1 Samuel 18
1 A la suite de son entretien avec Saül, le cœur de Jonathan s’attacha à David, de sorte qu’il l’aima comme lui-même.
After David finished talking with Saul, [he met Saul’s son, Jonathan.] Jonathan [immediately] liked David; in fact, he began to love/like him as much as he loved/liked himself.
2 Saül le retint ce jour même et ne le laissa pas retourner chez son père.
From that day, Saul kept David with him, and did not let him return home.
3 Pour Jonathan, il fit un pacte avec David, parce qu’il l’aimait comme lui-même;
Because Jonathan loved David so much, he made a solemn agreement with David. [They promised each other that they would always be loyal friends].
4 il se dépouilla du manteau qu’il portait et le donna à David, ainsi que son costume, et jusqu’à son épée, son arc et sa ceinture.
Jonathan took off his own outer robe and gave it to David. He also gave David his soldier’s tunic, his sword, his bow [and arrows], and his belt.
5 David fit diverses expéditions, réussit partout où l’envoyait Saül, et celui-ci le mit à la tête des guerriers; et il se fit aimer de tout le peuple, comme des serviteurs de Saül.
[David went wherever Saul sent him. And] whatever Saul told him to do, David did it very successfully. As a result, Saul appointed David to be a commander in the army. All the officers and other men in the army (approved of/were very pleased with) that.
6 Or, quand on rentra, comme David revenait vainqueur du Philistin, les femmes s’avancèrent de toutes les villes d’Israël au-devant du roi Saül, chantant et dansant au son des gais tambourins et des triangles.
But, when the men in the army were returning home after David had killed Goliath, the women came out from many [HYP] towns in Israel to meet/greet King Saul. They were singing and dancing very joyfully, playing tambourines and lyres.
7 Et elles chantaient en chœur dans leurs jeux, en disant: "Saül a battu ses mille, Et David ses myriades!"
As they danced, they sang this song to each other: “Saul has killed 1,000 [enemy soldiers], But David has killed 10,000 [of them].”
8 Saül s’en fâcha fort, trouvant la chose déplaisante; et il dit: "Elles donnent les myriades à David et à moi les mille: il ne lui manque plus que la royauté!"
[When] Saul [heard them singing that, he] did not like it. He became very angry. He said [to himself], “They are saying that David [killed] 10,000 men, but that I [have killed] only 1,000. Soon they will want to make him their king!” [RHQ]
9 Saül regarda David de mauvais œil, à partir de ce jour.
From that time, Saul watched David very closely because he was suspicious [that David would try to become king].
10 Le lendemain, le mauvais esprit envoyé par Dieu s’empara de Saül, et il allait dans la maison, en proie au délire, tandis que David touchait de ses doigts l’instrument, comme il l’avait fait précédemment; et Saül avait sa lance en main.
The next day, an evil spirit sent by God suddenly took control of Saul. He began to act like a madman, inside his house. David was playing the lyre for him, as he did every day. Saul was holding a spear in his hand,
11 Saül brandit la lance en disant: "Je clouerai David au mur"; mais David l’évita deux fois.
and he hurled it [at David], saying to himself, “I will fasten David to the wall with the spear!” He did that two times, but David jumped aside [both times].
12 Alors Saül eut peur de David, parce que le Seigneur était avec lui, tandis qu’il avait abandonné Saül
Because [it became evident that] Yahweh had abandoned Saul but [that] he was helping David, Saul was afraid of David.
13 Saül l’éloigna donc d’auprès de lui et il en fit un chef de mille à son service, de sorte qu’il dut aller et venir à la tête du peuple.
So he appointed David as a commander of 1,000 soldiers and sent David away from him, [hoping that David would be killed in a battle]. But when David led his soldiers [in their battles],
14 David avait du succès dans toutes ses expéditions, car l’Eternel était avec lui;
he always had great success, because Yahweh was helping him.
15 et Saül, voyant combien il réussissait, en fut effrayé.
When Saul heard that David [and his soldiers were] very successful, he became more afraid of David.
16 Mais tout Israël et Juda aimaient David, parce qu’il allait et venait à leur tête.
But all the people of Israel and of Judah loved David, because he led the soldiers very successfully [in the battles].
17 Saül dit à David "Vois, ma fille aînée, Mérab, c’est elle que je veux te donner pour femme, sois-moi seulement un brave guerrier, combattant les combats du Seigneur." (Il ne faut pas que ma main le frappe, pensait Saül, mais plutôt celle des Philistins.)
One day Saul said to David, “I am ready to give you my oldest daughter, Merab, to be your wife. I will do that if you serve me bravely by fighting battles for Yahweh [against the Philistines]”. He said that because he thought, “I will not try to get rid of David by myself. I will allow the Philistines to do that.”
18 David répondit à Saül: "Qui suis-je, quelle est mon existence, que vaut ma famille en Israël, pour que je devienne gendre du roi?…"
But David said to Saul, “I am not [RHQ] a very important person, and my family is not very important, and my clan is not a very important Israeli clan. So I do not deserve to become your son-in-law.” [RHQ]
19 Or, à l’époque où Mérab, fille de Saül, devait être donnée à David, elle fut donnée en mariage à Adriel de Mehola.
So, when it was time for Merab to be given to David to become his wife, instead, Saul gave her to a man named Adriel, from Meholah [town].
20 Mikhal, fille de Saül, conçut de l’amour pour David; Saül en fut informé, et la chose lui plut;
But Saul’s other daughter, Michal, fell in love with David. When they told Saul about that, he was pleased.
21 car Saül se disait "Je la lui donnerai, afin qu’elle soit un piège pour lui et qu’il tombe sous la main des Philistins." Il dit donc à David: "C’Est par la seconde que tu deviendras mon gendre à présent."
He thought, “I will let Michal marry him, in order that she may trap him, and the Philistines will be able to kill him.” So he said to David, [“You can marry Michal],” and by saying that, he indicated for the second time that David would become his son-in-law.
22 Et Saül ordonna à ses serviteurs de dire à David en confidence: "Vois, le roi a de l’affection pour toi, tous ses serviteurs t’aiment; deviens donc gendre du roi."
Saul told his servants, “Talk to David privately, and say to him, ‘Listen, the king is pleased with you, and all of us his servants love you. So now [we think that] you should [marry Michal and] become the king’s son-in-law.’”
23 Les serviteurs de Saül parlèrent dans ce sens à l’oreille de David, mais il répondit: "Est-ce peu de chose à vos yeux que de m’allier au roi, moi pauvre et chétif?"
So they told that to David. But David said, “It would be a great honor [RHQ] to become the king’s son-in-law. But [I do not think that I should do that, because] I am only a poor and insignificant man.”
24 Les serviteurs de Saül le lui rapportèrent, en disant: "Voilà ce qu’a répondu David."
When the servants told Saul what David had said,
25 Et Saül dit: "Vous direz à David: Le roi n’exige d’autre douaire que cent prépuces de Philistins comme châtiment de ces ennemis du roi." (Saül avait pour but de faire tomber David aux mains des Philistins.)
Saul replied, “Go and say to David, ‘[In order for] the king [to allow you to marry Michal, he] wants [you to kill] 100 Philistines [and cut off] their foreskins [and bring the foreskins to him to prove that you have killed them]. In that way he will get revenge on his enemies.’” But what Saul wanted was that the Philistines would kill David [while David was trying to kill them].
26 Ses serviteurs rapportèrent cette parole à David, à qui il plut de devenir le gendre du roi. Et le temps n’était pas encore écoulé,
When the servants told that to David, he was very pleased that he could become the king’s son-in-law [by doing that. The king had said how many days he would allow for David to do that]. But before that time ended,
27 que David se mit en campagne, partit avec ses hommes, défit deux cents Philistins et rapporta leurs prépuces, qu’on livra intégralement au roi, afin qu’il devînt son gendre; et Saül lui donna pour femme sa fille Mikhal.
David and his men went and killed, [not 100, but] 200 Philistines! He brought their foreskins to Saul, and counted them [while Saul was watching], in order to prove that he had [done what the king required so that he could become Saul’s son-in-law. So then Saul was obligated] to allow David to marry his daughter Michal.
28 Saül vit et reconnut que Dieu était avec David, qu’il était aimé de Mikhal, sa fille.
But when Saul realized that Yahweh was helping David, and that his daughter loved David,
29 Et plus que jamais Saül redouta David, et il lui fut hostile sa vie durant.
he became more afraid of David. So, as long as Saul lived, he was David’s enemy.
30 Les chefs des Philistins firent mainte incursion; mais au cours de leurs expéditions, David eut constamment du succès, plus que tous les serviteurs de Saül. Et son nom fut en grand honneur.
The Philistine armies repeatedly came to fight the Israelis, but every time they fought, David and his soldiers were more successful than any of Saul’s other army commanders. As a result, David became very famous.
