Psaumes 79
La Bible du Semeur
Jérusalem est en ruine
79 Psaume d’Asaph[a].
O Dieu ! Des peuples étrangers ╵ont pénétré dans ton domaine,
ils ont rendu impur ton temple saint,
ils ont fait de Jérusalem ╵un tas de ruines[b].
2 Ils ont livré
les corps de tes serviteurs aux rapaces,
la chair de ceux qui te sont attachés
aux animaux sauvages.
3 Ils ont versé des flots de sang
tout autour de Jérusalem
sans qu’il y ait personne ╵pour enterrer les morts.
4 Nos voisins nous insultent,
et ceux qui nous entourent ╵se moquent de nous et nous raillent.
5 Jusques à quand, ô Eternel, ╵seras-tu sans cesse irrité ?
Et ton ardente indignation ╵brûlera-t-elle comme un feu ?
6 Déverse ta fureur ╵sur les peuples païens,
ceux qui ne te connaissent pas,
sur les royaumes
qui ne t’invoquent pas,
7 car ils ont dévoré Jacob[c],
et ils ont ravagé ╵le lieu de sa demeure[d].
8 Ne tiens plus compte de nos fautes du passé !
Que tes compassions ╵sans tarder nous assistent,
car nous sommes tombés bien bas.
9 Accorde-nous ton aide, ╵ô Dieu, notre Sauveur,
pour l’honneur de ton nom !
Délivre-nous, pardonne nos péchés
à cause de ce que tu es !
10 Pourquoi les autres peuples diraient-ils :
« Où est leur Dieu[e] ? »
Montre-leur sous nos yeux,
que tu demandes compte ╵du meurtre de tes serviteurs !
11 Que les plaintes des prisonniers ╵parviennent jusqu’à toi !
Et que les condamnés à mort
soient sauvés par ton bras puissant !
12 Rends en plein cœur à nos voisins, ╵et au septuple[f],
l’insulte qu’ils t’ont infligée, ╵ô Eternel !
13 Et nous, ton peuple, le troupeau ╵dont tu es le berger,
nous te célébrerons toujours,
et nous publierons tes louanges ╵au cours de tous les âges.
Footnotes
- 79.1 Voir note 50.1.
- 79.1 Voir 2 R 25.8-10 ; 2 Ch 36.17-19 ; Jr 52.12-14.
- 79.7 Jacob est mis ici pour le peuple d’Israël (Gn 32.28).
- 79.7 Voir Jr 10.25.
- 79.10 Voir 42.4, 11 ; Jr 2.17 ; Mi 7.10 ; Ml 2.17.
- 79.12 Sept est le nombre exprimant la plénitude, donc ici la rétribution complète (Gn 4.15 ; Pr 6.31).
Psalm 79
New English Translation
Psalm 79[a]
A psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, foreigners[b] have invaded your chosen land;[c]
they have polluted your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins.
2 They have given the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky,[d]
the flesh of your loyal followers
to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have made their blood flow like water
all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them.[e]
4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.[f]
5 How long will this go on, O Lord?[g]
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage[h] burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you,[i]
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you.[j]
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations.[k]
Quickly send your compassion our way,[l]
for we are in serious trouble.[m]
9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!
For the sake of your glorious reputation,[n] rescue us.
Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation.[o]
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants
be avenged among the nations.[p]
11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners.[q]
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die.[r]
12 Pay back our neighbors in full.[s]
May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord.[t]
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will continually thank you.[u]
We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts.[v]
Footnotes
- Psalm 79:1 sn Psalm 79. The author laments how the invading nations have destroyed the temple and city of Jerusalem. He asks God to forgive his people and to pour out his vengeance on those who have mistreated them.
- Psalm 79:1 tn Or “nations.”
- Psalm 79:1 tn Heb “have come into your inheritance.”
- Psalm 79:2 tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”
- Psalm 79:3 tn Heb “they have poured out their blood like water, all around Jerusalem, and there is no one burying.”
- Psalm 79:4 tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.
- Psalm 79:5 tn Heb “How long, O Lord?”
- Psalm 79:5 tn Or “jealous anger.”
- Psalm 79:6 tn Heb “which do not know you.” Here the Hebrew term “know” means “acknowledge the authority of.”
- Psalm 79:6 sn The kingdoms that do not pray to you. The people of these kingdoms pray to other gods, not the Lord, because they do not recognize his authority over them.
- Psalm 79:8 tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that רִאשֹׁנִים (riʾshonim, “former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.
- Psalm 79:8 tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.
- Psalm 79:8 tn Heb “for we are very low.”
- Psalm 79:9 tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
- Psalm 79:9 tn Heb “your name.”
- Psalm 79:10 tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”
- Psalm 79:11 tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”
- Psalm 79:11 tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
- Psalm 79:12 tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shivʿatayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
- Psalm 79:12 tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”
- Psalm 79:13 tn Or (hyperbolically) “will thank you forever.”
- Psalm 79:13 tn Heb “to a generation and a generation we will report your praise.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.
Psalm 79
Authorized (King James) Version
Psalm 79
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance;
thy holy temple have they defiled;
they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.
2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven,
the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem;
and there was none to bury them.
4 We are become a reproach to our neighbours,
a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
5 How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever?
shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee,
and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob,
and laid waste his dwelling place.
8 O remember not against us former iniquities:
let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us:
for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name:
and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God?
let him be known among the heathen in our sight
by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee;
according to the greatness of thy power
preserve thou those that are appointed to die;
12 and render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom
their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever:
we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.
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