Genèse 48
1 Après ces choses, on vint dire à Joseph: « Voici que ton père est malade. » Il prit avec lui ses deux fils, Manassé et Ephraïm.
Some time later, someone told Joseph, “[Hey, ] your father is ill.” When Joseph heard that, he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to see his father.
2 On avertit Jacob, en disant: « Voici ton fils Joseph qui vient vers toi. » Israël rassembla ses forces et s’assit sur son lit.
When someone told Jacob, “Look, your son Joseph has come to see you!” Jacob sat up on the bed, even though it was difficult for him to do that.
3 Jacob dit à Joseph: « Le Dieu tout-puissant m’est apparu à Luz, dans le pays de Canaan, et il m’a béni,
He said to Joseph, “When I was at Luz in Canaan, God Almighty appeared to me. He blessed me
4 en disant: Je te rendrai fécond, je te multiplierai, et je te ferai devenir une assemblée de peuples; je donnerai ce pays à ta postérité après toi, pour qu’elle le possède à jamais.
and said to me, ‘I am going to enable you to become the father of many children. You will have many descendants, and they will become [the ancestors of] many people-groups. And I will give this land to your descendants to possess forever.’
5 Et maintenant, les deux fils qui te sont nés dans le pays d’Égypte, avant mon arrivée vers toi en Égypte, seront miens; Ephraïm et Manassé seront miens, comme Ruben et Siméon.
“And now I will consider that your two sons, who were born to you here in Egypt before I came here, will (belong to me/be as though they are my sons). Ephraim and Manasseh will be [as though they were] my sons, and they will inherit my possessions, just like my sons Reuben and Simeon [and the others] will.
6 Mais les enfants que tu as engendrés après eux seront tiens; ils seront appelés du nom de leurs frères quant à leur part d’héritage.
If you later become the father of any more children, they will not be considered to be my children, but as my grandchildren, and [in Canaan] they will receive as part of what they inherit some of the same land that is in the territory that their brothers [Ephraim and Manasseh] will inherit.
7 Et moi, quand je revenais de Paddan, Rachel mourut en route auprès de moi, dans le pays de Canaan, à une certaine distance d’Ephrata; et c’est là que je l’ai enterrée sur le chemin d’Ephrata, qui est Bethléem. »
Many years ago, as I was returning from Paddan-Aram/Mesopotamia, your mother Rachel died in the Canaan region, while we were still traveling, not far from Ephrath [town]. So I buried her body there alongside the road to Ephrath [which is now called Bethlehem].”
8 Alors Israël vit les fils de Joseph, et dit: « Qui sont ceux-ci? »
When Jacob saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these boys?”
9 Joseph répondit à son père: « Ce sont mes fils, que Dieu m’a donnés ici. « Et Israël dit: « Fais-les approcher de moi, je te prie, afin que je les bénisse. »
Joseph replied, “They are the sons that God has given to me here in Egypt.” Jacob said, “Bring them close to me so that I can bless them.”
10 Car les yeux d’Israël étaient obscurcis par l’âge, et il ne pouvait plus bien voir. Joseph les fit approcher de lui, et Israël les baisa, en les tenant embrassés.
Jacob was almost blind because he was very old. He could not recognize the boys. So Joseph brought his sons close to his father, and Jacob kissed them and hugged them.
11 Et Israël dit à Joseph: « Je ne pensais plus revoir ton visage, et voici que Dieu me fait voir aussi ta postérité! »
Jacob said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see you again, but look at this! God has allowed me to see not only you, but he has allowed me to see your children, too!”
12 Joseph les retira d’entre les genoux de son père et, s’étant prosterné en terre devant lui,
Joseph took the boys from alongside Jacob’s knees. Then he bowed down with his face to the ground.
13 Joseph les prit tous les deux, Ephraïm à sa droite, à la gauche d’Israël, et Manassé à sa gauche, à la droite d’Israël, et il les fit approcher.
Then Joseph took both of the boys, putting Ephraim on his right side toward Jacob’s left hand, and putting Manasseh on his left side toward Jacob’s right hand, and brought them close to Jacob.
14 Israël étendit sa main droite et la posa sur la tête d’Ephraïm, qui était le plus jeune, et il posa sa main gauche sur la tête de Manassé; c’est à dessein qu’il posa ainsi ses mains, car Manassé était l’aîné.
But Jacob [did not do what Joseph wanted him to do. Instead], he reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, even though he was the younger son. He crossed his arms and put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the older son.
15 Il bénit Joseph, en disant: « Que le Dieu en présence duquel ont marché mes pères Abraham et Isaac, que le Dieu qui m’a nourri depuis que j’existe jusqu’à ce jour,
Then he (blessed/asked God to bless) Joseph and his sons, saying, “My grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac conducted their lives as God desired, and to this very day God has led me and taken care of me as a shepherd leads and cares for his sheep [MET].
16 que l’ange qui m’a délivré de tout mal, bénisse ces enfants! Qu’ils soient appelés de mon nom et du nom de mes pères, Abraham et Isaac, et qu’ils multiplient en abondance au milieu du pays! »
The angel whom he sent has kept me from being harmed in any way. I pray that God will bless these boys. I pray that people will never forget about me and about Abraham and Isaac because of what God does for these boys. I pray that they will have many descendants who will live all over the earth.”
17 Joseph, voyant que son père posait sa main droite sur la tête d’Ephraïm, en eut du déplaisir; il prit la main de son père pour l’écarter de dessus la tête d’Ephraïm et la porter sur celle de Manassé;
When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head and not on Manasseh’s head, he was distressed/displeased. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
18 et Joseph dit à son père: « Pas ainsi, mon père, car celui-ci est le premier-né: mets ta main droite sur sa tête. »
Joseph said to him, “My father, that is not right! The one on whom you put your left hand is my older son. Put your right hand on his head.”
19 Mais son père refusa, en disant: « Je le sais, mon fils, je le sais; lui aussi deviendra un peuple, lui aussi sera grand; mais son frère cadet sera plus grand que lui, et sa postérité deviendra une multitude de nations. »
But his father refused, saying, “I know that, my son, I know what I am doing. Manasseh’s descendants will also become a people-group, and they will become important. But his younger brother’s descendants will become greater than his will. His descendants will become several nations.”
20 Il les bénit donc ce jour-là et dit: « Par toi Israël bénira, en disant: Que Dieu te rende tel qu’Ephraïm et Manassé! » Et il mit Ephraïm avant Manassé.
So he blessed them both on that day, saying, “The people in Israel will use your names when they bless people. They will say, ‘We pray that God will help you as he helped Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In that way, Jacob said that Ephraim would become more important than Manasseh.
21 Israël dit à Joseph: « Voici que je vais mourir. Mais Dieu sera avec vous, et il vous ramènera dans le pays de vos pères.
Then Jacob said to Joseph, “I am about to die. But I know that God will help/protect you. And some day he will take your descendants back to the land of their ancestors.
22 Je te donne, de plus qu’à tes frères, une portion que j’ai prise de la main des Amorrhéens avec mon épée et mon arc. »
And it is to you, not to your brothers, that I will give the fertile hill in the Shechem area. I captured that land from the Amor people-group, fighting them with my sword and my bow and arrows.”
