] Jacob will appear like a star [MET]; a king who holds a scepter will be one of the Israeli people. He will crush the heads of you people of Moab; he will wipe out the descendants of Seth.
18 Et Édom sera une possession, et Séhir sera une possession, … [eux], ses ennemis; et Israël agira avec puissance.
The Israelis will occupy Edom, and they will conquer their enemies [who live near] Seir [Mountain]. The Israeli people will be victorious/strong.
19 Et celui qui sortira de Jacob dominera, et il fera périr de la ville le résidu.
A ruler who is a descendant of Jacob will come; he will get rid of the people who still live in the city [where Balaam first met Balak].”
20 Et il vit Amalek, et proféra son discours sentencieux, et dit: Amalek était la première des nations; et sa fin sera la destruction.
Then Balaam looked out over where the Amalek people-group [lived], and he prophesied this: “The Amalek people-group were the greatest nation, but they will be wiped out.”
21 Et il vit le Kénien, et il proféra son discours sentencieux, et dit: Forte est ta demeure, et tu as placé ton nid dans le rocher.
Then he looked out over the area where the Ken people-group [lived], and he prophesied this: “You [think that] the place where you live is secure/safe like a nest that is made in the cliffs [MET],
22 Toutefois le Kénien doit être consumé, jusqu’à ce qu’Assur t’emmène captif.
but you will be wiped out when the army of Assyria conquers you.”
23 Et il proféra son discours sentencieux, et dit: Malheur! Qui vivra, quand Dieu fera ces choses?
Balaam ended his prophecies by saying, “Also, (who can (survive/escape) when God does all these things?/no one will be able to (survive/escape) when God does all these things!) [RHQ]
24 Et des navires viendront de la côte de Kittim, et affligeront Assur, et affligeront Héber, et lui aussi ira à la destruction.
Ships will come from Cyprus [Island], and [the men in those ships] will defeat [the armies of] Assyria and Eber. But God will get rid of those men, too.”
25 Et Balaam se leva, et s’en alla, et s’en retourna en son lieu; et Balak aussi s’en alla son chemin.
Then Balaam and Balak returned to their homes.
