Ézéchiel 19
1 Or toi, entonne une complainte sur les princes d’Israël:
Take up now a song of grief for the ruler of Israel, and say,
2 Tu diras: Comme ta mère était une lionne, accroupie parmi des lions! Au milieu des lionceaux elle élevait ses petits.
What was your mother? Like a she-lion among lions, stretched out among the young lions she gave food to her little ones.
3 Elle donna la primauté à un de ses petits; il devint un lionceau; Il apprit à déchirer la proie, il dévora des hommes.
And one of her little ones came to growth under her care, and became a young lion, learning to go after beasts for his food; and he took men for his meat.
4 Les nations connurent sa renommée: il fut pris dans leurs fosses, et ils l’amenèrent au moyen de crochets au pays d’Egypte.
And the nations had news of him; he was taken in the hole they had made: and, pulling him with hooks, they took him into the land of Egypt.
5 Lorsqu’elle vit son espoir évanoui, perdu, elle prit un autre de ses petits, elle en fit un lionceau.
Now when she saw that her hope was made foolish and gone, she took another of her little ones and made him into a young lion.
6 Il circula au milieu des lions, devint un jeune lion; il apprit à déchirer la proie, dévora des hommes.
And he went up and down among the lions and became a young lion, learning to go after beasts for his food; and he took men for his meat.
7 Il envahit leurs palais et dévasta leurs villes, et le pays avec tout ce qu’il contient fut atterré au bruit de ses rugissements.
And he sent destruction on their widows and made waste their towns; and the land and everything in it became waste because of the loud sound of his voice.
8 Des provinces, tout autour, les nations donnèrent contre lui, et elles étendirent sur lui leurs filets; il fut pris dans leurs fosses.
Then the nations came against him from the kingdoms round about: their net was stretched over him and he was taken in the hole they had made.
9 Au moyen de crochets ils l’entraînèrent dans une cage et on l’amena au roi de Babel; on le conduisit dans des forteresses, pour que sa voix cessât de se faire entendre sur les montagnes d’Israël.
They made him a prisoner with hooks, and took him to the king of Babylon; they put him in the strong place so that his voice might be sounding no longer on the mountains of Israel.
10 Ta mère, quand tu fus dans ta sève, a été comme une vigne, plantée près des eaux; elle est devenue florissante et touffue grâce aux eaux abondantes.
Your mother was in comparison like a vine, planted by the waters: she was fertile and full of branches because of the great waters.
11 Elle eut des rameaux vigoureux, dignes d’être des sceptres de souverains; sa stature s’éleva au-dessus des branches épaisses; elle fut imposante par sa hauteur, par l’abondance de ses ceps.
And she had a strong rod for a rod of authority for the rulers, and it became tall among the clouds and it was seen lifted up among the number of its branches.
12 Mais elle fut déracinée avec fureur, jetée à terre, et le vent d’est dessécha son fruit; ses rameaux vigoureux furent arrachés et desséchés, le feu les a consumés.
But she was uprooted in burning wrath, and made low on the earth; the east wind came, drying her up, and her branches were broken off; her strong rod became dry, the fire made a meal of it.
13 Et maintenant elle est plantée dans le désert, dans un pays aride et altéré.
And now she is planted in the waste land, in a dry and unwatered country.
14 Un feu a jailli de son tronc aux nombreuses branches, a consumé son fruit, et elle n’eut plus de rameau vigoureux, de sceptre pour régner: c’est une complainte, et c’est devenu une complainte."
And fire has gone out from her rod, causing the destruction of her branches, so that there is no strong rod in her to be the ruler's rod of authority. This is a song of grief, and it was for a song of grief.
