Genesis 49
1 Jacob summoned all his sons, and said to them,
Jacob appela ses fils et leur dit: « Rassemblez-vous, et je vous annoncerai ce qui vous arrivera à la fin des jours.
2 “Gather around me in order that I can tell you what will happen in the future. My sons, come and listen to me. I am your father, [Jacob, whom God named] Israel.
Rassemblez-vous et écoutez, fils de Jacob; écoutez Israël, votre père.
3 Reuben, you are my oldest son. You were born when I was young and energetic/strong. You are prouder and stronger than all the rest of my sons.
RUBEN, toi, mon premier-né, ma force, et le premier fruit de ma vigueur, supérieur en dignité et supérieur en puissance,
4 But you were as uncontrollable as a flood [SIM]. So now you will not be my most important son, because you climbed up onto my bed, and had sex with [MTY] my (concubine/slave who had become one of my wives). Your doing that caused me, your father, to have great shame.
tu as bouillonné comme l’eau; tu n’auras pas la prééminence! Car tu es monté sur la couche de ton père, et tu as souillé ma couche en y montant!
5 Simeon and Levi, you have both acted like criminals. You use your swords to act violently.
SIMÉON et LÉVI sont frères; leurs glaives sont des instruments de violence.
6 I do not want to be with you when you make evil plans [DOU]. I do not want to join you in your meetings, because you killed people when you became very angry, and you (hamstrung/cut the tendons in the legs of) oxen just to (have fun/see them suffer).
Que mon âme n’entre pas dans leur conseil! Que mon âme ne s’unisse pas à leur assemblée! Car, dans leur colère, ils ont égorgé des hommes, et, dans leur emportement, ils ont coupé les jarrets des taureaux.
7 God says, ‘I will (curse/cause bad things to happen to) them for being very angry, for acting very cruelly when they were very furious. I will scatter their descendants [MTY] throughout Israel land.’
Maudite soit leur colère, car elle a été violente, et leur fureur, car elle a été cruelle! Je les diviserai en Jacob, et je les disperserai en Israël.
8 Judah, your [older and younger] brothers will praise you. They will bow down before you, because you will thoroughly defeat [MTY] your enemies.
Toi, JUDA, tes frères te loueront; ta main sera sur le cou de tes ennemis; les fils de ton père se prosterneront devant toi.
9 Judah is like a young lion [SIM] that has returned to its den satisfied after eating the animals that it has killed. He is like a lion that lies down and stretches out after eating; no one would dare to disturb it [RHQ].
Juda est un jeune lion. Tu es remonté du carnage, mon fils! Il a ployé les genoux, il s’est couché comme un lion, comme une lionne: qui le fera lever?
10 There will always be a ruler [MTY] from the descendants of Judah [MTY]. Each one will hold a scepter/staff to show that he has authority as a king. He will do that until the one to whom the scepter belongs comes, the one to whom the nations will bring tribute and show that they will obey him.
Le sceptre ne s’éloignera pas de Juda, ni le bâton de commandement d’entre ses pieds, jusqu’à ce que vienne Schiloh; c’est à lui que les peuples obéiront.
11 The grapevines of Judah’s descendants will produce grapes very abundantly. As a result, they will not object to tying their young donkeys to the grapevines in order that the donkeys can eat the leaves of the grapevines. [Wine will be very plentiful, with the result that] they could wash their cloaks in wine that is as red as blood [MET].
Il attache à la vigne son ânon, au cep le petit de son ânesse; il lave son vêtement dans le vin, son manteau dans le sang de la grappe.
12 Their eyes will be red because of [drinking too much] wine, but their teeth will be very white because of drinking much milk [from the cows].
Il a les yeux rouges de vin, et les dents blanches de lait.
13 Zebulun, your descendants will live by the seashore where there will be a safe harbor for ships. Their land will extend north as far as Sidon [city].
ZABULON habite le bord de la mer, il est sur le rivage où abordent les navires; son flanc est du côté de Sidon.
14 Issachar, your descendants will be like strong donkeys that are lying down on the ground between their loads, [so tired that they cannot get up]!
ISSACHAR est un âne robuste, qui se couche dans ses parcs.
15 They will see that their resting place is good, and that the land pleases them very much. But they will bend their backs to carry heavy loads and be forced to work for others.
Il voit que le repos est bon, et que le pays est agréable; et il courbe son épaule sous le fardeau; il est devenu un homme asservi au tribut.
16 Dan, although your tribe will be small, their leaders will rule their people just like the leaders of other tribes of Israel will rule their people.
DAN juge son peuple, comme l’une des tribus d’Israël.
17 Your descendants will be like snakes at the side of a road, like poisonous snakes lying beside a path. They will strike the heels of horses that pass by, causing the riders to fall backwards [as the horses rear up on their hind legs].”
Dan est un serpent sur le chemin, une vipère sur le sentier, qui mord les talons du cheval, pour que le cavalier tombe à la renverse.
18 Then Jacob prayed, “Yahweh, I am waiting for you to rescue me [from my enemies].”
J’espère en ton secours, ô Yahweh!
19 [Then Jacob continued telling his sons what would happen in the future. He said], “Gad, your tribe/descendants will be attacked by a group of bandits, but your tribe/descendants will pursue and attack them [MTY].
GAD, des bandes armées le pressent, et lui, à son tour, les presse sur les talons.
20 Asher, your descendants will eat good-tasting food; they will produce food that is delicious enough for kings to eat.
D’ASER vient le pain savoureux, il fournit les mets délicats des rois.
21 Naphtali, your descendants will be like deer [MET] that are (free to/not tied down and can) run wherever they wish. They will give birth to children who are good-looking like (fawns/baby deer) [MET].
NEPHTALI est une biche en liberté, il prononce des paroles gracieuses.
22 Joseph, you will have many descendants [MET]. Their children will be as many as the fruit on a vine near a spring of water, whose branches extend over a wall.
JOSEPH est le rejeton d’un arbre fertile, le rejeton d’un arbre fertile sur les bords d’une source; ses branches s’élancent au-dessus de la muraille.
23 Their enemies will attack them fiercely, and shoot at them with bows and arrows and pursue them.
Des archers le provoquent, ils lui lancent des flèches et l’attaquent.
24 But they will hold their bows steady and their arms will remain strong, because of the power [MTY] of my mighty God, because of Yahweh who guides and provides for me [MET] like a shepherd guides and provides for his sheep. The people of Israel will [ask Yahweh to protect them], [like people hide under] a huge [overhanging] to be protected.
Mais son arc reste ferme, ses bras et ses mains sont rendus agiles, par les mains du Puissant de Jacob, par celui qui est le Pasteur et le Rocher d’Israël.
25 God, the one whom I worship, will help your descendants. God Almighty will bless them by sending them rain from the sky and by giving them water from deep/far below the ground. He will give them many cattle and children [MET] (OR, and their cattle will have many offspring).
Que du Dieu de ton père — il t’aidera! — et du Tout-Puissant — il te bénira! te viennent les bénédictions du ciel en haut, les bénédictions de l’abîme en bas, les bénédictions des mamelles et du sein maternel!
26 The blessings that I want God to give you are great ones. They are greater than the blessings that come from the eternal mountains, greater than the ones that come from the everlasting hills. Joseph, I pray that these blessings will (be given to you/come upon your head), because you are the leader of your [older] brothers [and younger brother].
Les bénédictions de ton père surpassent les bénédictions des montagnes antiques, la beauté des collines éternelles: qu’elles soient sur la tête de Joseph, sur le front du prince de ses frères!
27 Benjamin, your descendants will be like [MET] vicious/fierce wolves: In the morning they will kill their enemies like a wolf devours (its prey/the animals that it has killed), and in the evening they will divide among their warriors the spoils that they seized from their enemies.”
BENJAMIN est un loup qui déchire; le matin il dévore la proie, le soir il partage le butin.
28 Those twelve sons are the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel. That is what their father said to them as he blessed them, telling to each one words that were appropriate for him.
Ce sont là tous ceux qui formèrent les douze tribus d’Israël; c’est ainsi que leur parla leur père et qu’il les bénit. Il les bénit chacun selon sa bénédiction.
29 Then Jacob said to his sons, “I will soon die. Bury my body where some of my ancestors are buried, in the cave that is in the field that was bought from Ephron, who belonged to the Heth people-group.
Puis il leur donna cet ordre: « Je vais être réuni à mon peuple; enterrez-moi avec mes pères dans la caverne qui est dans le champ d’Ephron, le Hittite,
30 That field is in the Machpelah area, east of Mamre [town], in Canaan. My grandfather Abraham bought it from Ephron to use as a burial place.
dans la caverne du champ de Macpéla, en face de Mambré, au pays de Canaan: c’est la caverne qu’Abraham a acquise d’Ephron, le Hittite, avec le champ, pour avoir un sépulcre qui lui appartienne.
31 That is where they buried him and his wife Sarah. That is where they buried my father Isaac and his wife Rebekah. And that is where I buried my wife Leah.
C’est là qu’on a enterré Abraham et Sara, sa femme, c’est là qu’on a enterré Isaac et Rebecca, sa femme, et c’est là que j’ai enterré Lia. »
32 That field and the cave in it were bought from the Heth people-group; so that is where I want you to bury me.”
Le champ et la caverne qui s’y trouve ont été acquis des fils de Heth.
33 When Jacob finished giving those instructions to his sons, he lay down on his bed again. Then he died [IDM].
Lorsque Jacob eut achevé de donner ses ordres à ses fils, ayant retiré ses pieds dans le lit, il expira et fut réuni à ses pères.
