Exodus 1
1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt; every man and his family came with Jacob.
Voici les noms des fils d’Israël qui entrèrent en Égypte avec Jacob: chacun y entra avec sa maison:
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
Ruben, Siméon, Lévi, Juda.
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
Issachar, Zabulon et Benjamin,
4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
Dan et Nephtali, Gad et Aser.
5 All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons: and Joseph had come to Egypt before them.
Ainsi toutes les âmes de ceux qui sont issus de Jacob étaient soixante-dix; mais Joseph était en Egypte.
6 Then Joseph came to his end, and all his brothers, and all that generation.
Joseph mort, et tous ses frères, et toute cette génération,
7 And the children of Israel were fertile, increasing very greatly in numbers and in power; and the land was full of them.
Les enfants d’Israël s’accrurent et se multiplièrent, comme s’ils eussent germé; et devenus extrêmement forts, ils remplirent la terre.
8 Now a new king came to power in Egypt, who had no knowledge of Joseph.
Cependant il s’éleva en Égypte un nouveau roi qui ne connaissait pas Joseph;
9 And he said to his people, See, the people of Israel are greater in number and in power than we are:
Et il dit à son peuple: Voici que le peuple des enfants d’Israël est nombreux et plus fort que nous.
10 Let us take care for fear that their numbers may become even greater, and if there is a war, they may be joined with those who are against us, and make an attack on us, and go up out of the land.
Venez, opprimons-le par prudence, de peur qu’il ne se multiplie, et que, s’il s’élève contre nous une guerre, il ne se joigne à nos ennemis, et que, nous vaincus, il ne sorte de la terre.
11 So they put overseers of forced work over them, in order to make their strength less by the weight of their work. And they made store-towns for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses.
Il préposa donc sur eux des chefs de travaux, pour les accabler de charges: et ils bâtirent à Pharaon les villes des tentes, Phithom et Ramessès.
12 But the more cruel they were to them, the more their number increased, till all the land was full of them. And the children of Israel were hated by the Egyptians.
Mais plus on les opprimait, plus ils se multipliaient et croissaient.
13 And they gave the children of Israel even harder work to do:
Et les Égyptiens haïssaient les enfants d’Israël et les affligeaient en leur insultant.
14 And made their lives bitter with hard work, making building-material and bricks, and doing all sorts of work in the fields under the hardest conditions.
Et ils rendaient leur vie amère par des ouvrages pénibles de mortier et de briques, et par toute espèce de servitude dont ils les accablaient dans des ouvrages de terre.
15 And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew women who gave help at the time of childbirth (the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah),
Or le roi d’Égypte parla aux sages-femmes des Hébreux, dont l’une se nommait Séphora et l’autre Shua,
16 When you are looking after the Hebrew women in childbirth, if it is a son you are to put him to death; but if it is a daughter, she may go on living.
Leur ordonnant: Quand vous accoucherez les femmes des Hébreux, et que le temps de l’enfantement sera venu, si c’est un garçon, tuez-le; si c’est une fille, conservez-la.
17 But the women had the fear of God, and did not do as the king of Egypt said, but let the male children go on living.
Mais les sages-femmes craignirent Dieu, et ne firent pas selon l’ordre du roi d’Egypte; mais elles conservaient les garçons.
18 And the king of Egypt sent for the women, and said to them, Why have you done this, and let the male children go on living?
Appelées devant lui, le roi dit: Qu’est-ce que vous avez voulu faire, en conservant les garçons?
19 And they said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are strong, and the birth takes place before we come to them.
Elles répondirent: Les femmes des Hébreux ne sont pas comme les femmes égyptiennes; car elles savent accoucher elles-mêmes; aussi avant que nous venions vers elles, elles enfantent.
20 And the blessing of God was on these women: and the people were increased in number and became very strong.
Et Dieu fit du bien aux sages-femmes; et le peuple s’accrut et se fortifia extrêmement.
21 And because the women who took care of the Hebrew mothers had the fear of God, he gave them families.
Et parce que les sages-femmes craignirent Dieu, il leur bâtit des maisons.
22 And Pharaoh gave orders to all his people, saying, Every son who comes to birth is to be put into the river, but every daughter may go on living.
Pharaon commanda donc à tout son peuple, disant: Tout ce qui naîtra du sexe masculin, jetez-le dans le fleuve; tout ce qui naîtra du féminin, conservez-le.
