< Jérémie 51 >
1 Parole qui vint à Jérémie sur tous les Juifs demeurant en la terre d'Égypte; sur ceux établis à Magdolos et à Taphnès, et en la terre de Pathurès, disant:
Thus says the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
2 Voici ce que dit le Seigneur Dieu d'Israël: Vous avez vu tous les maux que j'ai amenés sur Jérusalem et sur les villes de Juda; et voilà qu'elles sont vides de leurs habitants,
And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
3 Parce qu'ils m'ont exaspéré de leur méchanceté en allant brûler de l'encens pour d'autres dieux, que jadis vous ne connaissiez pas.
Against him that bends let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifts himself up in his brigandine: and spare all of you not her young men; destroy all of you utterly all her host.
4 Et je vous ai envoyé de bonne heure mes serviteurs les prophètes, disant: Ne faites point cette œuvre de souillure que je hais.
Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
5 Mais ils ne m'ont point écouté, et ils ne m'ont point prêté l'oreille pour se détourner du mal, et cesser de brûler de l'encens pour d'autres dieux.
For Israel has not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6 Et ma colère est tombée sur eux; elle s'est enflammée contre les portes de Juda et dans les rues de Jérusalem; et elles sont devenues désertes et inhabitables, comme elles le sont encore.
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
7 Et aujourd'hui voici ce que dit le Seigneur tout-puissant: Pourquoi faites-vous un si grand mal à vos âmes? C'est donc pour faire périr, au milieu de Juda, homme, femme, adolescent, enfant à la mamelle; pour qu'il ne reste plus rien de vous;
Babylon has been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8 Pour que vous m'irritiez par les œuvres de vos mains, par l'encens brûlé à des dieux étrangers en la terre d'Égypte, où vous êtes allés demeurer; pour que vous mouriez, maudits et outragés parmi toutes les nations de la terre?
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9 Avez-vous oublié les péchés de vos pères, les péchés des rois de Juda, les péchés de vos princes et les péchés de vos femmes, qui ont été commis dans la terre de Juda et dans les rues de Jérusalem?
We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reachs unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10 Et jusqu'à ce jour ils n'ont point cessé de pécher et ils n'ont point gardé mes commandements, que j'avais donnés à leurs pères.
The LORD has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
11 A cause de cela, ainsi parle le Seigneur: Voilà que je tourne ma face contre vous,
Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
12 Pour détruire tous ces restes qui sont en Égypte; et ils tomberont par le glaive et par la faim, et ils périront du petit au grand, et ils seront outragés, et perdus, et maudits.
Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD has both devised and done that which he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 Et je visiterai ceux qui sont établis en la terre d'Égypte, comme j'ai visité Jérusalem, avec le glaive et la famine.
O you that dwell upon many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, and the measure of your covetousness.
14 Et nul ne sera sauvé des restes de Juda qui sont comme passagers en Égypte; et nul ne reviendra en la terre de Juda, où en leur âme ils espéraient revenir; ils n'en reviendront pas, sauf ceux qui déjà se sont échappés.
The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against you.
15 Alors tous les hommes qui savaient que leurs femmes brûlaient de l'encens, toutes ces femmes en grand nombre et tout le peuple établi à Pathurès en la terre d'Égypte, répondirent à Jérémie, disant:
He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16 Quant aux paroles que tu nous dis au nom du Seigneur, nous ne t'écouterons pas;
When he utters his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he makes lightnings with rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasures.
17 Car nous ferons et nous accomplirons toute parole sortie de notre bouche, en brûlant de l'encens à la reine du ciel, et en lui offrant des libations, comme nous avons fait, comme ont fait nos pères, nos rois et nos princes dans les villes de Juda et dans les rues à Jérusalem. Aujourd'hui nous nous rassasions de pain, et nous sommes heureux, et nous n'avons point vu de malheurs:
Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18 Et dès que nous avons cessé de brûler de l'encens la reine du ciel, nous avons été tous amoindris, et nous avons péri par le glaive et la famine.
They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 Et si nous avons brûlé de l'encens à la reine du ciel, si nous lui avons offert des libations, est-ce que nous préparions pour elle, sans le consentement de nos maris, des gâteaux et des libations?
The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.
20 Et Jérémie dit à tout le peuple, aux hommes dans la force de l'âge, et aux femmes, et à tout le peuple qui lui répondait de la sorte:
You are my battle axe and weapons of war: for with you will I break in pieces the nations, and with you will I destroy kingdoms;
21 Le Seigneur ne s'est-il point souvenu de l'encens que vous brûliez dans les villes de Juda et dans les rues de Jérusalem, vous et vos pères, et vos rois, et vos princes, et tout le peuple de la terre? Et ces péchés ne sont-ils pas montés jusqu'à son cœur?
And with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
22 Et le Seigneur n'a pu vous supporter à cause de la malice de vos œuvres, et des abominations que vous commettiez. Et votre terre est devenue déserte, sans chemin, sans bénédiction, telle qu'elle est encore aujourd'hui,
With you also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces old and young; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
23 En punition de ce que vous avez brûlé de l'encens et péché contre le Seigneur. Et vous n'avez point écouté la voix du Seigneur, et vous n'avez point marché en ses commandements, en sa loi, en ses témoignages; et ces malheurs vous sont arrivés.
I will also break in pieces with you the shepherd and his flock; and with you will I break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and with you will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24 Et Jérémie dit encore au peuple et aux femmes: Écoutez la parole du Seigneur:
And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says the LORD.
25 Voici ce que dit le Seigneur Dieu d'Israël: Vous femmes, vous avez parlé de votre propre bouche, et vous avez agi de vos propres mains, disant: Nous remplirons publiquement nos vœux en brûlant de l'encens à la reine du ciel, et en lui offrant des libations.
Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, says the LORD, which destroys all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.
26 A cause de cela, écoutez la parole du Seigneur: O vous, vous hommes de Juda établis en Égypte, voilà que j'ai juré par mon nom très grand, dit le Seigneur, que mon nom ne sera plus en la bouche d'aucun homme de Juda pour qu'il dise: Vive le Seigneur! en toute la terre d'Égypte.
And they shall not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be desolate for ever, says the LORD.
27 J'ai veillé sur eux pour les affliger, non pour leur faire du bien; et tous les hommes de Juda demeurant en la terre d'Égypte périront par le glaive et la famine, jusqu'à qu'ils aient tous disparu.
Set all of you up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars.
28 Et ceux qui auront échappé au glaive, c'est qu'ils seront retournés en la terre de Juda; il y en aura un très petit nombre; mais le reste de Juda, établi en la terre d'Égypte pour y demeurer, connaîtra quel est celui dont la parole est stable.
Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
29 Et tel est pour vous un signe que je vous visiterai pour votre malheur:
And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 Ainsi dit le Seigneur: Voilà que je livre Vaphrès, roi d'Égypte, aux mains de son ennemi et aux mains de celui qui en veut à sa vie; de même que j'ai livré Sédécias, roi de Juda, aux mains de Nabuchodonosor, roi de Babylone, son ennemi, qui en voulait à sa vie.
The mighty men of Babylon have ceased to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might has failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwelling places; her bars are broken.
31 Parole que Jérémie le prophète dit à Baruch, fils de Nérias, lorsqu'il écrivit ces paroles, en un livre, de la bouche de Jérémie, la quatrième année du règne de Joakim, fils de Josias, roi de Juda.
One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at every quarter,
32 Voici ce que le Seigneur dit sur toi, Baruch:
And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33 Parce que tu as dit: Hélas! hélas! le Seigneur m'envoie douleur sur douleur; je me suis couché gémissant, et je n'ai point trouvé de repos;
For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
34 Dis-lui: Ainsi parle le Seigneur: Voilà que je vais abattre ceux que j'ai édifiés; et ceux que j'ai plantés je les arracherai.
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a dragon, he has filled his belly with my delicates, he has cast me out.
35 Après cela, demanderas-tu beaucoup pour toi? Ne demande rien; car j'amène des maux sur toute chair, dit le Seigneur; mais à toi je te donnerai la vie, et ce sera pour toi comme un butin en tout lieu où tu iras.
The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
Therefore thus says the LORD; Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the LORD.
I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
The sea has come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby.
And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
My people, go all of you out of the midst of her, and deliver all of you every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
And lest your heart faint, and all of you fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, says the LORD.
As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
All of you that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD far off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame has covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.
Wherefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, says the LORD.
A sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
Because the LORD has spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
Because the spoiler has come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.
And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
Thus says the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, and shall see, and shall read all these words;
Then shall you say, O LORD, you have spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
And it shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
And you shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.