Exode 32
1 Le peuple, voyant que Moïse tardait à descendre de la montagne, s’assembla autour d’Aaron, et lui dit: Allons! fais-nous un dieu qui marche devant nous, car ce Moïse, cet homme qui nous a fait sortir du pays d’Égypte, nous ne savons ce qu’il est devenu.
[(Moses/I) stayed on top of the mountain a long time]. When the people realized that he/I was not returning quickly, they gathered near Aaron and said to him, “We do not know what has happened to that man Moses who brought us here out of Egypt. So quickly, make us ([an idol/a statue of a god]) who will lead us!”
2 Aaron leur dit: Otez les anneaux d’or qui sont aux oreilles de vos femmes, de vos fils et de vos filles, et apportez-les-moi.
Aaron replied to them, “All right, [I will do that, but] tell your wives and your sons and your daughters to take off all their gold earrings and bring them to me.”
3 Et tous ôtèrent les anneaux d’or qui étaient à leurs oreilles, et ils les apportèrent à Aaron.
So the people did that. They took off all their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.
4 Il les reçut de leurs mains, jeta l’or dans un moule, et fit un veau en fonte. Et ils dirent: Israël! Voici ton dieu, qui t’a fait sortir du pays d’Égypte.
He took all those gold earrings and melted them in a fire. He [poured the gold into a mold and] made a statue that looked like a young bull. The people saw it and said, “This is the god of us Israeli people! This is the one who brought us up from the land of Egypt!”
5 Lorsqu’Aaron vit cela, il bâtit un autel devant lui, et il s’écria: Demain, il y aura fête en l’honneur de l’Éternel!
When Aaron saw [what was happening], he built an altar in front of the [statue of the] young bull. Then he announced, “Tomorrow we will have a festival to honor Yahweh!”
6 Le lendemain, ils se levèrent de bon matin, et ils offrirent des holocaustes et des sacrifices d’actions de grâces. Le peuple s’assit pour manger et pour boire; puis ils se levèrent pour se divertir.
So the people got up early the next morning and brought animals to kill and burn as sacrifices on the altar. They also brought sacrifices to maintain fellowship with Yahweh. Then they sat down to eat and drink [wine]. Then they got up and started dancing in a very immoral way.
7 L’Éternel dit à Moïse: Va, descends; car ton peuple, que tu as fait sortir du pays d’Égypte, s’est corrompu.
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Go back down from the mountain, because your people, the ones that you brought up here from Egypt, have [already] (become very depraved/wicked)!
8 Ils se sont promptement écartés de la voie que je leur avais prescrite; ils se sont fait un veau en fonte, ils se sont prosternés devant lui, ils lui ont offert des sacrifices, et ils ont dit: Israël! voici ton dieu, qui t’a fait sortir du pays d’Égypte.
They have already (left the road that I showed them/stopped obeying me)! They have made [a statue of] a young bull from melted gold. They have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. And they are saying, ‘This is the god of us Israeli people! This is the one who brought us up from Egypt!’”
9 L’Éternel dit à Moïse: Je vois que ce peuple est un peuple au cou roide.
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “I have seen that these people are very stubborn.
10 Maintenant laisse-moi; ma colère va s’enflammer contre eux, et je les consumerai; mais je ferai de toi une grande nation.
I am very angry with them, and so I am going to get rid of them. Do not try to stop me! Then I will cause you and your descendants to become a great nation.”
11 Moïse implora l’Éternel, son Dieu, et dit: Pourquoi, ô Éternel! Ta colère s’enflammerait-elle contre ton peuple, que tu as fait sortir du pays d’Égypte par une grande puissance et par une main forte?
But Moses/I pleaded with his/my God, Yahweh, and said, “Yahweh, (you should not be very angry with your people!/why are you so angry with your people [RHQ]?) These are the people whom you rescued from Egypt with very great power [MTY, DOU]!
12 Pourquoi les Égyptiens diraient-ils: C’est pour leur malheur qu’il les a fait sortir, c’est pour les tuer dans les montagnes, et pour les exterminer de dessus la terre? Reviens de l’ardeur de ta colère, et repens-toi du mal que tu veux faire à ton peuple.
Do not [do anything that would] allow the people of Egypt to say, ‘Their god led them out from our country, but [he did that] only [because he wanted] to kill them in the mountains and get rid of them completely [RHQ]!’ Stop being so angry! (Change your mind/Do not do what you have told me that you will do)! Do not do to your people this terrible thing [that you have just said that you will do]
13 Souviens-toi d’Abraham, d’Isaac et d’Israël, tes serviteurs, auxquels tu as dit, en jurant par toi-même: Je multiplierai votre postérité comme les étoiles du ciel, je donnerai à vos descendants tout ce pays dont j’ai parlé, et ils le posséderont à jamais.
Think about your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You solemnly promised them, ‘I will enable you to have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky.’ You said to them, ‘I will give to your descendants all the land that I am promising to give them. It will be their land forever.’”
14 Et l’Éternel se repentit du mal qu’il avait déclaré vouloir faire à son peuple.
So Yahweh changed his mind. He did not do to his people the terrible thing that he said he would do.
15 Moïse retourna et descendit de la montagne, les deux tables du témoignage dans sa main; les tables étaient écrites des deux côtés, elles étaient écrites de l’un et de l’autre côté.
Moses/I turned away from God and went down the mountain, carrying in his hands the two stone slabs on which Yahweh had engraved his commandments. He had written on both sides of the slabs.
16 Les tables étaient l’ouvrage de Dieu, et l’écriture était l’écriture de Dieu, gravée sur les tables.
God [himself] had made the slabs, and he was the one who had engraved the commandments on them.
17 Josué entendit la voix du peuple, qui poussait des cris, et il dit à Moïse: Il y a un cri de guerre dans le camp.
Joshua heard the very loud noise of the people shouting. So when he and I got near the camp, Joshua said, “There is a noise in the camp that sounds like [the noise of] a battle!”
18 Moïse répondit: Ce n’est ni un cri de vainqueurs, ni un cri de vaincus; ce que j’entends, c’est la voix de gens qui chantent.
But Moses/I replied, [“No], that is not the shouting that people do when they have won a victory or when they have been defeated [in a battle] What I hear is the sound of [loud] singing!”
19 Et, comme il approchait du camp, il vit le veau et les danses. La colère de Moïse s’enflamma; il jeta de ses mains les tables, et les brisa au pied de la montagne.
As soon as Moses/I came close to the camp and saw the statue of the young bull and saw the people dancing, he/I became extremely angry. He/I threw the stone tablets that he/I was carrying down onto the ground, there at the base of the mountain.
20 Il prit le veau qu’ils avaient fait, et le brûla au feu; il le réduisit en poudre, répandit cette poudre à la surface de l’eau, et fit boire les enfants d’Israël.
Then he/I took the statue of the young bull that they had made and melted it in the fire. [When it cooled], he/I ground it into [fine] powder. Then he/I mixed the powder with water and forced the Israeli people to drink it.
21 Moïse dit à Aaron: Que t’a fait ce peuple, pour que tu l’aies laissé commettre un si grand péché?
Then he/I said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, with the result that you have made them commit such a terrible sin?”
22 Aaron répondit: Que la colère de mon seigneur ne s’enflamme point! Tu sais toi-même que ce peuple est porté au mal.
Aaron replied, “Please do not be angry with me, sir. You know that these people are very determined to do evil things.
23 Ils m’ont dit: Fais-nous un dieu qui marche devant nous; car ce Moïse, cet homme qui nous a fait sortir du pays d’Égypte, nous ne savons ce qu’il est devenu.
They said to me, ‘As for that man Moses, the one who brought us up here from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him. So make for us an idol that will lead us!’
24 Je leur ai dit: Que ceux qui ont de l’or, s’en dépouillent! Et ils me l’ont donné; je l’ai jeté au feu, et il en est sorti ce veau.
So I said to them, ‘Everyone who is wearing [gold earrings] should take them off.’ So they [took them off and] gave them to me. I threw them into the fire, and out came this statue of a young bull!”
25 Moïse vit que le peuple était livré au désordre, et qu’Aaron l’avait laissé dans ce désordre, exposé à l’opprobre parmi ses ennemis.
Moses/I saw that Aaron had allowed the people to become completely out of control and to do things that would make their enemies think the Israeli people were foolish.
26 Moïse se plaça à la porte du camp, et dit: A moi ceux qui sont pour l’Éternel! Et tous les enfants de Lévi s’assemblèrent auprès de lui.
So he/I stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “Everyone who is loyal to Yahweh should come [closer] to me!” So the descendants of Levi gathered around him/me.
27 Il leur dit: Ainsi parle l’Éternel, le Dieu d’Israël: Que chacun de vous mette son épée au côté; traversez et parcourez le camp d’une porte à l’autre, et que chacun tue son frère, son parent.
Then he/I said to them, “Yahweh, the God of us Israeli people, commands that every one of you should fasten your sword to your side, and then go through the camp from this entrance to the other one, and kill some of your relatives and your companions and your neighbors.”
28 Les enfants de Lévi firent ce qu’ordonnait Moïse; et environ trois mille hommes parmi le peuple périrent en cette journée.
The descendants of Levi did what Moses/I told them to do, and they killed 3,000 men on that day.
29 Moïse dit: Consacrez-vous aujourd’hui à l’Éternel, même en sacrifiant votre fils et votre frère, afin qu’il vous accorde aujourd’hui une bénédiction.
Moses/I said to the descendants of Levi, “Today you have dedicated yourselves to serving Yahweh by (killing/not sparing) [even] your own sons and brothers, and as a result Yahweh will bless you.”
30 Le lendemain, Moïse dit au peuple: Vous avez commis un grand péché. Je vais maintenant monter vers l’Éternel: j’obtiendrai peut-être le pardon de votre péché.
The next day, Moses/I said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin. But I will now climb up the mountain again to talk with Yahweh. Perhaps I can [persuade him] to forgive you for sinning [like this].”
31 Moïse retourna vers l’Éternel et dit: Ah! Ce peuple a commis un grand péché. Ils se sont fait un dieu d’or.
So Moses/I went back up the mountain and said to Yahweh, “I am sorry to admit that these people have committed a terrible sin. They have made for themselves a gold idol and have worshiped it.
32 Pardonne maintenant leur péché! Sinon, efface-moi de ton livre que tu as écrit.
But now I ask you to please forgive them for having sinned. If you will not forgive them, then erase my name from the book in which you have written [the names of your people].”
33 L’Éternel dit à Moïse: C’est celui qui a péché contre moi que j’effacerai de mon livre.
But Yahweh said to Moses/me, “It is [only] those who have sinned against me whose names I will erase from that book.
34 Va donc, conduis le peuple où je t’ai dit. Voici, mon ange marchera devant toi, mais au jour de ma vengeance, je les punirai de leur péché.
Now you go back down and lead the [Israeli] people to the place that I told you about. Keep in mind that my angel will go in front of you. But, at the time that I determine, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 L’Éternel frappa le peuple, parce qu’il avait fait le veau, fabriqué par Aaron.
[Later] Yahweh caused a plague to strike the people because they had told Aaron to make the gold [statue of a] young bull.
