Genèse 48
1 Et il arriva après ces choses, qu’on dit à Joseph: Voici, ton père est malade. Et il prit avec lui ses deux fils, Manassé et Éphraïm.
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 Et on avertit Jacob, et on dit: Voici, ton fils Joseph vient vers toi. Et Israël rassembla ses forces, et s’assit sur le 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 Et 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 et m’a dit: Voici, je te ferai fructifier et je te multiplierai, et je te ferai devenir une assemblée de peuples, et je donnerai ce pays à ta semence, après toi, en possession perpétuelle.
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, tes deux fils qui te sont nés dans le pays d’Égypte, avant que je vienne vers toi en Égypte, sont à moi: Éphraïm et Manassé sont à moi 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 Et tes enfants que tu as engendrés après eux seront à toi; ils seront appelés d’après le nom de leurs frères, dans leur 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, … comme je venais de Paddan, Rachel mourut auprès de moi, dans le pays de Canaan, en chemin, comme il y avait encore quelque espace de pays pour arriver à Éphrath; et je l’enterrai là, sur le chemin d’Éphrath, qui est Bethléhem.
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 Et Israël vit les fils de Joseph, et il dit: Qui sont ceux-ci?
When Jacob saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these boys?”
9 Et Joseph dit à son père: Ce sont mes fils, que Dieu m’a donnés ici. Et il dit: Amène-les-moi, je te prie, et je les bénirai.
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 Or les yeux d’Israël étaient appesantis de vieillesse; il ne pouvait voir. Et [Joseph] les fit approcher de lui, et il leur donna un baiser et les embrassa.
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 n’avais pas pensé voir ton visage; et voici, Dieu m’a fait voir aussi ta semence.
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 Et Joseph les retira d’entre ses genoux, et se prosterna le visage contre terre.
Joseph took the boys from alongside Jacob’s knees. Then he bowed down with his face to the ground.
13 Et Joseph les prit les deux, Éphraïm de sa main droite, à la gauche d’Israël, et Manassé de sa main gauche, à la droite d’Israël, et les fit approcher de lui;
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 mais Israël étendit sa main droite, et la posa sur la tête d’Éphraïm (or il était le plus jeune), et sa main gauche sur la tête de Manassé, plaçant ainsi ses mains à dessein, car Manassé était le premier-né.
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 Et il bénit Joseph, et dit: Que le Dieu devant la face duquel ont marché mes pères, Abraham et Isaac, le Dieu qui a été mon berger depuis que je suis 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 l’Ange qui m’a délivré de tout mal, bénisse ces jeunes hommes; et qu’ils soient appelés de mon nom et du nom de mes pères, Abraham et Isaac, et qu’ils croissent pour être une multitude 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 Et Joseph vit que son père posait sa main droite sur la tête d’Éphraïm, et cela fut mauvais à ses yeux; et il saisit la main de son père pour la détourner de dessus la tête d’Éphraïm [et la poser] sur la tête 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 Et son père refusa, disant: Je le sais, mon fils, je le sais; lui aussi deviendra un peuple, et lui aussi sera grand; toutefois son frère, qui est le plus jeune, sera plus grand que lui, et sa semence sera une plénitude 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 Et il les bénit ce jour-là, disant: En toi Israël bénira, disant: Dieu te rende tel qu’Éphraïm et que Manassé! Et il mit Éphraïm 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 Et Israël dit à Joseph: Voici, je meurs; et Dieu sera avec vous, et vous fera retourner 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 Et moi, je te donne, de plus qu’à tes frères, une portion que j’ai prise de la main de l’Amoréen 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.”
