Actes 8
1 Or il s’éleva en ce temps-là une grande persécution contre l’Eglise qui était à Jérusalem, et tous, excepté les apôtres, furent dispersés dans les régions de la Judée et de la Samarie.
Then some men who revered God buried Stephen’s body in a tomb, and they mourned greatly and loudly for him. On that same day [people] started severely persecuting the believers [who were living] in Jerusalem. So most [of the believers] fled [to other places] throughout Judea and Samaria [provinces]. The apostles were the only [believers who remained in Jerusalem].
2 Des hommes craignant Dieu ensevelirent Etienne, et firent ses funérailles avec un grand deuil.
3 Cependant Saul ravageait l’Eglise, entrant dans les maisons; et entraînant des hommes et des femmes, il les jetait en prison.
While the people were killing Stephen, Saul was there approving of their killing Stephen. So Saul [also] began trying to destroy the group of believers. He entered houses one by one, he dragged away men and women [who believed in Jesus], and then he [arranged for] them to be put in prison.
4 Et ceux donc qui avaient été dispersés, passaient d’un lieu dans un autre, en annonçant la parole de Dieu.
The believers who had left Jerusalem went to different places, where they continued preaching the message about Jesus.
5 Or Philippe étant descendu dans la ville de Samarie, leur prêchait le Christ.
[One of those believers whose name was] Philip went down [from Jerusalem] to a city in Samaria [province]. There he was telling [the people that Jesus is] [MTY] the Messiah.
6 Et la foule était attentive à ce qui était dit par Philippe, l’écoutant unanimement, et voyant les miracles qu’il faisait.
Many people there heard Philip [speak] and saw the miraculous things that he was doing. So they all (paid close attention to/listened carefully to) his words.
7 Car des esprits impurs sortaient d’un grand nombre de possédés en jetant de grands cris.
For [example, when Philip commanded] evil spirits who controlled many people [that they should come out of them], they came out, while those spirits screamed. Also, many people who were paralyzed and [many others] who were lame were healed.
8 Et beaucoup de paralytiques et de boiteux furent guéris.
So [many people] [MTY] in that city greatly rejoiced.
9 Il y eut donc une grande joie dans cette ville. Or un certain homme, du nom de Simon, qui auparavant avait exercé la magie dans la ville, séduisait le peuple de Samarie, se disant être quelqu’un de grand;
There was a man in that city whose name was Simon. He had been practicing sorcery for a long time, and he had been amazing the people in Samaria [province by doing that]. He continually claimed that he was a great/important person.
10 Et tous, du plus petit jusqu’au plus grand, l’écoutaient, disant: Celui-ci est la grande vertu de Dieu.
All the people there, both ordinary and important people, listened to him. [Various ones of] them were saying, “This man works in extremely powerful ways [because] God has caused him to be a great [person].”
11 Ils s’attachaient à lui, parce que, depuis longtemps, il leur avait troublé l’esprit par ses enchantements.
They continued to listen to him carefully, because for a long time he had astonished them by practicing sorcery.
12 Mais, quand ils eurent cru à Philippe, qui leur annonçait la parole de Dieu, ils furent baptisés, hommes et femmes, au nom de Jésus-Christ.
But then they believed Philip’s [message] when he preached to them about [how] God desires to rule [MET] [the lives of people who believe in him], and about Jesus being the Messiah [MTY]. Both the men and the women who believed in Jesus were baptized. {[Philip] was baptizing both the men and the women [who had come to believe in Jesus]}.
13 Alors Simon lui-même crut aussi, et lorsqu’il eut été baptisé, il s’attachait à Philippe. Mais voyant qu’il se faisait des prodiges et de grands miracles, il s’étonnait et admirait.
Simon himself believed [Philip’s message] and, after he was baptized {after [Philip] baptized him}, he began to constantly accompany Philip. Simon was continually amazed because he often saw [Philip] doing many kinds of miraculous things.
14 Or lorsque les apôtres, qui étaient à Jérusalem, eurent appris que Samarie avait reçu la parole de Dieu, ils leur envoyèrent Pierre et Jean,
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that [many people] [PRS] [throughout] Samaria [district] had believed the message from God [about Jesus], they sent Peter and John there.
15 Qui étant venus, prièrent pour eux, afin qu’ils reçussent l’Esprit-Saint;
When Peter and John arrived in Samaria, they prayed for those [new believers] in order that the Holy Spirit’s [power] would come to them.
16 Car il n’était encore descendu sur aucun d’eux, mais ils avaient seulement été baptisés au nom du Seigneur Jésus.
[Peter and John realized that] the Holy Spirit had not yet begun to empower any of them. They had been baptized {[Philip] had baptized them} [because they had believed] in [MTY] the Lord Jesus, [but they did not know about the Holy Spirit].
17 Alors ils leur imposaient les mains et ils recevaient l’Esprit-Saint.
[Then Peter and John] placed their hands on [the heads of] each person, and they received the [power of] [MTY] the Holy Spirit.
18 Or Simon, voyant que, par l’imposition des mains des apôtres, l’Esprit-Saint était donné, il leur offrit de l’argent,
Simon saw [things that convinced him] that [God] had given the Spirit’s [power to people] as a result of the apostles placing their hands on them. So he offered [to give] money to the apostles,
19 Disant: Donnez-moi aussi ce pouvoir, que tous ceux à qui j’imposerai les mains reçoivent l’Esprit-Saint. Mais Pierre lui dit:
saying, “Enable me also to do what [you are doing], so that everyone on whom I place/put my hands may receive the Holy Spirit’s [power].”
20 Que ton argent soit avec toi en perdition, parce que tu as estimé que le don de Dieu peut s’acquérir avec de l’argent.
But Peter said to him, “May you [(sg)] and your money go to hell, because you [mistakenly] think that you can buy [from us] what God [alone] gives to [people] (questioned)
21 Il n’y a pour toi ni part ni sort en ceci; car ton cœur n’est pas droit devant Dieu.
[God] has not authorized you to have any part of this ministry of giving [the Holy Spirit’s power], because he knows that you are not thinking rightly! (OR, because he knows that you are thinking completely wrongly.)
22 Fais donc pénitence de cette méchanceté, et prie Dieu qu’il te pardonne, s’il est possible, cette pensée de ton cœur.
So stop thinking wickedly [like] that, and plead that the Lord, if he is willing, will forgive you [for what] you [wickedly] thought/planned [to do]
23 Car je vois que tu es dans un fiel d’amertume et dans des liens d’iniquité.
[Turn away from your evil ways], because I perceive that you [(sg)] are extremely envious of [us], and you [are] a slave of your [continual desire to do evil! God will certainly punish you severely]!”
24 Simon, répondant, dit: Priez vous-mêmes le Seigneur pour moi, afin qu’il ne m’arrive rien de ce que vous avez dit.
Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord [God] that [he] will not do to me what you just said!”
25 Et eux, après avoir rendu témoignage et prêché la parole du Seigneur, revenaient à Jérusalem, et évangélisaient beaucoup de contrées des Samaritains.
After [Peter and John] told [people there] what they knew personally [about the] Lord [Jesus] and declared to them the message about Jesus, they both returned to Jerusalem. [Along the way] they preached the good message [about Jesus to people] in many villages in Samaria [province].
26 Cependant un ange du Seigneur parla à Philippe, disant: Lève-toi et va vers le Midi, sur le chemin qui descend de Jérusalem à Gaza: celle qui est déserte.
[One day] an angel whom the Lord [God] had sent commanded Philip, “Get ready and go south along the road that extends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” [That was] a road in a desert area.
27 Et, se levant, il partit. Et voilà qu’un Ethiopien, eunuque, puissant auprès de Candace, reine d’Ethiopie, et préposé sur tous ses trésors, était venu adorer à Jérusalem,
So Philip got ready and went [along that road]. Suddenly he met a man from Ethiopia. He was an important official who took care of all the funds for the queen [of] Ethiopia. [In his language people called their queen] Candace. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship [God],
28 Et s’en retournait, assis sur son char, et lisant le prophète Isaïe.
and he was returning [home] and was seated [riding] in his chariot. [As he was riding], he was reading [out loud from] what the prophet Isaiah [had written] [MTY] [long ago].
29 Alors l’Esprit dit à Philippe: Approche, et tiens-toi contre ce char.
[God’s] Spirit told Philip, “Go near to that chariot and keep walking close to [the man who is riding in] it!”
30 Et Philippe, accourant, entendit l’eunuque qui lisait le prophète Isaïe, et lui dit: Crois-tu comprendre ce que tu lis?
So Philip ran [to the chariot and kept running close to it]. Then he heard the official reading what the prophet Isaiah [had written]. He asked the man, “Do you [(sg)] understand what you are reading?”
31 Il répondit: Et comment le pourrai-je, si quelqu’un ne me l’explique? Et il pria Philippe de monter et de s’asseoir près de lui.
He answered Philip, “[No!] (I cannot possibly [understand it] if [there is] no one to explain it to me!/How can I [understand it] if [there is] no one to explain it to me?) [RHQ]” Acts 8:31b-35 Then the man said to Philip, “Please come up [and] sit beside me.” [So Philip did that].
32 Or le passage de l’Ecriture qu’il lisait était celui-ci: Comme une brebis, il a été mené à la boucherie; et comme un agneau sans voix devant celui qui le tond, ainsi il n’a pas ouvert la bouche.
The part of the Scriptures that the official was reading was this: He will [be silent when] they lead him away to kill him [like when] a sheep [is led away to be killed]. As a young sheep is silent when its wool is being cut off {someone cuts off its wool}, [similarly] he will not protest [MTY] [when people cause him to suffer].
33 Dans l’humiliation, son jugement a été aboli; qui racontera sa génération, puisque sa vie sera retranchée de la terre?
When he will be humiliated by being accused falsely {people will humiliate him [by accusing him falsely]}, [the rulers] (will not consider him innocent/will consider him guilty). No one will possibly be able to tell about his descendants, because he will be killed {people will kill him} without him having [any descendants] on the earth.
34 Or, répondant à Philippe, l’eunuque dit: De qui, je te prie, le prophète dit-il cela? Est-ce de lui, ou de quelque autre?
The official asked Philip [about these words that he was reading], “Tell me, who was the prophet writing about? [Was he writing] about himself or about someone else?”
35 Alors Philippe, ouvrant la bouche, et commençant par cet endroit de l’Ecriture, lui annonça Jésus.
So Philip began [to explain] that Scripture passage. He told him the good message about [MTY] Jesus. [So the official understood and believed in Jesus].
36 Et comme ils allaient par le chemin, ils rencontrèrent de l’eau; et l’eunuque dit: Voilà de l’eau; qui empêche que je ne sois baptisé?
While they were traveling along the road, they came to [a place where there was a pond of] water [near the road]. Then the official said [to Philip], “Look, [there is a pond of] water! (I would like you to baptize me, because I do not know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent [you] from baptizing me.}/Do you know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent [you] from baptizing me}?) [RHQ]”
37 Philippe dit: Si tu crois de tout ton cœur, cela se peut. Et, répondant, il dit: Je crois que Jésus-Christ est le Fils de Dieu.
38 Et il fit arrêter le char; alors, tous deux, Philippe et l’eunuque, descendirent dans l’eau, et il le baptisa.
So the official told [the driver] to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the official went down into the [pond of] water, and [Philip] baptized him.
39 Lorsqu’ils furent remontés de l’eau, l’Esprit du Seigneur enleva Philippe, et l’eunuque ne le vit plus. Mais il continuait son chemin, plein de joie.
When they came up out of the water, suddenly God’s Spirit took Philip away. The official never saw Philip again. But [although he never saw Philip again], the official continued going along the road, very happy [that God had saved him].
40 Pour Philippe, il se trouva dans Azot et il évangélisait en passant toutes les villes, jusqu’à ce qu’il vînt à Césarée.
Philip then realized [that the Spirit had miraculously taken him to] Azotus [town]. While he traveled around [in that region], he continued proclaiming the message [about Jesus] in all the towns [between Azotus and Caesarea. And he was still proclaiming] it when he finally arrived in Caesarea [city].
