1 Samuel 7

1 [When] the men of Kiriath-Jearim [received that message, they] came to Beth-Shemesh and took the sacred chest of Yahweh. They took it to the house of Abinadab, which was on a hillside. They appointed Abinadab’s son Eleazar to take care of the chest.

Alors vinrent des hommes de Kiriath-Jearim, et ils emmenèrent l'Arche de l'Éternel et l'introduisirent dans la maison d'Abinadab sur la colline, et ils consacrèrent son fils Eléazar pour garder l'Arche de l'Éternel.

2 The sacred chest stayed in Kiriath-Jearim for a long time—a total of 20 years. During that time all the people of Israel mourned [because it seemed that] Yahweh [had abandoned them] (OR, [and then they asked] Yahweh [to help them]).

Et depuis le jour où l'Arche de l'Éternel séjourna dans Kiriath-Jearim, un long temps s'écoula; or ce fut vingt ans.

3 Then Samuel said to all the Israeli people, “If you truly [IDM] want to act like Yahweh’s people should, you must get rid of your statues of [the goddess] Astarte and the idols/statues of all the other foreign gods. You must decide to serve/worship only Yahweh. If you do that, he will rescue you from [the power of] [MTY] the Philistia people.”

Et toute la maison d'Israël allait se plaignant après l'Éternel. Samuel parla en ces termes à toute la maison d'Israël: Si c'est de tout votre cœur que vous revenez à l'Éternel, bannissez du milieu de vous les dieux de l'étranger et les Astartés, et dirigez votre cœur vers l'Éternel, et servez-le seul, et Il vous tirera des mains des Philistins.

4 So the Israelis got rid of all their statues of the gods Baal and Astarte, and they worshiped only Yahweh.

Et les enfants d'Israël bannirent les Baals et les Astartés et servirent l'Éternel seul.

5 Then Samuel told them, “All you Israeli people must gather with me at Mizpah. Then I will pray to Yahweh for you.”

Et Samuel dit: Assemblez tous les Israélites à Mitspa, afin que j'intercède pour vous auprès de l'Éternel. Et ils s'assemblèrent à Mitspa,

6 So they gathered at Mizpah, which was the town where Samuel previously was the leader of the Israeli people. They had a big ceremony there. They drew water [from a well], and poured the water on the ground while Yahweh watched. [To show that they were sorry for having worshiped idols], they did not eat any food on that day, and they confessed that they had sinned against Yahweh.

et ils puisèrent de l'eau et la répandirent devant l'Éternel, et ils jeûnèrent ce jour-là et dirent alors: Nous avons péché contre l'Éternel. Et Samuel fit à Mitspa, la censure des enfants d'Israël.

7 When the kings of the Philistia area heard that the Israeli people had gathered at Mizpah, they led their armies there to attack the Israelis. When the Israelis found out that the Philistia army was approaching them, they became very afraid.

Et lorsque les Philistins apprirent que les enfants d'Israël s'étaient rassemblés à Mitspa, les Princes des Philistins s'avancèrent contre Israël; et à cette nouvelle les enfants d'Israël eurent peur des Philistins.

8 They told Samuel, “Pray to Yahweh to rescue us from the Philistia army [MTY], and do not stop pleading!”

Et les enfants d'Israël dirent à Samuel: Ne néglige pas de supplier pour nous l'Éternel, notre Dieu, afin qu'il nous sauve des mains des Philistins.

9 So Samuel took a very young lamb [and killed it] and offered it to Yahweh to be a sacrifice that was completely burned [on the altar]. Then he prayed and pleaded that Yahweh [would help] the Israelis, and Yahweh did help them.

Alors Samuel prit un agneau de lait et l'offrit en holocauste parfait à l'Éternel, et Samuel supplia l'Éternel en faveur d'Israël, et l'Éternel l'exauça.

10 While Samuel was burning the offering, the Philistia army came near to attack the Israelis. But Yahweh caused it to thunder very loudly. The soldiers of the Philistia army became very frightened, and then they (became confused/did not know what to do). So the Israelis were able to defeat them.

Et au moment même où Samuel offrait l'holocauste, les Philistins s'avancèrent à l'attaque d'Israël. Et dans cette journée l'Éternel fit tonner avec grand fracas son tonnerre sur les Philistins, et les mit en déroute, et ils furent battus par les Israélites.

11 The Israeli men ran out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistia soldiers almost to Beth-Car [town], and killed many Philistia soldiers while they were trying to run away.

Et les hommes d'Israël sortant de Mitspa poursuivirent les Philistins et les chargèrent jusqu'au-dessous de Bethcar.

12 After that happened, Samuel took a large stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah [towns]. He named the stone ‘Ebenezer’, [which means ‘stone of help’], because he said “Yahweh has helped us until the present time.”

Alors Samuel prit une pierre et la plaça entre Mitspa et Sen, et l'appela du nom d'Ebenézer (pierre du secours) et dit: Jusqu'ici l'Éternel nous a secourus.

13 So the Philistia people were defeated, and for a long time they did not enter the Israeli land [to attack them] again. During the time that Samuel was alive, Yahweh powerfully protected [MTY] [the Israeli people] from [being attacked by] the Philistia army.

Ainsi furent abaissés les Philistins qui ne firent plus d'incursions dans le territoire d'Israël, et la main de l'Éternel fut contraire aux Philistins durant toute la vie de Samuel.

14 The Israeli army was able to capture again the Israeli villages between Ekron and Gath that the Philistia army had captured before. The Israelis were also able to take again the other areas around those cities that the Philistia army had taken [from the Israelis] previously. And there was peace between the Israelis and the Amor people-group.

Et Israël recouvra les villes que les Philistins lui avaient enlevées, depuis Ekron à Gath, et dont il arracha aussi le territoire des mains des Philistins. Et il y eut paix entre Israël et les Amoréens.

15 Samuel continued to be the leader of the Israeli people until he died.

Et Samuel fut Juge d'Israël pendant toute sa vie.

16 As long as he was alive, every year he traveled back and forth between Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah [cities]. In those cities he listened to disputes between people and made decisions about them.

Et chaque année Samuel allait en tournée à Béthel, à Guilgal et à Mitspa, et dans tous ces lieux il exerçait la judicature sur Israël.

17 After he listened to disputes and made decisions in each of those towns, he returned to his home at Ramah, and he would listen to people’s disputes there, also, [and make decisions about them]. And he built an altar at Ramah [to offer sacrifices] to Yahweh.

Et il revenait à Rama, car c'est là qu'était sa maison et là qu'il jugeait Israël; et il y éleva un autel à l'Éternel.