Romains 7
1 Ignorez-vous, frères, (car je parle à gens qui entendent ce que c’est que [la] loi, ) que la loi a autorité sur l’homme aussi longtemps qu’il vit?
My fellow believers, you know about laws. So you certainly know (OR, I want you to remember) that people have to obey laws [PRS] [only] while [they are] alive. [RHQ]
2 Car la femme qui est soumise à un mari, est liée à son mari par [la] loi, tant qu’il vit; mais si le mari meurt, elle est déliée de la loi du mari.
For example, a woman is required by the law {the law requires a woman} [to obey and be faithful to her husband] as long as he is alive. But if her husband dies, she is freed [from having to] {[no longer has to]} [obey] the law about [remaining married to] her husband.
3 Ainsi donc, le mari étant vivant, elle sera appelée adultère si elle est à un autre homme; mais si le mari meurt, elle est libre de la loi, de sorte qu’elle n’est pas adultère en étant à un autre homme.
Therefore, a woman will be called {people will call a woman} an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she no longer [has to obey] that law. Then she will not be an adulteress if she marries another man.
4 C’est pourquoi, mes frères, vous aussi, vous avez été mis à mort à la loi par le corps du Christ, pour être à un autre, à celui qui est ressuscité d’entre les morts, afin que nous portions du fruit pour Dieu.
Likewise, my fellow believers, [just like people are free from having to obey any law after they die] [MET], you [and I] have been freed {[God] has freed you [and me]} from having [to obey] all the Jewish rituals and laws [MET]. [That is because it is as though] we died with Christ [when he was crucified]. Now you [and I] belong to someone else [MET], [like a woman who marries again after her husband dies belongs to another man]. Specifically, you [and I] belong to [Christ], who has come back to life {whom [God] has caused to live again after he died}, in order that we may live righteously [IDM] to [honor] God.
5 Car, quand nous étions dans la chair, les passions des péchés, lesquelles sont par la loi, agissaient dans nos membres pour porter du fruit pour la mort;
When our self-directed nature [controlled] us, desires [that led us to] sin were acting in our bodies. [Those desires were increased because of our knowing God’s] laws [PRS]. As a result [we did evil things] [IDM] [that] caused us to be separated from God.
6 mais maintenant nous avons été déliés de la loi, étant morts dans ce en quoi nous étions tenus, en sorte que nous servions en nouveauté d’esprit, et non pas en vieillesse de lettre.
But now we are freed {free} from [having to obey all the Jewish] rituals— [it is as though] we have died. The result is that now we are not controlled by those rituals {those rituals do not control us now}. So we serve God, not by [having to obey] those rituals, which is the old way, but in the new way, as [God’s] Spirit [helps us to serve him].
7 Que dirons-nous donc? La loi est-elle péché? – Qu’ainsi n’advienne! Mais je n’aurais pas connu le péché, si ce n’avait été par [la] loi; car je n’aurais pas eu conscience de la convoitise, si la loi n’avait dit: « Tu ne convoiteras point ».
[Someone might object], saying, “(The laws [that God gave Moses] must be evil [if our sinful desires] are increased because of our knowing those laws. [MTY]/Are not the laws [that God gave Moses] evil [if they stir up our sinful desires]?)” [MTY, RHQ] [I would reply] that they certainly are not [evil, even though our sinful desires are increased]. What I would reply is that I, [for example], realized that [what I was doing] was sinful only because [of what is written] {[Moses wrote]} [in] those laws. For example, I realized that coveting [is sinful] only because he wrote in those laws [PRS], “You must not covet.”
8 Mais le péché, ayant trouvé une occasion par le commandement, a produit en moi toutes les convoitises, car sans [la] loi [le] péché est mort.
And because of what that commandment [stated], my sinful [desire to have things that belong to others] [PRS] caused me to covet in many ways. [Our desire to] sin is not stimulated [MET] when there is no law [that prohibits our doing sinful things].
9 Or moi, étant autrefois sans loi, je vivais; mais le commandement étant venu, le péché a repris vie, et moi je mourus;
Formerly, when I did not [know] what God’s laws [required], I used to live [without worrying about what I was doing]. But when I [became aware that God] commanded, [“You must not covet],” I suddenly realized [PRS] that I was sinning,
10 et le commandement qui était pour la vie, a été trouvé lui-même pour moi pour la mort.
and [I realized that] I was separated from God. The laws that [I thought would enable me to] live [eternally as a result of my obeying them] caused me [to realize that] I was separated from God!
11 Car le péché, ayant trouvé une occasion par le commandement, me séduisit, et par lui me tua.
[My desire to] sin found a way [PRS] to deceive me [by making me think wrongly that] I could keep [on sinning and at the same time obey] those laws [enough so that I would live eternally], and [thus it] caused me to be separated from God [PRS].
12 La loi donc est sainte, et le commandement est saint, et juste, et bon.
So [we conclude that] the laws [that God gave to Moses] are holy. What God commanded [about not coveting, along with all the other things that he commanded], is also holy, and it is just and good.
13 Ce qui est bon est-il donc devenu pour moi [la] mort? – Qu’ainsi n’advienne! Mais le péché, afin qu’il paraisse péché, m’a causé la mort par ce qui est bon, afin que le péché devienne par le commandement excessivement pécheur.
So, [if someone were to object] saying, “[The laws that God gave Moses], which are good, (resulted in my being separated from God!/did they result in my being separated from God?) [RHQ]” [I would reply], “Certainly they did not [do that]!” But instead, those [laws], which are good, stimulated [my desire to] sin. I knew that the result was that I was separated from God. And also, because I [learned what God had] commanded, [I knew that] what I was doing was [truly] sinful.
14 Car nous savons que la loi est spirituelle: mais moi je suis charnel, vendu au péché;
We know that the laws [that God gave Moses came from God’s] Spirit. But as for me, I am [influenced by my] self-directed nature. [It is as though] I have been forced to become a slave of [my desire to] sin [MET].
15 car ce que je fais, je ne le reconnais pas, car ce n’est pas ce que je veux, que je fais, mais ce que je hais, je le pratique.
The things that I do, I [often] [HYP] do not understand. That is, [sometimes] [HYP] it is [the good things] that I want [to do] that I do not do. [And sometimes] [HYP] it is the [evil] things that I detest that I do.
16 Or si c’est ce que je ne veux pas que je pratique, j’approuve la loi, [reconnaissant] qu’elle est bonne.
Since I [do] the [evil] things that I do not want [to] do, I agree that the laws [of God] are good.
17 Or maintenant, ce n’est plus moi qui fais cela, mais c’est le péché qui habite en moi.
So, it is not that I do [evil things because I wish to do them]. Instead, [what happens is that] I do sinful things because the desire to sin [causes me to do them]. The [desire to] sin (is within/permeates) me [PRS].
18 Car je sais qu’en moi, c’est-à-dire en ma chair, il n’habite point de bien; car le vouloir est avec moi, mais accomplir le bien, [cela] je ne le trouve pas.
I know that my self-directed nature will not [let me] [PRS] [do] anything that is good. I know this because I want [to do what is good], but I do not do what is good.
19 Car le bien que je veux, je ne le pratique pas; mais le mal que je ne veux pas, je le fais.
I do not do the good things that I want to do. Instead, it is evil things that I do not want to do that I do.
20 Or si ce que je ne veux pas, moi, – je le pratique, ce n’est plus moi qui l’accomplis, mais c’est le péché qui habite en moi.
Because I do [evil things] that I do not want to do, it is not that I do [evil things because I want to]. Instead, [I do them because] my self-directed nature, which permeates me [PRS], [causes me to do them].
21 Je trouve donc cette loi pour moi qui veux pratiquer le bien, que le mal est avec moi.
I find, then, that what always happens is that when I want to do what is good, there is an evil [desire] present within me that [PRS] [prevents me from doing good].
22 Car je prends plaisir à la loi de Dieu selon l’homme intérieur;
With my new inner nature I like the laws of God very much.
23 mais je vois dans mes membres une autre loi qui combat contre la loi de mon entendement et qui me rend captif de la loi du péché qui existe dans mes membres.
Nevertheless, I sense that there is a different force that is in (my body/me) [PRS, SYN]. It is opposed to what with my mind [I desire to do] [MET], and it puts me inescapably under the control of [MET] the sinful [desires] that I have [SYN].
24 Misérable homme que je suis, qui me délivrera de ce corps de mort?
[When I consider this], I [feel that I] am a very wretched person. I want someone to set me free from the control of what my body [desires], in order that I might not be separated from God. [RHQ] [I also think that what I have experienced is the same as what all believers experience].
25 Je rends grâces à Dieu par Jésus Christ notre Seigneur. Ainsi donc moi-même, de l’entendement je sers la loi de Dieu; mais de la chair, la loi du péché.
I thank God that it is by Jesus Christ our Lord [that we can be free from the control of what our bodies desire]. So, [with our minds, you and] I on the one hand want to obey God’s laws. [But also], [you and] I [often let] our sinful [desires control us] because of our self-directed nature.
