Isaïe 37
1 Et il arriva que lorsque le roi Ezéchias les eut entendues, il déchira ses vêtements, et 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 sackcloth [because he was very distressed]. Then he went into the temple of Yahweh [and prayed].
2 Et il envoya Eliacim qui était intendant dans la maison, et Sobna, le scribe, et les plus anciens d’entre les prêtres, couverts de sacs, vers Isaïe, le prophète, fils d’Amos,
Then he sent Eliakim, Shebna, and the (older/most important) priests, who were also wearing clothes made of rough sackcloth, to talk to me.
3 Et ils lui dirent: Voici ce qu’a dit Ezéchias: Jour de tribulation, de reproche et de blasphème, est ce jour-ci, parce que des enfants sont venus jusqu’à l’enfantement, et la force manque à la mère pour enfanter.
He said to them, “Tell this to Isaiah: ‘King Hezekiah says that this is a day when we are greatly distressed. Other nations are causing us to be insulted and disgraced. We are like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth to a baby, but she does not have the strength that she needs to do it.
4 Peut-être que le Seigneur ton Dieu entendra les paroles de Rabsacès qu’a envoyé le roi des Assyriens son maître pour blasphémer le Dieu vivant, et pour l’insulter par les paroles qu’a entendues le Seigneur ton Dieu; fais donc monter une prière pour les restes qui ont été retrouvés.
[But] perhaps Yahweh our God has heard what the official from Assyria said. Perhaps he knows that his boss, the King of Assyria, sent him to insult the all-powerful God, and that Yahweh will punish the King of Assyria for what he said. And the king requests that you pray for the few of us who are still alive [here in Jerusalem].’”
5 Et les serviteurs du roi Ezéchias vinrent vers Isaïe,
After those men gave me that message,
6 Et Isaïe leur dit: Vous direz ceci 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.
I replied, “Tell the King, ‘This is what Yahweh says: “Those messengers from the King of Assyria have said evil things about me. But do not be disturbed by what they said.
7 Voilà que moi je lui enverrai un esprit de frayeur; il apprendra une nouvelle, et il retournera dans sa terre, et je le ferai tomber par le glaive dans sa terre.
Listen to this: I will cause Sennacherib to hear a rumor [that the armies of Babylon are about to attack his country], and that will worry him. So he will return to his own country, and there I will cause him to be assassinated by [men using] swords.”’”
8 Or Rabsacès s’en retourna, et trouva le roi des Assyriens formant le siège de Lobna. Car il avait appris qu’il était parti de Lachis,
The official from Assyria found out that the King of Assyria [and his army] had captured Lachish [city] and that they were attacking Libnah, [which is a nearby city]. So the official left Jerusalem and went to Libnah [to report to the king what had happened in Jerusalem].
9 Et Sennachérib entendit, au sujet de Tharaca, roi d’Ethiopie, des gens disant: Il est sorti pour combattre contre vous. Ce qu’ayant entendu, 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 to attack them. So before King Sennacherib left Libnah [with his army to fight against the army from Ethiopia], he sent other messengers to Hezekiah in Jerusalem with a letter. [In the letter he wrote this] to Hezekiah:
10 Vous direz ceci à Ezéchias, roi de Juda: Qu’il ne vous trompe pas, votre Dieu, en qui vous vous confiez, disant: Jérusalem, ne sera pas livrée à la main du roi des Assyriens.
“Do not allow your god, on whom you are relying, to deceive you by promising you that Jerusalem will not be captured by my army.
11 Voilà que vous-même vous avez appris tout ce qu’ont fait les rois des Assyriens à tous les pays qu’ils ont détruits; et vous, 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 destroyed them completely. 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 ceux qu’ont détruits mes pères, c’est-à-dire Gozam, et Haram, et Réseph, et les fils d’Eden qui étaient en Thalassar?
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 Gozan [region], and Haran and Rezeph [cities in northern Syria], and the people of Eden [region] who were forced to go to Tel-Assar [city]?
13 Où est le roi d’Emath, et le roi d’Arphad, et le roi de la ville de Sépharvaïm, d’Ana et d’Ava?
What happened to the King of Hamath and the King of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah [cities]? [Did their gods rescue them] [RHQ]?”
14 Et Ezéchias reçut les livres de la main des messagers, et les lut, et il monta à la maison du Seigneur, et Ezéchias les étendit devant le Seigneur.
Hezekiah received 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 Ezéchias pria le Seigneur, disant:
And [then] Hezekiah prayed this:
16 Seigneur des armées, Dieu d’Israël, qui êtes assis sur les chérubins, c’est vous qui êtes seul Dieu de tous les royaumes de la terre, c’est vous qui avez fait le ciel et la terre.
“O Yahweh, Commander of the armies of angels, the God to whom [we] Israelis belong, you are seated on your throne above the statues of the 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.
17 Inclinez, Seigneur, votre oreille, et écoutez; ouvrez, Seigneur, vos yeux, et voyez, et écoutez toutes les paroles de Sennachérib, qu’il a envoyées pour blasphémer le Dieu vivant.
[So], Yahweh, [please] listen to what I am saying, and look at [what is happening]! And listen to what Sennacherib has said to insult you, the all-powerful God!
18 Car il est vrai, Seigneur, les rois des Assyriens ont rendu déserts les pays et leurs contrées.
Yahweh, it is true that [the armies of] the kings of Assyria have completely destroyed many nations and ruined their land.
19 Ils ont jeté leurs dieux au feu; car ce n’étaient pas des dieux, mais des ouvrages de mains d’hommes, du bois et de la pierre; et ils les ont mis en pièces.
And they have thrown all the idols of those nations into fires and burned them. But they were not [really] gods. They were only idols made of wood and stone, [and that is why they were destroyed easily].
20 Et maintenant, Seigneur notre Dieu, sauvez-nous de sa main; et qu’ils sachent, tous les royaumes de la terre, que c’est vous qui êtes le seul Seigneur.
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.”
21 Et Isaïe, fils d’Amos, envoya vers Ezéchias, disant: Voici ce que dit le Seigneur Dieu d’Israël: À l’égard de ce que tu m’as demandé touchant Sennachérib, roi d’Assyrie,
Then I sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what Yahweh, the God to whom [we] Israelis belong, says: Because you prayed about what King Sennacherib of Assyria [said],
22 Voici la parole que le Seigneur a dite à son sujet: 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 despise you and make fun of you. They will wag/shake their heads to mock you while you flee from here.
23 Qui as-tu insulté, qui as-tu blasphémé, et contre qui as-tu élevé la voix, et porté en haut tes yeux? Contre le saint d’Israël.
Whom do you think you have been despising and ridiculing? Whom do you think you were shouting at? Whom do you think you were looking at [very] proudly/arrogantly? [It was I], the Holy One whom the Israelis worship!
24 Par l’entremise de tes serviteurs tu as insulté le Seigneur, et tu as dit: Avec la multitude de mes quadriges, moi je suis monté sur la hauteur des montagnes, les chaînes du Liban; je couperai les cimes de ses cèdres, et ses plus beaux sapins, et je pénétrerai jusqu’à la pointe de son sommet, jusqu’à la forêt de son Carmel.
The messengers whom 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/cypress [trees]. We have been to the most distant/remote peaks and to its densest forests.
25 C’est moi qui ai creusé des sources, et j’ai bu de l’eau, et j’ai séché par la trace de mon pied toutes les rivières retenues par des digues.
We have dug wells [in many countries] and drunk water [from them]. And by marching through [MTY] the streams of Egypt, we dried them all up [HYP]!”
26 N’as-tu donc pas ouï dire les choses qu’autrefois j’y ai faites? dès les temps anciens, c’est moi qui ai disposé cela; et maintenant je l’ai amené et accompli en détruisant les collines qui s’entrechoquent et les cités fortifiées.
[But I, Yahweh, reply], “Have you never heard that long ago I determined [those things]; I planned them long ago, and now I have been causing those things to occur. I planned that your army would destroy cities and cause them to become piles of rubble.
27 Leurs habitants, à la main raccourcie, ont tremblé et ont été confondus; ils sont devenus comme le foin d’un champ et le gazon d’un pâturage, et l’herbe des toits, qui a séché avant qu’elle fût mûre.
The people in those cities have no power, and as a result they are dismayed and discouraged. They are [as frail as] [MET] grass and plants in the fields, as frail as grass that grows on the roofs of houses and is scorched by the hot east wind.
28 Ton habitation, et ta sortie, et ton entrée, je les ai connues, ainsi que ta fureur extravagante 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.
29 Lorsque tu étais furieux contre moi, ton orgueil est monté à mes oreilles; je mettrai donc un cercle à tes narines, et un mors à ta bouche, et je te ramènerai par la voie par laquelle tu es venu.
[So], because you have raged against me and because I have heard you speak very proudly/arrogantly, [it will be as though] I will put a hook in your nose and I will put an iron (bit/metal bar) 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].”’
30 Mais pour toi, Ezéchias, voici un signe: Mange cette année de ce qui naîtra de soi-même, et en la seconde année nourris-toi de fruits; mais en la troisième année, semez et moissonnez, et plantez des vignes, et mangez-en le fruit.
[Then I said to Hezekiah], ‘This will prove to you [that what I said will happen]: “This year, you(pl) will eat [only the crops] that grow by themselves, and next year the same thing will happen. But in the third year you will plant [crops] and harvest them; you will take care of your vineyards and eat the grapes.
31 Et ce qui sera sauvé de la maison de Juda, et ce qui est resté, jettera racine en bas, et fera du fruit en haut;
And [you] people who are still [here] in Judah, will be strong and prosper again [MET].
32 Parce que de Jérusalem sortiront des restes, et ce qui sera sauvé de la montagne de Sion; le zèle du Seigneur des armées fera cela.
A small number of my people will survive, and they will spread out from Jerusalem [DOU].” That will happen because [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, am desiring very much to accomplish it.’
33 À cause de cela, voici ce que dit le Seigneur du roi des Assyriens: Il n’entrera pas dans cette cité, il n’y lancera pas de flèche, et pas un bouclier ne l’occupera, et il n’élèvera pas de terrasse autour d’elle.
And this is what [I], Yahweh, say about the King of Assyria: ‘His [armies] will not enter Jerusalem; they will not [even] shoot arrows into it. His soldiers will not [march outside] the city gates holding their shields, and they will not build high mounds of dirt against the walls of the city [to enable them to attack the city].
34 Il retournera par la voie par laquelle il est venu; il n’entrera pas dans cette cité, dit le Seigneur;
And 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!
35 Et je protégerai cette cité, afin que je la sauve à cause de moi et à cause de David, mon serviteur.
For the sake of my own reputation and because of what I promised King David, who served me [well], I will defend this city and prevent it from being destroyed.”
36 Or un ange du Seigneur sortit et frappa dans le camp des Assyriens cent quatre-vingt-cinq mille hommes. On se leva le matin, et voici que tous étaient des corps de morts.
[That night], an angel from Yahweh went out to where the army of Assyria had set up their tents and killed 185,000 of their soldiers. When [the rest of the soldiers] woke up the next morning, they saw that there were corpses everywhere.
37 Et il partit, et il s’en alla, et il retourna, Sennachérib, roi des Assyriens, et il habita à Ninive.
Then King Sennacherib left and returned home to Nineveh [in Assyria], and stayed there.
38 Et il arriva que, comme il adorait dans le temple de Nesroch, son dieu, Adramélech et Sarasar ses fils le frappèrent du glaive et s’enfuirent dans la terre d’Ararat, et Asarhaddon son fils régna en sa place.
[One day], when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his two 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.
