Mose 1 37
1 Ale Yakob gatso aƒe ɖe Kanaan, afi si fofoa nɔ la.
Jacob continued to live in the Canaan region where his father had lived previously.
2 Esiae nye Yakob ƒe dzidzimeviwo ŋutinya. Fifia Yakob ƒe vi Yosef xɔ ƒe wuiadre. Eya kple fofoviawo, ame siwo nye fofoa srɔ̃wo Bilha kple Zilpa ƒe viwo ƒe dɔe nye be woakpɔ wo fofo ƒe lãwo dzi. Yosef gblɔa nu madzemadze siwo nɔviawo wɔna la na wo fofo.
(This is/I will now tell you) what happened to Jacob’s family. When his son Joseph was 17 years old, he was taking care of the flocks of sheep and goats with some of his older brothers. They were sons of his father’s (concubines/female slaves that he had taken to be his secondary wives). Joseph sometimes told his father about bad things that his brothers were doing.
3 Israel lɔ̃ Yosef wu via bubuawo, elabena wodzi Yosef nɛ esime wònye amegãɖeɖi. Ale gbe ɖeka Yakob tɔ awu ʋlaya nyui aɖe nɛ.
Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved any of his other children, because Joseph had been born when Jacob was an old man. Jacob made for Joseph a long pretty robe that had long sleeves.
4 Yosef nɔviwo de dzesi lɔlɔ̃ tɔxɛ si wo fofo tsɔ nɛ la, eya ta wolé fui, eye womeƒoa nu nɛ kple nɔvilɔlɔ̃ ƒe gbe o.
When Joseph’s older brothers realized that their father loved him more than he loved any of them, they hated him. They never spoke kindly to him.
5 Gbe ɖeka la, Yosef ku drɔ̃e, eye wòlĩi na nɔviawo. Nu sia gadzi nɔviawo ƒe fuléle ɖe edzi!
One night Joseph had a dream. He told his brothers about the dream.
6 Egblɔ be, “Miɖo to miase nye drɔ̃e la ɖa.
He said to them, “Listen to the dream I had!
7 Míeyi ɖanɔ mɔlu blam le gbedzi; tete nye mɔlu babla tsi tsitre, eye mia tɔwo katã va ƒo xlãe, eye wode ta agu nɛ.”
In the dream, we were tying up bundles of wheat in the field. Suddenly my bundle stood up straight, and surprisingly, your bundles gathered around my bundle and bowed down to it!”
8 Nɔviawo gblɔ nɛ fewuɖutɔe be, “Ekema ɖe nèdi be yeazu fia ɖe mía dzia?” Ale wogalé fui ɖe edzi wu le eƒe drɔ̃e la kple eƒe nyawo ta.
His brothers said to him, “Do you think that some day you will rule over us? Are you [saying that some day] you are going to be our king?” [RHQ] They hated him even more than before because of what he had told them about his dream.
9 Yosef gaku drɔ̃e bubu, eye wògalĩi na nɔviawo be, “Mise nye drɔ̃e si megaku la ɖa. Ɣe, ɣleti kple ɣletivi wuiɖekɛ de ta agu nam!”
Later he had another dream, and again he told his older brothers about it. He said, “Listen to this! I had another dream. In this dream, the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me!”
10 Azɔ ya la, elĩ drɔ̃e la na fofoa kple nɔviawo siaa, ke fofoa ka mo nɛ hebiae be, “Drɔ̃e ka tɔgbie nye esia? Ɖe nye kple dawò kple nɔviwòwo míava de ta agu na wò gbe ɖekaa?”
He also told his father about it. His father rebuked him, saying “What are you suggesting by that dream [RHQ]? Do you think it means that your mother and I and your older brothers will some day bow down to the ground in front of you?” [RHQ]
11 Nɔviawo ʋã ŋui ɖe edzi wu, gake fofoa ya de ŋugble le nya la ŋuti.
Joseph’s older brothers were furious/angry with him, but his father just kept thinking about what the dream meant.
12 Gbe ɖaka la, Yosef nɔviwo kplɔ wo fofo ƒe alẽwo yi gbedzi le Sekem.
One day Joseph’s older brothers went to take care of their father’s sheep and goats that were eating grass near Shechem.
13 Israel gblɔ na Yosef be, “Abe ale si nènyae ene la, nɔviwòwo le alẽawo dzi kpɔm le teƒe si te ɖe Sekem ŋu. Va madɔ wò ɖe nɔviwòwo gbɔ.” Yosef ɖo eŋu be, “Enyo.”
Some time later, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are taking care of the sheep and goats near Shechem [RHQ]. I am going to send you there to see them.” Joseph replied, “Okay.”
14 Ale wògblɔ nɛ be, “Yi nàkpɔe ɖa be nu sia nu le edzi yim nyuie na nɔviwòwo kple woƒe lãwo hã, eye nàva gblɔe nam.” Ale wòɖoe ɖa le Hebron ƒe Balime. Esime Yosef ɖo Sekem la,
Jacob said, “Go and see if they are doing okay, and if the flocks are doing okay. Then come back and give me a report.” So Jacob sent Joseph from [the valley where they were living], the valley where Hebron is located, [to go north] to find his brothers. When Joseph arrived near Shechem [city],
15 ŋutsu aɖe kpɔe le gbea dzi, eye wòbiae be, “Ame ka dim nèle?”
while he was wandering around in the fields looking/searching for his brothers, a man saw him and asked him, “Whom are you looking/searching for?”
16 Yosef ɖo eŋu be, “Nɔvinyewo kple woƒe alẽwo dim mele; èkpɔ wo nama?”
Joseph replied, “I am looking for my older brothers. Can you tell me where they are taking care of their sheep and goats?”
17 Ŋutsu la ɖo eŋu be, “Ɛ̃, womegale afi sia o; mese nɔviwòwo nɔ gbɔgblɔm be yewoayi Dotan.” Ale Yosef dze wo yome yi Dotan, eye wòkpɔ wo le afi ma.
The man replied, “They are not here any more. I heard one of them saying, ‘Let’s take the sheep and goats and go to Dothan [town].’” So Joseph left there and went north, and found his older brothers near Dothan.
18 Ke esi wògbɔna la, wodze sii tso adzɔge ke, eye woɖo be yewoawui!
But they saw him when he was still far away, and they decided to kill him.
19 Wogblɔ na wo nɔewo be, “Drɔ̃ekula ma gbɔna ɖaa!
They said to each other [things like], “Here comes that dreamer!”
20 Mina míawui atsɔ eƒe ŋutilã aƒu gbe ɖe vudo siawo dometɔ ɖeka me, eye míagblɔ be lã wɔadã aɖee vuvui. Ekema míakpɔ nu si ado tso eƒe drɔ̃ekuku la me ɖa.”
and “Hey, let’s kill him, and then throw his body into one of the pits/cisterns. Then we will tell people that a ferocious/wild animal attacked and killed him and ate him. And then we will (find out whether his dreams come true/make sure that his dreams do not come true)!”
21 Esi Ruben se nya sia la, edze agbagba be yeaɖee tso woƒe asi me. Egblɔ be, “Migana míawui o.
Reuben heard what they were saying, so he tried to persuade them not to kill [MTY] Joseph. He said, “No, we should not kill him.
22 Migakɔ ʋu aɖeke ɖi o. Midae ɖe vudo sia me le gbegbe la, gake migade asi eŋu o.” Ruben gblɔ nya sia be yeaɖee tso woƒe asi me, eye yeakplɔe ayi na fofoa.
Do not even shed his blood! We can throw him into this pit/cistern in the desert, but we should not harm him [MTY].” He said that, and then left them, planning to rescue Joseph later and take him back to his father.
23 Eya ta esi Yosef ɖo nɔviawo gbɔ la, woɖe eƒe awu ʋlaya la le eŋu,
So when Joseph arrived where his older brothers were, they seized him and ripped off his pretty robe with long sleeves.
24 eye wolée da ɖe vudo aɖe si me tsi menɔ o la me.
Then they took him and threw him into the pit/cistern. But the pit/cistern was dry; there was no water in it.
25 Wonɔ anyi, ɖu nu; kasia wokpɔ kposɔ aɖewo le didiƒe gbɔna wo gbɔ. Wonye Ismaeletɔ asitsala siwo tso Gilead la, eye wotsɔ aŋe, lifi kple kotoklobo yina ɖe Egipte.
After they sat down to eat some food, they looked up and saw a (caravan/group [of traders]), descendants of Ishmael, coming from the Gilead area. Their camels were loaded with bags of spices and nice-smelling resins. They were going down to Egypt to sell those things there.
26 Yuda gblɔ na nɔviawo be, “Viɖe ka míakpɔ ne míewu mía nɔvi, eye míetsyɔ nu eƒe ʋu dzi?
Judah said to his [older and younger] brothers, “If we kill our younger brother and hide his body, (what will we gain?/we will not gain anything!) [RHQ]
27 “Mina míadzrae na Ismaeletɔwo, eye míade asi eŋu o, elabena mía nɔviŋutsue; míawo ŋutɔ míaƒe ŋutilã kple ʋue.” Nɔviawo lɔ̃ ɖe edzi.
So, instead of harming him, let’s sell him to these men who are descendants of Ishmael. Don’t forget, he is our own younger brother!” So they all agreed to do that.
28 Ale esi Midiansitsalawo va ɖo wo gbɔ la, woɖe Yosef le vudo la me, dzrae na Ismaeletɔwo klosalo blaeve, eye wokplɔe yi Egipte.
When those traders from the Midian area came near, Joseph’s brothers pulled him up out of the pit/cistern. Then they sold him to the men from Midian for 20 pieces of silver. The traders then took Joseph to Egypt.
29 Ruben menɔ anyi hafi nɔviawo dzra Yosef o. Emegbe esi wòtrɔ gbɔ la, eyi be yeaɖe Yosef le vudo la me, ke esi wòkpɔ be Yosef megale vudoa me o la, evee ŋutɔ, eye wòdze eƒe awuwo.
When Reuben returned to the pit/cistern, he saw that his younger brother was not there. He was so grieved that he tore his clothes.
30 Efa avi hegblɔ na nɔviawo be, “Ɖevi la megale vudo la me o; ke afi ka nye ya mayi fifia?”
He went back to his [younger] brothers and said, “The boy is not in the pit/cistern! What can I do now?” [RHQ]
31 Nɔviawo wu gbɔ̃ aɖe, eye wotsɔ Yosef ƒe awuwo bliba ɖe gbɔ̃ la ƒe ʋu me.
[Joseph’s brothers did not dare to tell their father what they had done. So, they decided to invent a story about what had happened]. They got Joseph’s robe. Then they killed a goat and dipped the robe in the goat’s blood.
32 Wotsɔ awu la yi na wo fofo be wòakpɔ ɖa be ame ka tɔe mahã. Wogblɔ nɛ be, “Míekpɔ awu sia le gbedzi. Yosef tɔe loo alo menye etɔe oa?”
They took that pretty robe back to their father and said, “We found this robe! Look at it. Is it your son’s robe?”
33 Wo fofo kpɔe dze sii enumake. Efa avi gblɔ be, “Ɛ̃, vinye ƒe awue. Lã wɔadã aɖee lée; eme kɔ ƒãa be lã wɔadã aɖe vuvu Yosef.”
He recognized it, and he said, “Yes, it is my son’s robe! Some ferocious/wild animal must have attacked and killed him! I am sure that the animal has torn Joseph to pieces!”
34 Israel dze eƒe awuwo, ta akpanya, eye wòfa konyi le via ƒe ku ta kɔsiɖa geɖewo.
Jacob was so grieved that he tore his clothes. He put on (sackcloth/clothes that people wear when they are mourning for someone who has died). He mourned/cried for his son for many days.
35 Ƒometɔwo katã dze agbagba be yewoafa akɔ nɛ do kpoe. Egblɔna be, “Medi be maku le vinye la fafa me,” eye wògawoa avi hehehe! (Sheol h7585)
All of his children came to try to comfort him, but he did not pay attention to what they said. He said, “No, I will still be mourning/crying when I die and go to be with my son.” So Joseph’s father continued to cry because of what had happened to his son. (Sheol h7585)
36 Midiantɔwo kplɔ Yosef yi Egipte, eye wodzrae na Potifar, ame si nye Egipte fia, Farao ƒe aƒedzikpɔla kple eŋudzɔsrafowo ƒe amegã.
In the meantime, the men/traders from Midian took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, who was one of the king’s officials. He was the captain of the soldiers who protected the king.
