Exodus 4
1 And Moses answered and said, If they believe me not, and do not listen to my voice (for they will say, God has not appeared to you), what shall I say to them?
Moïse prit la parole et dit: "Mais certes, ils ne me croiront pas et ils n’écouteront pas ma voix, parce qu’ils diront: L’Éternel ne t’est point apparu."
2 And the Lord said to him, What is this thing that is in your hand? and he said, A rod.
Le Seigneur lui dit: "Qu’as-tu là à la main?" Il répondit: "Une verge."
3 And he said, Cast it on the ground: and he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from it.
Il reprit: "Jette-la à terre!" Et il la jeta à terre et elle devint un serpent. Moïse s’enfuit à cette vue.
4 And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch forth your hand, and take hold of its tail: so he stretched forth his hand and took hold of the tail,
Le Seigneur dit à Moïse: "Avance la main et saisis sa queue!" Il avança la main et le saisit et il redevint verge dans sa main.
5 and it became a rod in his hand, —that they may believe you, that the God of your fathers has appeared to you, the God of Abraam, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.
"Ceci leur prouvera qu’il s’est révélé à toi, l’Éternel, le Dieu de leurs pères, le Dieu d’Abraham, d’Isaac et de Jacob."
6 And the Lord said again to him, Put your hand into your bosom; and he put his hand into his bosom, and brought his hand out of his bosom, and his hand became as snow.
Le Seigneur lui dit encore: "Mets ta main dans ton sein." Il mit sa main dans son sein, l’en retira et voici qu’elle était lépreuse, blanche comme la neige.
7 And he said again, Put your hand into your bosom; and he put his hand into his bosom, and brought his hand out of his bosom, and it was again restored to the complexion of his [other] flesh.
II reprit: "Replace ta main dans ton sein." Il remit sa main dans son sein, puis il l’en retira et voici qu’elle avait repris sa carnation.
8 And if they will not believe you, nor listen to the voice of the first sign, they will believe you [because] of the voice of the second sign.
"Eh bien! s’ils n’ont pas croyance en toi, s’ils sont sourds à la voix du premier prodige, ils devront céder à la voix du dernier.
9 And it shall come to pass if they will not believe you for these two signs, and will not listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land, and the water which you shall take from the river shall be blood upon the dry land.
Que s’ils restent incrédules en présence de ces deux prodiges et s’ils n’écoutent pas ta voix, tu prendras des eaux du fleuve et tu les répandras à terre et ces eaux que tu auras prises du fleuve deviendront du sang sur la terre."
10 And Moses said to the Lord, I pray, Lord, I have not been sufficient in former times, neither from the time that you have begun to speak to your servant: I am weak in speech, and slow-tongued.
Moïse dit à l’Éternel: "De grâce, Seigneur! je ne suis habile à parler, ni depuis hier, ni depuis avant-hier, ni depuis que tu parles à ton serviteur; car j’ai la bouche pesante et la langue embarrassée."
11 And the Lord said to Moses, Who has given a mouth to man, and who has made the very hard of hearing, and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? have not I, God?
L’Éternel lui répondit: "Qui a donné une bouche à l’homme? qui le fait muet ou sourd, clairvoyant ou aveugle, si ce n’est moi, l’Éternel?
12 And now go and I will open your mouth, and will instruct you in what you shall say.
Va donc, je seconderai ta parole et je t’inspirerai ce que tu devras dire."
13 And Moses said, I pray you, Lord, appoint another able [person] whom you shall send.
Il repartit: "De grâce, Seigneur! donne cette mission à quelque autre!"
14 And the Lord was greatly angered against Moses, and said, Behold! is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he will surely speak to you; and, behold, he will come forth to meet you, and beholding you he will rejoice within himself.
Le courroux de l’Éternel s’alluma contre Moïse et il dit: "Eh bien! c’est Aaron ton frère, le Lévite, que je désigne! Oui, c’est lui qui parlera! Déjà même il s’avance à ta rencontre et à ta vue il se réjouira dans son cœur.
15 And you shall speak to him; and you shall put my words into his mouth, and I will open your mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you shall do.
Tu lui parleras et tu transmettras les paroles à sa bouche; pour moi, j’assisterai ta bouche et la sienne et je vous apprendrai ce que vous aurez à faire.
16 And he shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be for him in things pertaining to God.
Lui, il parlera pour toi au peuple, de sorte qu’il sera pour toi un organe et que tu seras pour lui un inspirateur.
17 And this rod that was turned into a serpent you shall take in your hand, wherewith you shall work miracles.
Cette même verge, tu l’auras à la main, car c’est par elle que tu opéreras les miracles."
18 And Moses went and returned to Jothor his father-in-law, and says, I will go and return to my brethren in Egypt, and will see if they are yet living. And Jothor said to Moses, Go in health. And in those days after some time, the king of Egypt died.
Là-dessus Moïse s’en retourna chez Jéthro, son beau-père et lui dit: "Je voudrais partir, retourner près de mes frères qui sont en Égypte, afin de voir s’ils vivent encore." Jéthro répondit à Moïse: "Va en paix."
19 And the Lord said to Moses in Madiam, Go, depart into Egypt, for all that sought your life are dead.
L’Éternel dit à Moïse, en Madian: "Va, retourne en Égypte; tous ceux-là sont morts qui en voulaient à ta vie."
20 And Moses took his wife and his children, and mounted them on the beasts, and returned to Egypt; and Moses took the rod [which he had] from God in his hand.
Moïse emmena sa femme et ses enfants, les plaça sur un âne et reprit le chemin du pays d’Égypte. Moïse tenait la verge divine à la main.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, When you go and return to Egypt, see—all the miracles I have charged you with, you shall work before Pharao: and I will harden his heart, and he shall certainly not send away the people.
L’Éternel dit à Moïse: "Maintenant que tu te disposes à rentrer en Egypte, sache que tous les miracles dont je t’aurai chargé, tu les accompliras devant Pharaon mais moi je laisserai s’endurcir son cœur et il ne renverra point le peuple.
22 And you shall say to Pharao, These things says the Lord, Israel [is] my firstborn.
Alors tu diras à Pharaon: ‘Ainsi parle l’Éternel: Israël est le premier-né de mes fils;
23 And I said to you, Send away my people, that they may serve me: now if you will not send them away, see, I will kill your firstborn son.
or, je t’avais dit: Laisse partir mon fils, pour qu’il me serve et tu as refusé de le laisser partir. Eh bien! moi, je ferai mourir ton fils premier-né.’"
24 And it came to pass [that] the angel of the Lord met him by the way in the inn, and sought to kill him.
Pendant ce voyage, il s’arrêta dans une hôtellerie; le Seigneur l’aborda et voulut le faire mourir.
25 and Sepphora having taken a stone cut off the foreskin of her son, and fell at his feet and said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched:
Séphora saisit un caillou, retrancha l’excroissance de son fils et la jeta à ses pieds en disant: "Est-ce donc par le sang que tu es uni à moi?"
26 and he departed from him, because she said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched.
Le Seigneur le laissa en repos. Elle dit alors: "Oui, tu m’es uni par le sang, grâce à la circoncision!"
27 And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses; and he went and met him in the mount of God, and they kissed each other.
L’Éternel dit à Aaron: "Va au-devant de Moïse, dans le désert." Il y alla; il le rencontra sur la montagne et l’embrassa.
28 And Moses reported to Aaron all the words of the Lord, which he sent, and all the things which he charged him.
Moïse fit part à Aaron de toutes les paroles dont l’Éternel l’avait chargé et de tous les prodiges qu’il lui avait donné mission d’accomplir.
29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered the elders of the children of Israel.
Alors Moïse et Aaron partirent et assemblèrent tous les anciens des enfants d’Israël.
30 And Aaron spoke all these words, which God spoke to Moses, and wrought the miracles before the people.
Et Aaron dit toutes les paroles que l’Éternel avait adressées à Moïse et il opéra les prodiges à la vue du peuple.
31 and the people believed and rejoiced, because God visited the children of Israel, and because he saw their affliction: and the people bowed and worshipped.
Et le peuple y eut foi; ils comprirent que l’Éternel s’était souvenu des enfants d’Israël, qu’il avait considéré leur misère et ils courbèrent la tête et se prosternèrent.
