Psaumes 78
1 Pour instruire. D’Asaph. Prête l’oreille à ma loi, mon peuple! inclinez vos oreilles aux paroles de ma bouche.
My friends, listen to what I am going to teach you; pay careful attention [IDM] to what I say.
2 J’ouvrirai ma bouche en paraboles, j’annoncerai les énigmes [des jours] d’autrefois,
I am going to give you some sayings that wise people have said. They will be sayings about things that happened long ago, things that were difficult to understand [MET],
3 Que nous avons entendues et connues, et que nos pères nous ont racontées.
things that we have heard and known previously, things that our parents and grandparents told us.
4 Nous ne les cèlerons pas à leurs fils; nous raconterons à la génération à venir les louanges de l’Éternel, et sa force, et ses merveilles qu’il a faites.
We will tell these things to our children [LIT], and we will also tell to our grandchildren [about] Yahweh’s power and the glorious/great things that he has done.
5 Il a établi un témoignage en Jacob, et il a mis en Israël une loi qu’il a commandée à nos pères, pour qu’ils les fassent connaître à leurs fils,
He gave laws and commandments to the Israeli people, [those who are the descendants of] Jacob [DOU], and he told our ancestors to teach them to their children
6 Afin que la génération à venir, les fils qui naîtraient, les connaissent, [et] qu’ils se lèvent et les annoncent à leurs fils,
in order that their children would [also] know them and then they would teach them to their children.
7 Et qu’ils mettent leur confiance en Dieu, et qu’ils n’oublient pas les œuvres de Dieu, et qu’ils observent ses commandements,
In that way, they also would trust in God, and not forget the things that he has done; instead, they would obey his commandments.
8 Et qu’ils ne soient pas, comme leurs pères, une génération indocile et rebelle, une génération qui n’a point affermi son cœur, et dont l’esprit n’a pas été fidèle à Dieu.
They would not be like their ancestors, who were very stubborn and kept rebelling [against God]; they did not continue firmly trusting in God, and they did not worship only him.
9 Les fils d’Éphraïm, armés [et] tirant de l’arc, ont tourné le dos le jour du combat.
[The soldiers of] the tribe of Ephraim had bows [and arrows] but they ran away [from their enemies] on the day that they fought a battle with their enemies.
10 Ils n’ont pas gardé l’alliance de Dieu, et ont refusé de marcher selon sa loi;
They did not do what they had agreed with God that they would do; they refused to obey his laws.
11 Et ils ont oublié ses actes et ses œuvres merveilleuses, qu’il leur avait fait voir.
They forgot what he had done; they forgot about the miracles that they had seen him perform.
12 Il fit des merveilles devant leurs pères dans le pays d’Égypte, dans la campagne de Tsoan.
While our ancestors were watching, God performed miracles in the area around Zoan [city] in Egypt.
13 Il fendit la mer, et les fit passer: il fit se dresser les eaux comme un monceau;
[Then] he caused the [Red] Sea to divide, causing the water [on each side] to pile up like a wall, with the result that [our ancestors] walked through it [on dry ground].
14 Et il les conduisit, le jour par une nuée, et toute la nuit par une lumière de feu.
He led them by a [bright] cloud during the day and by a fiery light during the night.
15 Il fendit les rochers dans le désert, et les abreuva comme aux abîmes, abondamment;
He split rocks open in the desert, giving to our ancestors plenty of water from deep inside the earth.
16 Et il fit sortir des ruisseaux du rocher, et fit couler les eaux comme des fleuves.
He caused a stream of water to flow from the rock; the water flowed like a river [DOU].
17 Et ils péchèrent de nouveau contre lui, irritant le Très-haut dans le désert;
But [our ancestors] continued to sin against God; in the desert they rebelled against the one who is greater than any other god.
18 Et ils tentèrent Dieu dans leurs cœurs, en demandant de la viande selon leur désir;
By demanding that God give them the food that they desired, they tried to find out if he would always do what they requested him to do.
19 Et ils parlèrent contre Dieu; ils dirent: Dieu pourrait-il dresser une table dans le désert?
They insulted God by saying, “We don’t think he can supply food for us [here] in this desert!
20 Voici, il a frappé le rocher, et les eaux ont coulé, et des rivières ont débordé: pourrait-il aussi donner du pain, ou préparer de la chair à son peuple?
[It is true that] he struck the rock, with the result that water gushed/flowed out, [but] (can he also provide bread and meat for [us], his people?/we doubt that he can also provide bread and meat for us, his people.)” [RHQ]
21 C’est pourquoi l’Éternel les entendit, et se mit en grande colère; et le feu s’alluma contre Jacob, et la colère aussi monta contre Israël,
So, when Yahweh heard that, he became very angry, and he sent a fire to burn up [some of] his Israeli [people]. [MTY, DOU]
22 Car ils ne crurent pas Dieu, et ne se fièrent pas en son salut,
[He did that] because they did not trust in him, and they did not believe that he would rescue them.
23 Bien qu’il ait commandé aux nuées d’en haut, et qu’il ait ouvert les portes des cieux,
But God spoke to the sky above them; he commanded it to open [like] a door,
24 Et qu’il ait fait pleuvoir sur eux la manne pour manger, et qu’il leur ait donné le blé des cieux:
and [then food] fell down like rain, [food which they named] ‘manna’; God gave them grain from (heaven/the sky).
25 L’homme mangea le pain des puissants; il leur envoya des vivres à satiété.
[So] the people ate the food that angels eat, [and] God gave to them all the manna that they wanted.
26 Il fit lever dans les cieux le vent d’orient, et il amena par sa puissance le vent du midi;
[Later], he caused the wind to blow from the east, and by his power he also sent wind from the south,
27 Et il fit pleuvoir sur eux de la chair comme de la poussière, et, comme le sable des mers, des oiseaux ailés;
and the wind brought birds which were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.
28 Et il les fit tomber au milieu de leur camp, autour de leurs demeures.
God caused those birds to fall [dead] in the middle of (their camp)/the area where the people had put up their tents. [There were dead birds] all around their tents.
29 Et ils en mangèrent, et en furent abondamment rassasiés. Il leur envoya ce qu’ils convoitaient.
[So] the people [cooked the birds and] ate the meat and their stomachs were full, because God had given them what they wanted.
30 Ils ne s’étaient pas encore détournés de leur convoitise, leur viande était encore dans leur bouche,
But before they had eaten all that they wanted, and while they were still eating it,
31 Que la colère de Dieu monta contre eux; et il tua de leurs hommes forts, et abattit les hommes d’élite d’Israël.
God was [still] very angry with them, and he caused their strongest men to die; he got rid of [many of] the finest [young] Israeli men.
32 Avec tout cela ils péchèrent encore, et ne crurent point par ses œuvres merveilleuses;
In spite of all that, the people continued to sin; in spite of all the miracles that God had performed, they still did not trust that he [would take care of them].
33 Et il consuma leurs jours par la vanité, et leurs années par la frayeur.
So, he caused their lives to end as quickly as a puff of wind ends; they died when disasters suddenly struck them.
34 S’il les tuait, alors ils le recherchaient, et ils se retournaient, et cherchaient Dieu dès le matin;
When God caused [some of] them to die, [the others] turned to God; they repented and earnestly asked God [to save them].
35 Et ils se souvenaient que Dieu était leur rocher, et Dieu, le Très-haut, leur rédempteur;
They remembered that God is [like] a huge rock ledge [under which they would be safe] [MET], and that he, who was greater than any other god, is the one who protected/rescued them.
36 Mais ils le flattaient de leur bouche et ils lui mentaient de leur langue;
But they [tried to] deceive God by what they said [MTY]; their words [MTY] were [all] lies.
37 Et leur cœur n’était pas ferme envers lui, et ils ne furent pas fidèles dans son alliance.
They were not loyal to him; they disregarded/ignored the agreement that he had made with them.
38 Mais lui, étant miséricordieux, pardonna l’iniquité et ne [les] détruisit pas; mais il détourna souvent sa colère, et n’éveilla pas toute sa fureur.
But God was merciful to his people. He forgave them for having sinned and did not get rid of them. Many times he refrained from becoming angry [with them] and restrained from furiously/severely [punishing them] [MTY].
39 Et il se souvint qu’ils étaient chair, un souffle qui passe et ne revient pas.
He remembered/considered that they were only humans who die; they [disappear quickly] [SIM], like a wind that blows by and then is gone.
40 Que de fois ils l’irritèrent dans le désert, [et] le provoquèrent dans le lieu désolé!
Many times our ancestors rebelled against God in the desert and caused him to become very sad.
41 Et ils recommencèrent et tentèrent Dieu, et affligèrent le Saint d’Israël:
Many times they did evil things, to find out [if they could do those things without God punishing them]. They frequently caused the holy God of Israel to become disgusted/sad.
42 Ils ne se souvinrent pas de sa main au jour où il les avait délivrés de l’oppresseur,
They forgot about his [great] power, and they (forgot/did not think) about the time when he rescued them from their enemies.
43 Lorsqu’il mit ses signes en Égypte, et ses prodiges dans les campagnes de Tsoan,
They forgot about when he performed many miracles in the area near Zoan [city] in Egypt.
44 Et qu’il changea en sang leurs canaux et leurs courants d’eau, de sorte qu’ils n’en puissent pas boire;
He caused the [Nile] River (OR, their sources of water) to become [red like] blood, with the result that the people of Egypt had no water to drink.
45 Il envoya contre eux des mouches qui les dévorèrent, et des grenouilles qui les détruisirent;
He sent among the people of Egypt swarms of flies that bit them, and he sent frogs that ate up everything.
46 Et il livra leurs fruits à la locuste, et leur travail à la sauterelle.
He sent locusts to eat their crops and the other things that grew in their fields.
47 Il fit périr leurs vignes par la grêle, et leurs sycomores par les grêlons;
He sent hail that destroyed the grapevines, and sent frost that ruined the figs.
48 Et il livra leur bétail à la grêle, et leurs troupeaux à la foudre.
He sent hail that killed their cattle and sent lightning that killed their sheep and cows.
49 Il envoya sur eux l’ardeur de sa colère, la fureur, et l’indignation, et la détresse, une troupe d’anges de malheur.
Because God was fiercely angry with the people of Egypt, he caused them to be very distressed. The disasters that struck them were like a group of angels that destroyed [everything].
50 Il fraya un chemin à sa colère; il ne préserva pas leurs âmes de la mort, et livra leur vie à la peste;
He did not lessen his being angry [with them], and he did not (spare their lives/prevent them from dying); he sent a (plague/serious illness) that killed [many of] them.
51 Et il frappa tout premier-né en Égypte, les prémices de la vigueur dans les tentes de Cham.
He also caused all the firstborn sons of the people of Egypt to die.
52 Et il fit partir son peuple comme des brebis, et les mena comme un troupeau dans le désert;
Then he led his people out [of Egypt] like [a shepherd leads] his sheep [SIM], and he guided them [while they walked] through the desert.
53 Et il les conduisit sains et saufs, et ils furent sans crainte; et la mer couvrit leurs ennemis.
He led them safely, and they were not afraid, but their enemies were drowned in the sea.
54 Et il les introduisit dans les confins de sa sainte [terre], cette montagne que sa droite s’est acquise.
[Later] he brought them to [Canaan], his sacred land, to [Zion] Hill (OR, the hilly area) and by his power [MTY] he enabled them to conquer [the people who were living there].
55 Et il chassa de devant eux les nations, et leur partagea un héritage, et fit habiter dans leurs tentes les tribus d’Israël.
He expelled the people-groups while his people were advancing; he allotted part of the land for [each tribe] to possess, and he gave to the Israeli people the houses of those people who had been expelled.
56 Mais ils tentèrent et irritèrent le Dieu Très-haut, et ne gardèrent pas ses témoignages,
However, the Israeli people rebelled against God, who is greater than any other god, and they did many evil things to see if they could do those things without God punishing them, and they did not obey his commandments.
57 Et se retirèrent, et agirent infidèlement, comme leurs pères; ils tournèrent comme un arc trompeur.
Instead, like their ancestors did, they rebelled against God and (were not loyal to/did not faithfully [obey]) him; they were as [unreliable as] a crooked arrow [that does not go straight] [SIM].
58 Et ils le provoquèrent à colère par leurs hauts lieux, et l’émurent à jalousie par leurs images taillées.
Because they [worshiped] carved images of their gods on the tops of hills, they caused God to become angry [DOU].
59 Dieu l’entendit, et se mit en grande colère, et il méprisa fort Israël.
He saw what they were doing and became very angry, so he rejected the Israeli people.
60 Et il abandonna la demeure de Silo, la tente où il avait habité parmi les hommes;
He no longer appeared to them at Shiloh in the tent where he had lived among them.
61 Et il livra à la captivité sa force, et sa magnificence en la main de l’ennemi;
He allowed their enemies to capture [the sacred chest], [which was the symbol of] his power and his glory.
62 Et il livra son peuple à l’épée, et se mit en grande colère contre son héritage:
Because he was angry with his people, he allowed them to be killed [MTY] [by their enemies].
63 Le feu dévora leurs jeunes hommes, et leurs vierges ne furent pas célébrées;
Young men were killed in battles, with the result that the young women had no one to marry.
64 Leurs sacrificateurs tombèrent par l’épée, et leurs veuves ne se lamentèrent pas.
[Many] priests were killed by [their enemies’] swords, and (the people did not allow the priests’ widows/the priests’ widows were not allowed) to mourn.
65 Alors le Seigneur s’éveilla comme un homme qui dort, et comme un homme puissant qui, [animé] par le vin, pousse des cris.
Later, [it was as though] the Lord awoke from sleeping; he was like a strong man who (became stimulated/felt that he was strong) by (OR, became sober after) [drinking] a lot of wine [SIM].
66 Et il frappa ses ennemis par-derrière, il les livra à un opprobre éternel.
He pushed their enemies back and caused them to be [very] ashamed for a long time [HYP] [because they had been defeated].
67 Et il méprisa la tente de Joseph, et ne choisit pas la tribu d’Éphraïm;
[But] he did not set up his tent where [the people of] the tribe of Ephraim lived; he did not choose their area [to do that].
68 Mais il choisit la tribu de Juda, la montagne de Sion qu’il aima.
Instead he chose [the area where] the tribe of Judah [lived]; he chose Zion Hill, which he loves.
69 Et il bâtit son sanctuaire comme des lieux très hauts, comme la terre qu’il a fondée pour toujours.
He [decided to have] his temple built [there], high up, like [his home in] heaven; he caused it to be firm, [and intended that] his temple would last forever, like the earth.
70 Et il choisit David, son serviteur, et le prit des parcs des brebis;
He chose David, who served him [faithfully], and took him from the pastures
71 Il le fit venir d’auprès des brebis qui allaitent, pour paître Jacob, son peuple, et Israël, son héritage.
where he was taking care of his [father’s] sheep, and appointed him to be the leader [MET] of the Israeli people, the people who belong to God.
72 Et il les fit paître selon l’intégrité de son cœur, et les conduisit par l’intelligence de ses mains.
David took care of the Israeli people sincerely and wholeheartedly, and guided them skillfully/wisely.
