Judith 7

NEW JERUSALEM	Le Sainte Bible Vigouroux
1 The fol owing day Holofernes issued orders to his whole army and to the whole host of auxiliaries whohad joined him, to break camp and march on Bethulia, to occupy the mountain passes and so open thecampaign against the Israelites.	1 cf2Or ils entrèrent chez Raguël, qui les reçut avec joie.
2 The troops broke camp that same day. The actual fighting force numbered one hundred and twentythousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry, not to mention the baggage train with the vast number of men onfoot concerned with that.	2 Et Raguël, regardant Tobie, dit à Anne sa femme : Que ce jeune homme ressemble à mon cousin !
3 They penetrated the val ey in the neighbourhood of Bethulia, near the spring, and deployed on a widefront from Dothan to Balbaim and, in depth, from Bethulia to Cyamon, which faces Esdraelon.	3 Après cela il leur dit : D'où êtes-vous, (mes) jeunes gens nos frères ? Ils lui dirent : Nous sommes de la tribu de Nephthali, du nombre des captifs de Ninive.
4 When the Israelites saw this horde, they were al appal ed and said to each other, 'Now they wil lick thewhole country clean. Not even the loftiest peaks, the gorges or the hil s wil be able to stand the weight of them.'	4 Et Raguël leur dit : Connaissez-vous mon frère Tobie ? Ils lui dirent : Nous le connaissons.
5 Each man snatched up his arms; they lit beacons on their towers and spent the whole night on watch.	5 Et comme Raguël en disait beaucoup de bien, l'ange lui dit : Tobie, dont vous nous demandez des nouvelles, est le père de ce jeune homme.
6 On the second day Holofernes deployed his entire cavalry in sight of the Israelites in Bethulia.	6 Et Raguël, s'avançant aussitôt, le baisa avec larmes, et pleurant sur son cou,
7 He reconnoitred the slopes leading up to the town, located the water-points, seized them and postedpickets over them and returned to the main body.	7 il dit : Sois béni, mon fils ; car tu es le fils d'un homme de bien, du meilleur des hommes.
8 The chieftains of the sons of Esau, al the leaders of the Moabites and the generals of the coastal districtthen came to him and said,	8 Et Anne sa femme et Sara leur fille se mirent à pleurer.
9 'If our master wil be pleased to listen to us, his forces wil not sustain a single wound.	9 Et, après cet entretien, Raguël ordonna qu'on tuât un bélier et qu'on préparât le festin. Et comme il les priait de se mettre à table,
10 These Israelites do not rely so much on their spears as on the height of the mountains where they live.And admittedly it is not at all easy to scale these heights of theirs.	10 Tobie dit : Je ne mangerai et ne boirai pas ici aujourd'hui, que vous ne m'ayez accordé ma demande, et que vous ne me promettiez de me donner Sara, votre fille.
11 'This being the case, master, avoid engaging them in a pitched battle and then you wil not lose a singleman.	11 A ces mots, Raguël fut saisi de frayeur (épouvanté), sachant ce qui était arrivé aux sept maris qui s'étaient approchés d'elle, et il commença à craindre que la même chose n'arrivât aussi à celui-ci. Et comme il hésitait, et ne répondait rien à la demande de Tobie,
12 Stay in camp, keep al your troops there too, while your servants seize the spring which rises at the footof the mountain,	12 l'ange lui dit : Ne craignez pas de la donner à ce jeune homme, car il craint Dieu, et c'est à lui que votre fille est due comme épouse ; c'est pourquoi nul autre n'a pu la posséder.
13 since that is what provides the population of Bethulia with their water supply. Thirst wil then force themto surrender their town. Meanwhile, we and our men wil climb the nearest mountain tops and form advanceposts there to prevent anyone from leaving the town.	13 Alors Raguël dit : Je ne doute pas que Dieu n'ait admis mes prières et mes larmes en sa présence.
14 Hunger wil waste them, with their wives and children, and before the sword can reach them they wilalready be lying in the streets outside their houses.	14 Et je crois qu'il vous a fait venir (uniquement) afin que cette fille épousât quelqu'un de sa parenté selon la loi de Moïse ; et ainsi ne doute pas que je ne te donne ma fille comme tu le désires.
15 And you will make them pay dearly for their defiance and their refusal to meet you peaceably.'	15 Et prenant la main droite de sa fille, il la mit dans la main droite de Tobie, et dit : Que le Dieu d'Abraham, le Dieu d'Isaac et le Dieu de Jacob soit avec vous ; que lui-même vous unisse, et qu'il accomplisse sa bénédiction en vous.
16 Their words pleased Holofernes as wel as al his officers, and he decided to do as they suggested.	16 Et ayant pris du papier, ils écrivirent l'acte de mariage.
17 Accordingly, a troop of Moabites moved forward with a further five thousand Assyrians. Theypenetrated the val ey and seized the Israelites' waterpoints and springs.	17 Et après cela, ils mangèrent en bénissant Dieu.
18 Meanwhile the Edomites and Ammonites went and took up positions in the highlands opposite Dothan,sending some of their men to the south-east opposite Egrebel near Chous on the Wadi Mochmur. The rest of theAssyrian army took up positions in the plain, covering every inch of the ground; their tents and equipment madean immense encampment, so vast were their numbers.	18 Et Raguël appela Anne, sa femme, et lui ordonna de préparer une autre chambre.
19 The Israelites cal ed on the Lord their God, dispirited because the enemy had surrounded them and cutal line of retreat.	19 Et elle y conduisit Sara, sa fille, qui (et celle-ci, note) se mit à pleurer.
20 For thirty-four days the Assyrian army, infantry, chariots, cavalrymen, had them surrounded. Everywater-jar the inhabitants of Bethulia had was empty,	20 Et elle lui dit : Aie bon courage, ma fille. Que le Seigneur du ciel compense en joie le chagrin que tu as éprouvé.
21 their storage-wel s were drying up; on no day could a man drink his fil , since their water was rationed.	21 afin qu'on ne dise point parmi les nations : Où est leur Dieu?
22 Their little children pined away, the women and young men grew weak with thirst; they col apsed in the streets and gateways of the town; they had no strength left.	22 Et lorsque, fatigués par ces cris et las de ces pleurs, ils se turent,
23 Young men, women, children, the whole people thronged clamouring round Uzziah and the chief menof the town, shouting in the presence of the assembled elders,	23 Ozias se levant, baigné de larmes, leur dit : Ayez bon courage, mes frères, et attendons pendant cinq jours la miséricorde du Seigneur.
24 'May God be judge between you and us! For you have done us great harm, by not suing for peace withthe Assyrians.	24 Car peut-être apaisera-t-Il Sa colère, et fera-t-Il éclater la gloire de Son nom.
25 And now there is no one to help us. God has delivered us into their hands to be prostrated before themin thirst and utter helplessness.	25 Mais si, ces cinq jours étant passés, il ne nous vient pas de secours, nous ferons ce que vous nous avez proposé.
26 Cal them in at once; hand the whole town over to be sacked by Holofernes' men and al his army.
27 After al , we should be much better off as their booty than we are now; no doubt we shall be enslaved,but at least we shal be alive and not see our little ones dying before our eyes or our wives and childrenperishing.
28 By heaven and earth and by our God, the Lord of our fathers, who is punishing us for our sins and thesins of our ancestors, we implore you to take this course now, today.'
29 Bitter lamentations rose from the whole assembly, and they all cried loudly to the Lord God.
30 Then Uzziah spoke to them, 'Take heart, brothers! Let us hold out five days more. By then the Lord ourGod will take pity on us, for he wil not desert us altogether.
31 At the end of this time, if no help is forthcoming, I shall do as you have said.'
32 With that he dismissed the people to their various quarters. The men went to man the wal s and towersof the town, sending the women and children home. The town was ful of despondency.