Genèse 42
1 Et Jacob vit qu’il y avait du blé en Égypte; et Jacob dit à ses fils: Pourquoi vous regardez-vous les uns les autres?
When someone told Jacob that there was grain in Egypt that people could buy, he said to his sons, “(Why do you just sit there looking at each other?/Do not just sit there looking at each other!) [RHQ] We need some grain!”
2 Et il dit: Voici, j’ai appris qu’il y a du blé en Égypte; descendez-y, et achetez-nous-en là, afin que nous vivions, et que nous ne mourions pas.
He said to them, “Someone told me that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, in order that we will not die!”
3 Et dix frères de Joseph descendirent pour acheter du blé en Égypte;
So Joseph’s ten [older] brothers went down to Egypt to buy some grain.
4 mais Jacob n’envoya pas Benjamin, le frère de Joseph, avec ses frères, car il disait: De peur qu’un accident ne lui arrive!
But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s [younger] brother, to go with the others, because he was afraid/worried that something terrible might happen to him like what happened to Joseph.
5 Et les fils d’Israël allèrent pour acheter du blé, parmi ceux qui allaient; car la famine était dans le pays de Canaan.
So Jacob’s other sons went down from Canaan to Egypt to buy grain, and others from there went too, because there was a famine in Canaan also.
6 Et Joseph était gouverneur du pays; il vendait le blé à tout le peuple du pays. Et les frères de Joseph vinrent, et se prosternèrent devant lui la face contre terre.
At that time Joseph was the governor of Egypt. He was the one who sold grain to people who came from all over Egypt and from many other countries [HYP] to buy grain. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, [they were told that it was necessary for them to talk with Joseph. So they went to him and] prostrated themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
7 Et Joseph vit ses frères, et les reconnut; et il fit l’étranger vis-à-vis d’eux, et leur parla durement, et leur dit: D’où venez-vous? Et ils dirent: Du pays de Canaan, pour acheter des vivres.
As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them. But he pretended that he did not know them. He spoke harshly to them, saying, “Where do you come from?” One of them replied, “We have come from Canaan, to buy some grain.”
8 Et Joseph reconnut ses frères; et eux ne le reconnurent pas.
Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.
9 Et Joseph se souvint des songes qu’il avait songés à leur sujet, et il leur dit: Vous êtes des espions; c’est pour voir les lieux ouverts du pays que vous êtes venus.
And then Joseph remembered what he had dreamed about them many years previously. [But he decided not to tell them yet that he was their younger brother]. He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to find out whether we will be able to defend ourselves [if you attack us]!”
10 Et ils lui dirent: Non, mon seigneur; mais tes serviteurs sont venus pour acheter des vivres.
One of them replied, “No, sir! We have come to buy grain.
11 Nous sommes tous fils d’un seul homme; nous sommes d’honnêtes gens; tes serviteurs ne sont pas des espions.
We are all sons of one man. We are honest men, not spies.”
12 Et il leur dit: Non; mais vous êtes venus pour voir les lieux ouverts du pays.
He said to them, “[I do not believe you]. You have come just to see whether we would be able to defend ourselves if we were attacked!”
13 Et ils dirent: Tes serviteurs étaient douze frères; nous sommes fils d’un seul homme, au pays de Canaan; et voici, le plus jeune est aujourd’hui avec notre père, et l’un n’est plus.
But one of them replied, “No, that is not true! Originally there were twelve of us who were brothers, the sons of one man. Our younger brother is with our father. One [younger] brother has died. [EUP]”
14 Et Joseph leur dit: C’est ce que je vous disais, en disant: Vous êtes des espions.
Joseph replied, “[You are lying! I think] it is just as I told you. You are spies!
15 Par ceci vous serez mis à l’épreuve: Vie du Pharaon! si vous sortez d’ici, à moins que votre jeune frère ne vienne ici!
But this is how I will determine whether what you are saying is true. I think that as surely as the king lives, you are spies. And you will not leave this place until your youngest brother comes here!
16 Envoyez l’un de vous, et qu’il aille chercher votre frère; et vous, vous serez liés, et vos paroles seront mises à l’épreuve, [pour voir] si la vérité est avec vous: sinon, vie du Pharaon! certainement vous êtes des espions.
Send one of your group to go and get your younger brother and bring him here. I will put the rest of you in prison, in order that I may test what you have said to find out whether what you are telling me is true. If the one who goes does not bring your younger brother here, then, just as surely as the king lives, it will be clear that you are lying and that you are spies.”
17 Et il les fit mettre ensemble sous garde pendant trois jours.
Then Joseph put them all in prison for three days.
18 Et, le troisième jour, Joseph leur dit: Faites ceci, et vous vivrez; moi je crains Dieu.
On the third day, Joseph went to the prison and said to them, “I am a man who fears that God [will punish me if I do not do what I promise]. So do what I tell you, and I will spare your lives.
19 Si vous êtes d’honnêtes gens, l’un de vous, qui êtes frères, sera lié dans la maison où vous avez été sous garde; et vous, allez, emportez du blé pour la faim de vos maisons;
If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, and the rest of you can take some grain back to your families who are very hungry because of the famine.
20 et amenez-moi le plus jeune de vos frères, et vos paroles se trouveront vraies; et vous ne mourrez pas. Et ils firent ainsi.
But if you come back here again, you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that you can prove that what you told me is true, and as a result I will not have you executed.” So they agreed to do that.
21 Et ils se dirent l’un à l’autre: Certainement nous sommes coupables à l’égard de notre frère; car nous avons vu la détresse de son âme quand il nous demandait grâce, et nous ne l’avons pas écouté; c’est pourquoi cette détresse est venue sur nous.
They said to each other, “It is surely because of what we did to our [younger] brother that (we are being punished/God is punishing us)! We saw that he [SYN] was very distressed when he pleaded with us not to harm him. But we did not pay any attention to him, and that is why we are having this trouble!”
22 Et Ruben leur répondit, disant: Ne vous ai-je pas parlé, disant: Ne péchez pas contre l’enfant? Mais vous n’avez pas écouté; et aussi, voici, son sang est redemandé.
Reuben said to them, “I told you not to harm the boy [RHQ], but you did not pay attention to what I said! Now we are being (paid back/punished) for killing him [MTY]!”
23 Et ils ne savaient pas que Joseph comprenait, car il y avait entre eux un interprète.
While they were talking with Joseph, they were speaking through (an interpreter/someone who knew their language and the Egyptian language), but when they said these things among themselves, they were speaking in their own language, and they did not know that Joseph could understand their language, and that he could understand what they were saying.
24 Et il se détourna d’auprès d’eux, et pleura; et il revint vers eux, et leur parla, et prit d’avec eux Siméon, et le lia devant leurs yeux.
[Because of what they said, Joseph realized that they admitted that what they had done to him many years previously was wrong]. He could not keep from crying, [and he did not want them to see him crying], so he left them and went outside the room and began to cry. But then he returned to them and talked to them again. Then he took Simeon, and while they were watching, he told his servants to tie him up. He left Simeon in the prison and told the others that they could go.
25 Et Joseph commanda de remplir de blé leurs sacs, et de leur remettre leur argent à chacun dans son sac, et de leur donner des provisions pour le chemin; et on leur fit ainsi.
Joseph told his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain, but he also told them to put the money that each one had paid for the grain in the top of his sack. He also told them to give them food to eat along the way. After the servants did those things for Joseph’s older brothers,
26 Et ils chargèrent leur blé sur leurs ânes, et s’en allèrent de là.
his older brothers loaded the sacks of grain on their donkeys and left.
27 Et l’un [d’eux] ouvrit son sac pour donner à manger à son âne, dans le caravansérail, et il vit son argent, et voici, il était à l’ouverture de son sac.
At the place where they stopped to sleep that night, one of them opened his sack to get some grain for his donkey. He was amazed to see his money in the top of the sack.
28 Et il dit à ses frères: Mon argent m’a été rendu; et même, le voici dans mon sac! Et le cœur leur manqua, et ils furent saisis de peur, se disant l’un à l’autre: Qu’est-ce que Dieu nous a fait?
He exclaimed to his brothers, “Someone has returned my money! Here it is in my sack!” They started shaking with fear, and said to each other, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 Et ils vinrent vers Jacob, leur père, au pays de Canaan, et ils lui racontèrent tout ce qui leur était arrivé, disant:
When they returned to their father in Canaan land, they told him all that had happened to them. One of them said,
30 L’homme, le seigneur du pays, nous a parlé durement, et nous a traités comme des espions du pays;
“The man who governs the whole land of Egypt talked very harshly to us. He acted toward us as though we were spying on his country.
31 et nous lui avons dit: Nous sommes d’honnêtes gens, nous ne sommes pas des espions.
But we told him, ‘We are honest men! We are not spies.
32 Nous étions douze frères, fils de notre père: l’un n’est plus, et le plus jeune est aujourd’hui avec notre père au pays de Canaan.
Originally there were twelve of us who were brothers, the sons of one father. One has died [EUP], and our youngest brother is with our father in Canaan.’
33 Et l’homme, le seigneur du pays, nous a dit: À ceci je connaîtrai que vous êtes d’honnêtes gens: Laissez auprès de moi l’un de vos frères, et prenez [du blé] pour la faim de vos maisons, et allez-vous-en.
The man who is the governor of the land [did not believe us], so he said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are truly honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me. Then the rest of you can take some grain for your families that are starving from hunger and go.
34 Et amenez-moi votre plus jeune frère, et je connaîtrai que vous n’êtes pas des espions, mais que vous êtes d’honnêtes gens: je vous donnerai votre frère, et vous trafiquerez dans le pays.
But when you return, bring your youngest brother to me, in order that I will know that you are not spies, but instead, that you are honest men. Then I will release your brother for you. And then you can buy whatever you want in this country.’”
35 Et il arriva, comme ils vidaient leurs sacs, que voici, chacun avait son paquet d’argent dans son sac; et ils virent, eux et leur père, leurs paquets d’argent, et ils eurent peur.
As they were emptying their sacks, they were surprised that in each man’s sack was his pouch of money! When they and their father saw all the pouches of money, they were frightened.
36 Et Jacob, leur père, leur dit: Vous m’avez privé d’enfants: Joseph n’est plus, et Siméon n’est plus, et vous voulez prendre Benjamin! Toutes ces choses sont contre moi.
Their father Jacob said to them, “You have caused two of my children to be taken from me! Joseph is dead, and Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin from me! It is I who am suffering because of all these things that are happening!”
37 Et Ruben parla à son père, disant: Tu feras mourir mes deux fils si je ne te le ramène; remets-le entre mes mains, et je te le ramènerai.
Reuben said to his father, “I will be responsible for Benjamin. [I will take him to Egypt and] bring him back to you. Let me take care of him. If I do not bring Benjamin back to you, you may kill both of my sons.”
38 Mais il dit: Mon fils ne descendra pas avec vous; car son frère est mort, et lui seul est resté; si quelque accident lui arrivait dans le chemin où vous allez, vous feriez descendre mes cheveux blancs avec douleur au shéol. (Sheol h7585)
But Jacob said, “No, I will not let my son go down there with you. His [older] brother is dead, and he is the only [one of my wife Rachel’s] sons who is left! If something harms him while you are traveling, you would cause me, a gray-haired old man, to die because of sorrow.” (Sheol h7585)
