2 Rois 19
1 Ce qu’ayant entendu le roi Ezéchias, il déchira ses vêtements, se couvrit d’un sac, et entra dans la maison du Seigneur.
When King Hezekiah heard what they reported, he tore his clothes and put on clothes made of rough cloth [because he was very distressed]. Then he went to the temple [to ask God what to do].
2 Et il envoya Eliacim, intendant de sa maison, Sobna, le scribe, et les anciens d’entre les prêtres, couverts de sacs, à Isaïe, le prophète, fils d’Amos,
He summoned Eliakim and Shebna and the (older/most important) priests, who were also wearing clothes made of rough sackcloth, and told them to talk to me.
3 Lesquels dirent: Voici ce que dit Ezéchias: C’est un jour de tribulation, de reproche et de blasphème, que ce jour: des enfants sont venus jusqu’à l’enfantement, et celle qui est en travail n’a pas de forces.
He said to them, “Tell this to Isaiah: ‘King Hezekiah says that we are having great distress/trouble now. [Other nations are causing] us to be insulted and disgraced. We are like [MET] a woman who is about to give birth to a child, but she does not have the strength that she needs to do it.
4 Peut-être que le Seigneur ton Dieu entendra toutes les paroles de Rabsacès, qu’a envoyé le roi des Assyriens, son maître, pour insulter le Dieu vivant, et l’attaquer par les paroles que le Seigneur ton Dieu a entendues: fais donc une prière au Seigneur pour les restes qui ont été retrouvés.
Perhaps Yahweh your God has heard everything that the official from Assyria said. Perhaps he knows that his boss/master, the king of Assyria, sent him to insult the all-powerful God, and that Yahweh will rebuke/punish him for what he said.’ And he requests that you pray for the few of us who are still alive [here in Jerusalem].”
5 Les serviteurs du roi Ezéchias vinrent donc vers Isaïe.
When the messengers from Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
6 Et Isaïe leur répondit: Vous direz à votre maître: Voici ce que dit le Seigneur: Ne crains point à cause des paroles que tu as entendues, par lesquelles m’ont blasphémé les serviteurs du roi des Assyriens.
Isaiah said to them, “[Go back to] your boss/master [and] tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Those messengers from the king of Assyria have said evil things about me. But you should not be disturbed because of what they said.
7 Voilà que moi je lui enverrai un esprit, et il apprendra une nouvelle, et il retournera dans sa terre, et je l’abattrai par le glaive dans sa terre.
Listen to this: I will cause Sennacherib to hear a rumor that will worry him, [that a foreign army is about to attack his country]. So he will return to his own country, and there I will cause him to be assassinated by [men using] swords.’”
8 Rabsacès s’en retourna donc, et il trouva le roi des Assyriens assiégeant Lobna; car il avait su qu’il s’était retiré de devant Lachis.
The official from Assyria found out that the King of Assyria [and his army] had left Lachish [city], and that they were attacking Libnah, [which is a nearby city]. So the official went there [to report to him what had happened in Jerusalem].
9 Et lorsque Sennachérib eut entendu, au sujet de Tharaca, roi d’Ethiopie, des gens disant: Voilà qu’il est sorti pour combattre contre vous, et qu’il allait marcher contre ce roi, il envoya des messagers à Ezéchias, en disant:
Soon after that, King Sennacherib received a report that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was leading his army, and was coming to attack them. So before King Sennacherib left Libnah [to fight against the army from Ethiopia], he sent other messengers to King Hezekiah with a letter.
10 Vous direz ceci à Ezéchias, roi de Juda: Que votre Dieu, en qui vous avez confiance, ne vous séduise pas, et ne dites point: Jérusalem ne sera point livrée aux mains du roi des Assyriens.
[In the letter] he wrote this to Hezekiah: “Do not allow your god on whom you are relying to deceive you by promising that [the city of] Jerusalem will not be captured by my army [MTY].
11 Car vous-même, vous avez appris ce que les rois des Assyriens ont fait à tous les pays, comment ils les ont ravagés: est-ce donc que seul vous pourrez échapper?
You have certainly heard what the armies of the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries. Our armies have completely destroyed them. So, (do you think that you will escape?/do not think that your god will save you!) [RHQ]
12 Est-ce que les dieux des nations ont délivré tous ceux qu’ont ravagés mes pères, c’est-à-dire Gozan, Haran, Réseph, et les enfants d’Eden, qui étaient en Thélassar?
Did the gods of the nations that were about to be destroyed by the armies of the previous kings of Assyria rescue them? Did those gods rescue the people in the Gozan region and in Haran and Rezeph [cities in northern Syria] and the people of Eden who had been (deported/forced to go) to Tel-Assar [city]? None of the gods of those cities were able to rescue them.
13 Où est le roi d’Emath, le roi d’Arphad, le roi de la ville de Sépharvaïm, d’Ana et d’Ava?
What happened to the kings of Hamath and Arpad and Sepharvaim and Ivvah [cities] [RHQ]? [Most of them are dead, and the other people were deported]!”
14 C’est pourquoi, lorsqu’Ezéchias eut reçu la lettre de Sennachérib de la main des messagers, et qu’il l’eut lue, il monta dans le temple, et étendit la lettre devant le Seigneur,
Hezekiah took the letter that the messengers gave him, and he read it. Then he went up to the temple and spread out the letter in front of Yahweh.
15 Et il pria en sa présence, disant: Seigneur Dieu d’Israël, qui êtes assis sur les chérubins, c’est vous qui êtes le seul Dieu de tous les rois de la terre; c’est vous qui avez fait le ciel et la terre.
Then Hezekiah prayed, “Yahweh, the God whom to whom we Israelis belong, you are seated on your throne above the [statues of] creatures with wings, [above the Sacred Chest]. Only you are truly God. You rule all the kingdoms on this earth. You are the one who created [everything on] the earth and [in] the sky.
16 Inclinez votre oreille et écoutez; ouvrez vos yeux. Seigneur, et voyez: écoutez toutes les paroles de Sennachérib, qui a envoyé pour incriminer devant nous le Dieu vivant.
So, Yahweh, please listen to what I am saying, and look [at what is happening]. And listen to what King Sennacherib has said to insult you, the all-powerful God.
17 Il est vrai, Seigneur, les rois des Assyriens ont détruit les nations et toutes leurs terres,
“Yahweh, it is true that [the armies of] the kings of Assyria have completely destroyed many nations, and ruined their land.
18 Et ils ont jeté leurs dieux dans le feu; car ce n’étaient point des dieux, mais des ouvrages de mains d’hommes, de bois et de pierre, et ils les ont détruits.
And they have thrown the idols of those nations into fires and burned them. But [that was not difficult to do, because] they were not gods. They were only statues made of wood and stone, idols that were shaped by humans, [and that is why they were destroyed easily].
19 Maintenant donc, Seigneur notre Dieu, sauvez-nous de la main de ce roi, afin qu’ils sachent, tous les royaumes de la terre, que c’est vous qui êtes le seul Seigneur Dieu.
So now, Yahweh our God, please rescue us from the power [MTY] [of the king of Assyria], in order that the people in all the kingdoms of the world will know that you, Yahweh, are the only one who is truly God.”
20 Or Isaïe, fils d’Amos, envoya vers Ezéchias, disant: Voici ce que dit le Seigneur Dieu d’Israël: La prière que tu m’as faite touchant Sennachérib, roi des Assyriens, je l’ai entendue.
Then Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what Yahweh, the God to whom we Israelis belong, says: 'I have heard what you prayed to me about Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.
21 Voici la parole que le Seigneur a dite de lui: Elle t’a méprisé et elle t’a raillé, la vierge, fille de Sion, derrière toi elle a secoué la tête, la fille de Jérusalem.
This is what I say to him: “The people of Jerusalem [MTY] despise you and make fun of you. They wag/shake their heads to mock you while you flee from here.
22 Qui as-tu insulté et qui as-tu blasphémé? contre qui as-tu élevé la voix, et porté en haut les yeux? contre le saint d’Israël.
Who do you think that you are despising and ridiculing? Who do you think you were shouting at? Who do you think you were looking at very proudly/arrogantly? It was I, the holy God whom the Israelis worship.
23 Par l’entremise de tes serviteurs tu as insulté le Seigneur, et tu as dit: Avec la multitude de mes quadriges je suis monté sur le haut des montagnes, au sommet du Liban: j’ai coupé par le pied ses hauts cèdres et ses sapins les plus beaux. Je suis même entré jusqu’à l’extrémité de ses limites, et la forêt de son Carmel,
The messengers that you sent made fun of me. You said, 'With my many chariots I have gone to the highest mountains, even to the highest mountains in Lebanon. We have cut down its tallest cedar trees and its nicest pine/cyprus trees. We have been to the most distant/remote peaks and to its dense forests.
24 C’est moi qui l’ai coupée par le pied. Et j’ai bu des eaux étrangères, et j’ai séché par les traces de mes pieds toutes les eaux fermées.
We have dug wells in other countries and drank water from them. And by marching through [MTY] the streams of Egypt, we dried them all up [HYP]!”’
25 N’as-tu donc point ouï dire ce que dès le commencement j’ai fait? Dès les jours anciens je l’ai préparé, et c’est maintenant que je l’ai exécuté; et des villes de combattants fortifiées seront comme des collines ruinées.
[‘But I reply], “Have you never heard that long ago I determined [that those things would happen]? I planned it long ago, and now I have been causing it to happen. I planned that your army would have [the power to] capture many cities that were surrounded by high walls, and cause them to become piles of rubble.
26 Et ceux qui y sont dedans, faibles de main, ont tremblé et ont été confondus: ils sont devenus comme le foin d’un champ, comme l’herbe verte des toits et qui sèche avant de venir à maturité.
The people who lived in those cities have no power, and as a result they became dismayed and discouraged. They are as frail as plants and grass in the fields, as frail as grass that grows on the roofs of houses and is scorched by the hot east wind.
27 Ta demeure, ton entrée, ta sortie, et ton chemin par où tu es venu, je les ai sus d’avance, et même ta fureur contre moi.
“But I know [everything about you]. I know when you are in your house and when you go outside; I also know that you are (raging/speaking very angrily) against me.
28 Tu as été furieux contre moi, et ton orgueil est monté à mes oreilles: c’est pourquoi je mettrai un cercle à tes narines et un mors à tes lèvres, et je te ramènerai par la voie par laquelle tu es venu.
So, because you have raged against me, and because I have heard [MTY] you speak very proudly/arrogantly, [it will be as though] I will put a hook in your nose and an iron (bit/piece of metal) in your mouth [in order that I can lead you where I want you to go], and I will force you to return [to your own country] on the same road on which you came here, [without conquering Jerusalem].” '
29 Mais pour toi, Ezéchias, voici un signe: Mange cette année ce que tu trouveras; en la seconde année, ce qui naîtra de soi-même; mais, en la troisième année, semez et recueillez, plantez des vignes et mangez-en le fruit.
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “This is what will happen to prove [that I am telling the truth]: This year and next year you [and your people] will be able to harvest only (wild grain/grain that grows without having been planted). But the following year, you [Israelis] will be able to plant grain and harvest it, and to plant vineyards and eat the grapes that you harvest.
30 Et tout ce qui sera de reste de la maison de Juda, jettera des racines en bas et fera des fruits en haut.
The people [MTY] in Judah who remain alive will prosper and have many children; they will be like plants whose roots go deep down into the ground and which produce much [MET].
31 Car de Jérusalem sortiront des restes, et ce qui sera sauvé de la montagne de Sion: le zèle du Seigneur des armées fera cela.
There will be many people in Jerusalem [DOU] who will survive, because Yahweh, the commander of the armies of angels in heaven, wants [PRS] it to happen.
32 C’est pourquoi voici ce que dit le Seigneur du roi des Assyriens: Il n’entrera point dans cette ville, il ne lancera point contre elle de flèche; pas un bouclier ne l’occupera, et pas un retranchement ne l’entourera.
So this is what Yahweh, says about the king of Assyria: ‘His armies will not enter this city; they will not even shoot any arrows into it! His soldiers will not march outside the city gates carrying shields, and they will not even build high mounds of dirt against [the city walls] [to enable them to attack the city].
33 Il retournera par la voie par laquelle il est venu; et il n’entrera point dans cette ville, dit le Seigneur.
Their king will return to his own country on the same road on which he came here. He will not enter this city! [That will happen because] I, Yahweh have said it!
34 Je protégerai cette ville, et je la sauverai à cause de moi et à cause de mon serviteur David.
I will defend this city and prevent it from being destroyed. I will do this for the sake of my own reputation and because of what I promised to King David, who served me well.'”
35 Il arriva donc en cette nuit-là qu’il vint un ange du Seigneur, et qu’il tua dans le camp des Assyriens cent quatre-vingt mille hommes. Et lorsqu’au point du jour il se fut levé, il vit tous les corps des morts et, se retirant, il s’en alla.
That night, an angel from Yahweh went out to where the army of Assyria had put up their tents, and killed 185,000 of their soldiers! When the rest of their soldiers woke up the next morning, they saw that there were corpses everywhere!
36 Ainsi s’en retourna Sennachérib, roi des Assyriens, et il demeura à Ninive.
Then King Sennacherib left and went home to Nineveh, [the capital of Assyria].
37 Et lorsqu’il adorait dans le temple Nesroch, son dieu, Adramélech et Sarasar, ses fils, le frappèrent du glaive, et s’enfuirent dans la terre des Arméniens, et Asarhaddon, son fils, régna eu sa place.
One day, when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords. Then they escaped and went to [the] Ararat [region, northwest of Nineveh]. And another of Sennacherib's sons, Esarhaddon, became the king of Assyria.
