Néhémie 4

1 Lorsque Sanballat apprit que nous étions en train de rebâtir le mur, il en fut contrarié et entra dans une grande colère. II tourna en dérision les Judéens,

Now, Sanballat, hearing that we were building the wall, was very angry, and in his wrath made sport of the Jews.

2 et dit devant ses frères et les gens de guerre de Samarie: "Que se proposent ces misérables Judéens? Les laissera-t-on faire? Offriront-ils des sacrifices? En viendront-ils à bout aujourd’hui? Rendront-ils la vie aux pierres tirées des tas de poussière et qui ont été brûlées?"

And in the hearing of his countrymen and the army of Samaria he said, What are these feeble Jews doing? will they make themselves strong? will they make offerings? will they get the work done in a day? will they make the stones which have been burned come again out of the dust?

3 Tobia l’Ammonite, à côté de lui, ajoutait: "Qu’ils bâtissent toujours: il suffira qu’un renard monte dessus pour renverser leur muraille de pierres!"

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Such is their building that if a fox goes up it, their stone wall will be broken down.

4 Ecoute, ô notre Dieu, comme nous sommes devenus un objet de mépris; fais retomber leurs outrages sur leur tête, et livre-les au pillage sur une terre de captivité.

Give ear, O our God, for we are looked down on: let their words of shame be turned back on themselves, and let them be given up to wasting in a land where they are prisoners:

5 Ne voile pas leur iniquité; que leur méfait ne s’efface point devant toi, puisqu’ils se sont déchaînés contre les travailleurs!

Let not their wrongdoing be covered or their sin washed away from before you: for they have made you angry before the builders.

6 Cependant, nous continuâmes à rebâtir le mur; et lorsque tout le mur fut bouché jusqu’à mi-hauteur, le peuple eut de nouveau du cœur à l’ouvrage.

So we went on building the wall; and all the wall was joined together half-way up: for the people were working hard.

7 Lorsque Sanballat, Tobia, les Arabes, les Ammonites et les gens d’Asdod apprirent que la restauration des murs de Jérusalem allait bon train, que les brèches commençaient à se fermer, ils en furent très dépités.

But when it came to the ears of Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites, that the building of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the broken places were being made good, they were full of wrath;

8 Ils complotèrent tous ensemble d’aller attaquer Jérusalem et d’y jeter le désarroi.

And they made designs, all of them together, to come and make an attack on Jerusalem, causing trouble there.

9 Nous implorâmes notre Dieu et, pour nous défendre contre eux, nous établîmes un service de faction chargé de les surveiller jour et nuit.

But we made our prayer to God, and had men on watch against them day and night because of them.

10 Juda disait: "Les forces des porteurs de charges sont à bout et les décombres sont considérables; nous sommes hors d’état de rebâtir la muraille."

And Judah said, The strength of the workmen is giving way, and there is much waste material; it is impossible for us to put up the wall.

11 Et nos adversaires disaient: "Ils ne se douteront ni ne s’apercevront de rien jusqu’à ce que nous pénétrions au milieu d’eux pour les massacrer, et ainsi nous mettrons fin à ce travail."

And those who were against us said, Without their knowledge and without their seeing us, we will come among them and put them to death, causing the work to come to a stop.

12 Comme des Judéens établis parmi eux vinrent nous dire jusqu’à dix fois: "De quelque localité que vous soyez, il faut que-vous retourniez chez nous",

And it came about that when the Jews who were living near them came, they said to us ten times, From all directions they are coming against us.

13 je plaçai en contrebas, derrière la muraille, sur des terrains secs, je plaçai, dis-je, le peuple par familles, avec leurs épées, leurs lances et leurs arcs.

So in the lowest part of the space at the back of the walls, in the open places, I put the people by families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

14 Ayant tout inspecté, je m’avançai et dis aux grands, aux chefs et au reste du peuple: "N’Ayez pas peur d’eux; pensez au Seigneur grand et redoutable et combattez pour vos frères, vos fils et vos filles, vos femmes et vos maisons."

And after looking, I got up and said to the great ones and to the chiefs and to the rest of the people, Have no fear of them: keep in mind the Lord who is great and greatly to be feared, and take up arms for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and your houses.

15 Quand nos ennemis eurent été informés que nous étions avertis et que Dieu avait ruiné leur plan, nous retournâmes tous à la muraille, chacun à son ouvrage.

And when it came to the ears of those who were against us, that we had knowledge of their designs and that God had made their purpose come to nothing, we all went back to the wall, everyone to his work

16 A partir de ce jour, la moitié de mes gens s’occupait de l’ouvrage, et l’autre moitié était munie de lances, de boucliers, d’arcs et de cuirasses; les seigneurs se tenaient derrière toute la maison de Juda.

And from that time, half of my servants were doing their part of the work, and half kept the spears and body-covers and the bows and the metal war-dresses; and the chiefs were at the back of the men of Judah.

17 De ceux qui étaient occupés à la bâtisse, d’une part les manœuvres, porteurs de charges, faisaient leur besogne d’une main et tenaient l’épée de l’autre;

Those who were building the wall and those who were moving material did their part, everyone working with one hand, with his spear in the other;

18 d’autre part, les maçons construisaient, ayant chacun son épée attachée aux reins, et celui qui sonnait de la trompette était à mes côtés.

Every builder was working with his sword at his side. And by my side was a man for sounding the horn.

19 Et je dis aux nobles, aux chefs et au reste du peuple: "L’Ouvrage est considérable et s’étend sur un vaste espace, de sorte que nous sommes dispersés le long de la muraille, éloignés l’un de l’autre.

And I said to the great ones and the chiefs and the rest of the people, The work is great and widely spaced and we are far away from one another on the wall:

20 A l’endroit d’où vous parviendra le son de la trompette, là vous viendrez vous rallier à nous: Dieu combattra en notre faveur."

Wherever you may be when the horn is sounded, come here to us; our God will be fighting for us.

21 C’Est ainsi que nous nous occupions de l’ouvrage, la moitié des gens tenant les lances depuis le lever de l’aurore jusqu’à l’apparition des étoiles.

So we went on with the work: and half of them had spears in their hands from the dawn of the morning till the stars were seen.

22 En ce temps-là aussi, je demandai au peuple que chacun passât la nuit à Jérusalem avec son serviteur, pour nous servir de sentinelles pendant la nuit et consacrer le jour au travail.

And at the same time I said to the people, Let everyone with his servant come inside Jerusalem for the night, so that at night they may keep watch for us, and go on working by day.

23 Quant à moi, à mes frères, à mes gens et aux hommes de garde qui me suivaient, nous ne quittions point nos vêtements: chacun gardait son épée dans la main droite.

So not one of us, I or my brothers or my servants or the watchmen who were with me, took off his clothing, everyone went armed to the water.