< 2 Samuel 11 >

1 [In that region], kings usually went [with their armies] to fight [their enemies] in the springtime. But the following year, in the springtime, David [did not do that. Instead, he] stayed in Jerusalem, and he sent [his commander] Joab [to lead the army]. So Joab went with the other officers and the rest of the Israeli army. They [crossed the Jordan River and] defeated the army of the Ammon people-group. Then they surrounded [their capital city, ] Rabbah.
Or, il arriva qu’au retour de l’année, au temps que les rois ont coutume d’aller à la guerre, David envoya Joab et ses serviteurs avec lui et tout Israël, et il ravagèrent les enfants d’Ammon et assiégèrent Rabba; mais David demeura à Jérusalem.
2 Late one afternoon, after David got up from taking a nap, he walked around on the [flat] roof of his palace. He saw a woman who was bathing [in the courtyard of her house]. The woman was very beautiful.
Pendant que ces choses se passaient, il advint que David se levait de son lit après midi, et qu’il se promenait sur la terrasse du palais; or il vit une femme qui se baignait vis-à-vis sur sa terrasse; et cette femme était fort belle.
3 David sent a messenger to find out who she was. [The messenger returned] and said, “She is [RHQ] Bathsheba. She is the daughter of Eliam, and her husband is Uriah, from the Heth people-group.”
Le roi donc envoya, et demanda quelle était cette femme. Et on lui annonça que c’était Bethsabée, fille d’Eliam, femme d’Urie, l’Héthéen.
4 Then David sent more messengers to get her. They brought her to David, and he (slept/had sex) [EUP] with her. (She had just finished performing the rituals to make herself pure [after her monthly menstrual period].) Then Bathsheba went back home.
C’est pourquoi David, ayant envoyé des messagers, l’enleva. Lorsqu’elle fut entrée auprès de lui, il dormit avec elle: et aussitôt elle se purifia de son impureté;
5 [After some time], she realized that she was pregnant. So she sent a messenger to tell David [that she was pregnant].
Et elle retourna en sa maison, après avoir conçu. Et envoyant, elle annonça à David, et dit: J’ai conçu.
6 Then David sent a message to Joab. He said, “Send Uriah, from the Heth people-group, to me.” So Joab did that. He sent Uriah to David.
Or, David envoya vers Joab, disant: Envoie-moi Urie, l’Héthéen. Et Joab envoya Urie à David.
7 When he arrived, David asked if Joab was well, and if other soldiers were well, and how the war was progressing.
Et Urie vint vers David; et David demanda si Joab allait bien ainsi que le peuple, et comment la guerre était conduite.
8 Then David, [hoping that Uriah would go home and sleep with his wife, ] said to Uriah, “Okay, go home and relax for a while. [IDM]” So Uriah left, and David gave someone a gift [of some food] to take to Uriah’s house.
Puis David dit à Urie: Va en ta maison, et lave tes pieds. Et Urie sortit de la maison du roi, et les mets du roi le suivirent.
9 But Uriah did not go home. Instead, he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guards.
Mais Urie dormit devant la porte de la maison du roi avec les autres serviteurs de son seigneur, et il ne descendit point en sa maison.
10 When someone told David that Uriah did not go to his house [that night], David [summoned him again and] said to him, “Why didn’t you go home [to be with your wife last night], after having been away for a long time?” [RHQ]
Et on l’annonça à David, en disant: Urie n’est pas allé en sa maison. Et David demanda à Urie: Est-ce que tu ne viens pas d’un voyage? pourquoi n’es-tu pas descendu en ta maison?
11 Uriah replied, “The soldiers of Judah and Israel are camping in the open fields, and even our commander Joab is sleeping in a tent, and the sacred chest is with them. (How could I/It would not be right for me to) go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife [RHQ]. I solemnly declare [IDM] that I will never do such a thing!”
Et Urie répondit à David: L’arche de Dieu, et Israël, et Juda, habitent dans les pavillons, et mon seigneur Joab, et les serviteurs de mon seigneur demeurent sur la face de la terre, et moi, j’entrerai en ma maison, pour manger et boire, et pour dormir avec ma femme? Par votre salut, et par le salut de votre âme, je ne ferai pas cette chose.
12 Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today. I will let you return [to the battle] tomorrow.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and that night.
David donc dit à Urie: Demeure ici encore aujourd’hui, et demain je te renverrai. Urie demeura à Jérusalem ce jour-là et le lendemain.
13 The next day, David invited him [to a meal]. So Uriah had a meal with David, and David made him drink a lot of wine so that he would get drunk, [hoping that if he was drunk, he would sleep with his wife]. But that night, Uriah again did not go home. Instead, he slept on his cot with the king’s servants.
Alors David l’appela pour qu’il mangeât devant lui et qu’il bût, et il l’enivra. Urie étant sorti le soir, dormit dans son lit avec les serviteurs de son seigneur, et il ne descendit pas en sa maison.
14 [Someone reported that to] David, [so] the next morning he wrote a letter to Joab, and gave it to Uriah to take to Joab.
Il arriva donc le matin que David écrivit une lettre à Joab, et l’envoya par la main d’Urie,
15 In the letter, he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is the (worst/most severe). Then command the soldiers to pull back from him, in order that he will be killed [by our enemies].”
Ecrivant dans la lettre: Placez Urie au premier rang dans la bataille, là où le combat est le plus fort; et abandonnez-le, afin que, frappé, il périsse.
16 [So after] Joab [got the letter], as his army was surrounding the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew that their enemies’ strongest and best soldiers would be fighting.
Comme donc Joab assiégeait la ville, il plaça Urie dans le lieu où il savait qu’étaient les hommes les plus vaillants.
17 The men from the city came out and fought with Joab’s soldiers. They killed some of David’s officers, including Uriah.
Et les hommes, étant sortis de la cité, combattaient contre Joab, et dans la multitude des serviteurs de David plusieurs tombèrent, et Urie, l’Héthéen, mourut aussi.
18 Then Joab sent a messenger to David to tell him about the fighting.
C’est pourquoi Joab envoya, et annonça à David tous les événements du combat,
19 He said to the messenger, “Tell David the news about the battle. After you finish telling that to him,
Et il ordonna au messager, disant: Lorsque tu auras achevé au roi tout ton récit de la guerre,
20 if David is angry [because so many officers were killed], he may ask you, ‘Why did your soldiers go so close to the city to fight [RHQ]? Did you not know that they would shoot [arrows at you while they were standing on top] of the city wall [RHQ]?
Si tu vois qu’il s’indigne et dise: Pourquoi vous êtes-vous approchés du mur pour combattre? est-ce que vous ignoriez que beaucoup de traits sont lancés du haut du mur?
21 Do you not remember how Abimelech, the son of Gideon, was killed? A woman [who lived] in Thebez threw a huge (millstone/stone for grinding grain) on him from [the top of] tower, and he died. So why did your troops go near to the city wall?’ If the king asks this, then tell him, ‘Your officer Uriah also was killed.’”
Qui frappa Abimélech, fils de Jérobaal? n’est-ce pas une femme qui lança du mur sur lui un morceau de meule, et le tua à Thébès? Pourquoi vous êtes-vous approchés du mur? tu diras: Votre serviteur Urie l’Héthéen est tombé mort aussi.
22 So the messenger went and told David everything that Joab told him to say.
Le messager donc partit, et il vint et raconta à David tout ce que lui avait ordonné Joab.
23 The messenger said to David, “Our enemies were very brave, and came out of the city to fight us in the fields. [They were defeating us] but we forced them back to the city gate.
Et le messager dit à David: Les hommes ont prévalu contre nous, et ils sont sortis sur nous dans la campagne; mais nous, ayant fait une irruption, nous les avons poursuivis jusqu’à la porte de la ville.
24 Then their archers shot arrows at us from [the top of] the city wall. They killed some of your officers. They killed your officer Uriah, too.”
Et les archers ont lancé des traits contre vos serviteurs du haut du mur; et il est mort des serviteurs du roi, et, qui plus est, votre serviteur Urie, l’Héthéen, est mort.
25 David said to the messenger, “Go back to Joab and say to him, ‘Do not be distressed [about what happened], because no one ever knows who will be killed in a battle.’ Tell him that the next time his troops should attack the city more strongly, and capture it.”
Et David répondit au messager: Tu diras ceci à Joab: Que cela ne t’abatte point; car divers est le succès de la guerre; c’est maintenant celui-ci, et maintenant celui-là que dévore le glaive: anime tes combattants contre la ville, afin que tu la détruises, et encourage-les.
26 When Uriah’s wife [Bathsheba] heard that her husband had died, she mourned for him.
Or, la femme d’Urie apprit qu’Urie, son mari, était mort, et elle le pleura.
27 When her time of mourning was ended, David sent messengers to bring her to the palace. Thus, she became David’s wife. She later gave birth to a son. But Yahweh was very displeased with what David had done.
Mais, le deuil passé, David envoya, et il l’introduisit en sa maison; alors elle devint sa femme, et elle lui enfanta un fils. Or, cette action qu’avait faite David déplut au Seigneur.

< 2 Samuel 11 >