2 Samuel 14

1 Joab, fils de Cerouya, ayant remarqué que le cœur de David penchait en faveur d’Absalon,

And Joab the son of Saruia knew that the heart of the king was toward Abessalom.

2 envoya chercher à Tekoa une femme avisée à laquelle il dit: "Prends, je te prie, les apparences du deuil: revêts un costume de deuil, ne te parfume pas d’huile, enfin aie l’air d’une femme qui pleure un mort depuis de longs jours.

And Joab sent to Thecoe, and took thence a cunning woman, and said to her, Mourn, I pray you, and put on mourning apparel, and anoint you not with oil, and you shall be as a woman mourning for one that is dead thus for many days.

3 Tu te présenteras devant le roi et lui diras telle et telle chose," et il lui mit les paroles dans la bouche.

And you shall go to the king, and speak to him according to this word. And Joab put the words in her mouth.

4 La femme de Tekoa alla les dire au roi. Elle se jeta la face contre terre, se prosterna et dit: "A mon aide, seigneur!

So the woman of Thecoe went in to the king and fell upon her face to the earth, and did him obeisance, and said, Help, O king, help.

5 Que veux-tu? lui dit le roi. Hélas! répondit-elle, je suis veuve, mon mari est mort.

And the king said to her, What is the matter with you? And she said, I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead.

6 Ta servante avait deux fils. Ils se prirent de querelle dans les champs, sans personne pour s’interposer entre eux, l’un d’eux s’est jeté sur l’autre et l’a tué.

And moreover your handmaid had two sons, and they fought together in the field, and there was no one to part them; and the one struck the other his brother, and killed him.

7 Maintenant toute la famille a pris parti contre ta servante en disant: "Livre-nous le meurtrier de son frère, que nous le fassions mourir pour la vie de son frère qu’il a prise, et que nous anéantissions aussi l’héritier." Ils veulent donc éteindre le tison qui m’est resté et ne laisser à mon époux ni nom ni progéniture sur la terre."

And behold the whole family rose up against your handmaid, and they said, Give up the one that struck his brother, and we will put him to death for the life of his brother, whom he killed, and we will take away even your heir: so they will quench my coal that is left, so as not to leave my husband remnant or name on the face of the earth.

8 Le roi dit à la femme: "Rentre chez toi, je donnerai des ordres à ton sujet."

And the king said to the woman, Go in peace to your house, and I will give commandment concerning you.

9 La femme tekoïte répondit au roi: "Mon seigneur le roi, le châtiment tombera sur moi et sur la maison de mon père, tandis que le roi et son trône seront indemnes!

And the woman of Thecoe said to the king, On me, my lord, O king, and on my father's house [be] the iniquity, and the king and his throne [be] guiltless.

10 Celui qui t’interpellerait, dit le roi, traduis-le devant moi, et on n’osera plus s’attaquer à toi.

And the king said, Who was it that spoke to you? you shall even bring him to me, and [one] shall not touch him any more.

11 De grâce, répondit-elle, songe à l’Eternel, ton Dieu, pour que le vengeur du sang ne multiplie pas les ruines, et qu’on n’extermine pas mon fils! Par le Dieu vivant! dit le roi, il ne tombera pas un cheveu de la tête de ton fils."

And she said, Let now the king remember concerning his Lord God in that the avenger of blood is multiplied to destroy, and let them not take away my son. And he said, [As] the lord lives, not a hair of your son shall fall to the ground.

12 La femme reprit: "Qu’il soit permis à ta servante de dire un mot à mon seigneur le roi." Et il répondit: "Parle.

And the woman said, Let now your servant speak a word to my lord the king. And he said, Say on.

13 Pourquoi donc, dit la femme, as-tu de tels sentiments à l’égard du peuple de Dieu? En proférant cette parole, le roi s’est mis dans son tort, puisqu’il ne rappelle pas celui qu’il a banni.

And the woman said, Why have you devised this thing against the people of God? or [is] this word out of the king's mouth as a transgression, so that the king should not bring back his banished?

14 Car enfin nous sommes mortels, semblables à l’eau répandue à terre et qu’on ne peut recueillir; mais Dieu n’enlève pas la vie, et il combine ses desseins en vue de ne pas repousser à jamais celui qui est banni de sa présence.

For we shall surely die, and be as water poured upon the earth, which shall not be gathered up, and God shall take the life, even as he devises to thrust forth from him his outcast.

15 Et maintenant, quand je suis venue tenir ce discours au roi mon maître, le peuple m’avait bien découragée, mais ta servante s’est dit: Je veux cependant parler au roi, peut-être fera-t-il droit aux paroles de sa servante.

And now whereas I came to speak this word to my lord the king, [the reason is] that the people will see me, and your handmaid will say, Let one now speak to my lord the king, if perhaps the king will perform the request of his handmaid;

16 Si le roi consent à protéger sa servante contre ceux qui veulent l’évincer, elle et son fils, de l’héritage de Dieu,

for the king will hear. Let him rescue his handmaid out of the hand of the man that seeks to cast out me and my son from the inheritance of God.

17 alors, a pensé ta servante, cette parole du roi mon maître me donnera la sécurité, car le roi mon maître est comme un ange de Dieu, en ce qu’il écoute le bien comme le mal. Que l’Eternel, ton Dieu, soit avec toi!"

And the woman said, If now the word of my lord the king be gracious, —[well]: for as an angel of God, so [is] my lord the king, to hear good and evil: and the Lord your God shall be with you.

18 Pour réponse, le roi dit à la femme: "Ne me dissimule pas, je te prie, une chose que je veux te demander." La femme répondit: "Que mon seigneur le roi veuille parler."

And the king answered, and said to the woman, Hide not from me, I pray you, the matter which I ask you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king by all means speak.

19 Le roi reprit: "La main de Joab n’est-elle pas avec toi dans tout ceci? Par ta vie, mon seigneur le roi, répliqua-t-elle, il n’y a pas à s’écarter, à droite ni à gauche, des paroles du roi. Oui, c’est ton serviteur Joab qui m’a donné cette mission; c’est lui qui a mis toutes ces paroles dans la bouche de ta servante.

And the king said, [Is] not the hand of Joab in all this matter with you? and the woman said to the king, [As] your soul lives, my lord, O king, there is no turning to the right hand or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Joab himself charged me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid.

20 Ton serviteur Joab a agi ainsi pour donner une nouvelle tournure à cette affaire; et toi, seigneur, sage comme un ange de Dieu, tu comprends tout ce qui se passe dans le pays."

In order that this form of speech might come about [it was] that your servant Joab has framed this matter: and my lord is wise as [is] the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.

21 Le roi dit à Joab: "Puisque tu as entrepris cette affaire, va donc, ramène ce jeune homme, Absalon."

And the king said to Joab, Behold now, I have done to you according to this your word: go, bring back the young man Abessalom.

22 Et Joab, tombant sur sa face, se prosterna à terre, rendit grâce au roi et dit: "Maintenant, seigneur roi, ton serviteur connaît qu’il a trouvé faveur à tes yeux, puisque le roi a déféré à la parole de son serviteur."

And Joab fell on his face to the ground, and did obeisance, and blessed the king: and Joab said, To-day your servant knows that I have found grace in your sight, my lord, O king, for my lord the king has performed the request of his servant.

23 Là-dessus Joab s’en alla à Guechour, et ramena Absalon à Jérusalem.

And Joab arose, and went to Gedsur, and brought Abessalom to Jerusalem.

24 Le roi dit: "Qu’il se retire dans sa demeure et ne se présente pas devant moi." Et Absalon se retira chez lui et ne vit point la face du roi.

And the king said, Let him return to his house, and not see my face. And Abessalom returned to his house, and saw not the king's face.

25 Or, Absalon n’avait point d’égal en tout Israël pour sa beauté, qu’on louait beaucoup; depuis la plante des pieds jusqu’à la tête, pas un défaut dans sa personne.

And there was not a man in Israel so very comely as Abessalom: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

26 Et lorsqu’il faisait couper sa chevelure, ce qui arrivait tous les ans, parce qu’elle l’incommodait par son poids, on la pesait, et elle atteignait deux cents sicles au poids royal.

And when he polled his head, (and it was at the beginning of every year that he polled it, because it grew, heavy upon him, ) even when he polled it, he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels according to the royal shekel.

27 Il naquit à Absalon trois fils, plus une fille, nommée Thamar, qui était d’une remarquable beauté.

And there were born to Abessalom three sons and one daughter, and her name was Themar: she was a very beautiful woman, and she becomes the wife of Roboam son of Solomon, and she bears to him Abia.

28 Absalon resta deux années à Jérusalem sans voir la face du roi.

And Abessalom remained in Jerusalem two full years, and he saw not the king's face.

29 Alors il manda Joab, dans l’intention de l’envoyer auprès du roi, mais Joab ne voulut pas aller le voir; il le fit quérir une seconde fois, mais ce fut un nouveau refus.

And Abessalom sent to Joab to bring him in to the king, and he would not come to him: and he sent to him the second time, and he would not come.

30 Et Absalon dit à ses serviteurs: "Voyez le champ de Joab attenant au mien, et où il a de l’orge; allez et mettez-y le feu." Et les serviteurs d’Absalon mirent le feu au champ.

And Abessalom said to his servants, Behold, Joab's portion in the field [is] next to mine, and he has in it barley; go and set it on fire. And the servants of Abessalom set the field on fire: and the servants of Joab come to him with their clothes tore, and they said to him, The servants of Abessalom have set the field on fire.

31 Joab se leva, se rendit à la maison d’Absalon et lui dit: "Pourquoi tes serviteurs ont-ils incendié ma pièce de terre?"

And Joab arose, and came to Abessalom into the house, and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?

32 Absalon répondit à Joab: "Je t’avais mandé en disant: Viens ici, que je t’envoie au roi pour lui dire: Pourquoi suis-je parti de Guechour? Mieux vaudrait pour moi y être mort. Et maintenant, je voudrais voir la face du roi, et si je suis coupable, qu’il me fasse mourir!"

And Abessalom said to Joab, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come hither, and I will send you to the king, saying, Why did I come out of Gedsur? it would have been better for me to have remained there: and now, behold, I have not seen the face of the king; but if there is iniquity in me, then put me to death.

33 Joab alla trouver le roi et lui en fit part. Puis il appela Absalon, qui se rendit auprès du roi et se prosterna à terre devant lui. Et le roi embrassa Absalon.

And Joab went in to the king, and brought him word: and he called Abessalom, and he went in to the king, and did him obeisance, and fell upon his face to the ground, even in the presence of the king; and the king kissed Abessalom.