Genèse 41
1 Après un intervalle de deux années, Pharaon eut un songe, où il se voyait debout au bord du fleuve.
Two complete years later, the king of Egypt had a dream. In the dream, he was standing alongside the Nile [River].
2 Et voici que du fleuve sortaient sept vaches belles et grasses, qui se mirent à paître dans l’herbage;
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows come up out of the river. They started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
3 puis sept autres vaches sortirent du fleuve après elles, celles là chétives et maigres et s’arrêtèrent près des premières au bord du fleuve;
Soon seven other cows, unhealthy-looking and thin, came up behind them from the Nile [River]. They stood alongside the fat cows that were on the riverbank.
4 et les vaches chétives et maigres dévorèrent les sept vaches belles et grasses. Alors Pharaon s’éveilla.
Then the unhealthy thin cows ate the seven healthy fat cows. And then the king woke up.
5 Il se rendormit et eut un nouveau songe. Voici que sept épis, pleins et beaux, s’élevaient sur une seule tige;
The king went to sleep again, and he had another dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain that were full of kernels of grain and ripe, and all growing on one stalk.
6 puis sept épis maigres et flétris par le vent d’est, s’élevèrent après eux,
After that, the king saw that seven other heads of grain sprouted on that (OR, on another) stalk. They were thin and had been dried up by the hot east wind.
7 et ces épis maigres engloutirent les sept épis grenus et pleins. Pharaon s’éveilla et c’était un songe.
Then the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven ripe full heads. Then the king woke up. He realized that he had been dreaming.
8 Mais, le matin venu, son esprit en fut troublé et il manda tous les magiciens de l’Égypte et tous ses savants. Pharaon leur exposa son rêve, mais nul ne put lui en expliquer le sens.
But the next morning he was worried about the meaning of the dream. So he summoned all the magicians and wise men who lived in Egypt. He told them what he had dreamed, but none of them could tell him the meaning of the two dreams.
9 Alors le maître échanson parla devant Pharaon en ces termes: "Je rappelle, en cette occasion, mes fautes.
Then the chief drink-server said to the king, “Now I remember something that I should have told you! I made a mistake by forgetting to tell it to you.
10 Un jour, Pharaon était irrité contre ses serviteurs; et il nous fit enfermer dans la maison du chef des gardes, moi et le maître panetier.
One time you were angry with two of us. So you put me and the chief baker in the prison in the house of the captain of the palace guards.
11 Nous eûmes un rêve la même nuit, lui et moi, chacun selon le pronostic de son rêve.
While we were there, one night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings.
12 Là était avec nous un jeune hébreu, esclave du chef des gardes. Nous lui racontâmes nos songes et il nous les interpréta, à chacun selon le sens du sien.
There was a young Hebrew man there with us. He was a servant of the captain of the palace guards. We told him what we had dreamed, and he told us what our dreams meant. He told each of us the meaning of our dreams.
13 Or, comme il nous avait pronostiqué, ainsi fut-il: moi, je fus rétabli dans mon poste et lui on le pendit."
And what happened was exactly the same as the meanings that he told us: You said I could have my previous job again, but the other man was killed by being hanged. [The Hebrew man’s name was Joseph].”
14 Pharaon envoya quérir Joseph, qu’on fit sur le champ sortir de la geôle; il se rasa et changea de vêtements, puis il parut devant Pharaon.
When the king heard that, he told some servants to bring Joseph to him, and they quickly brought Joseph out of the prison. Joseph shaved and put on better clothes, and then he went and stood in front of the king.
15 Et Pharaon dit à Joseph: "J’Ai eu un songe et nul ne l’explique; mais j’ai ouï dire, quant à toi, que tu entends l’art d’interpréter un songe."
The king said to Joseph, “I had two dreams, and no one can tell me what they mean. But someone told me that when you hear someone tell about a dream he has had, you can tell that person what the dream means.”
16 Joseph répondit à Pharaon en disant: "Ce n’est pas moi, c’est Dieu, qui saura tranquilliser Pharaon."
But Joseph replied to the king, “No, I cannot do that. It is God who knows the meaning of dreams, but he will enable me to tell you their meaning, and they will mean something good.”
17 Alors Pharaon parla ainsi à Joseph: "Dans mon songe, je me tenais au bord du fleuve.
The king said to Joseph, “In my first dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile [River].
18 Et voici que du fleuve sortirent sept vaches grasses et de belle taille, qui vinrent paître dans l’herbage;
Suddenly seven healthy fat cows came up out of the river, and they started eating the grass that was on the riverbank.
19 puis sept autres vaches les suivirent, maigres, d’apparence fort chétive et toutes décharnées: je n’en ai point vu d’aussi misérables dans tout le pays d’Égypte.
Soon seven other cows, ugly and thin ones, came up behind them from the river. I never saw such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt!
20 Ces vaches maigres et chétives dévorèrent les sept premières vaches, les grasses.
The thin ugly cows ate the seven fat cows that came up first.
21 Celles ci donc passèrent dans leur corps, mais on ne se serait pas douté qu’elles y eussent passé: elles étaient chétives comme auparavant. Je m’éveillai.
But afterwards, no one would have known that the thin cows ate them, because they were just as ugly as they were before. Then I woke up.
22 Puis je vis en songe sept épis, s’élevant sur une même tige, pleins et beaux;
Then I had another dream. I saw seven heads of grain. They were full of kernels of grain and ripe, and they were all growing on one stalk.
23 ensuite sept épis secs, maigres, brûlés par le vent d’est, s’élevèrent après eux,
Then [to my surprise] I saw seven other heads of grain that sprouted. They were thin and had been dried up by the hot east wind.
24 et ces épis maigres absorbèrent les sept beaux épis. Je l’ai raconté aux magiciens et nul ne me l’a expliqué."
The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good heads. I told these dreams to the magicians, but none of them could explain to me what they meant.”
25 Joseph dit à Pharaon: "Le songe de Pharaon est un: ce que Dieu prépare, il l’a annoncé à Pharaon.
Then Joseph said to the king, “Both your dreams have the same meaning. God is revealing to you in your dreams what he is about to do.
26 Les sept belles vaches, ce sont sept années; les sept beaux épis, sept années: c’est un même songe.
The seven healthy cows represent seven years. The seven good heads of grain also represent seven years. The two dreams both have the same meaning.
27 Et les sept vaches maigres et laides qui sont sorties en second lieu, sept années, de même que les sept épis vides frappés par le vent d’est. Ce seront sept années de famine.
The seven thin ugly cows that came up behind them and the seven worthless heads of grain that were dried up by the hot east wind each represent seven years (of famine/when food will be very scarce).
28 C’Est bien ce que je disais à Pharaon ce que Dieu prépare, il l’a révélé à Pharaon.
It will happen just as I have told you, because God has revealed to you what he is about to do.
29 Oui, sept années vont venir, abondance extraordinaire dans tout le territoire d’Égypte.
There will be seven years in which there will be plenty of food throughout the land of Egypt,
30 Mais sept années de disette surgiront après elles et toute abondance disparaîtra dans le pays d’Égypte et la famine épuisera le pays.
but after that there will be seven years (of famine/when food will be very scarce). Then people will forget all the years when there was plenty of food, because the famine that will come afterward will ruin the country.
31 Le souvenir de l’abondance sera effacé dans le pays par cette famine qui surviendra, car elle sera excessive.
The people will forget how plentiful food was previously, because the famine will be very terrible.
32 Et si le songe s’est reproduit à Pharaon par deux fois, c’est que la chose est arrêtée devant Dieu, c’est que Dieu est sur le point de l’accomplir.
The reason God gave to you two dreams is that he [wants you to know] that this will happen, and he will cause it to happen very soon.
33 Donc, que Pharaon choisisse un homme prudent et sage et qu’il le prépose au pays d’Égypte.
“Now I suggest that you should choose a man who is wise and can make good decisions. I suggest that you appoint him to direct the affairs of the whole country.
34 Que Pharaon avise à ce qu’on établisse des commissaires dans le pays et qu’on impose d’un cinquième le territoire d’Égypte durant les sept années d’abondance.
You should also appoint supervisors over the country, in order that they can arrange to collect one-fifth of all the grain that is harvested during the seven years when food is plentiful.
35 Qu’on amasse toute la nourriture de ces années fertiles qui approchent; qu’on emmagasine du blé sous la main de Pharaon, pour l’approvisionnement des villes et qu’on le tienne en réserve.
They should collect this amount of grain during those seven years that are coming, when there will be plenty of food. You should supervise them as they store it in the cities.
36 Ces provisions seront une ressource pour le pays, lors des sept années de disette qui surviendront en Égypte, afin que ce pays ne périsse pas par la famine."
This grain should be stored so that it can be eaten during the seven years when there will be a famine here in Egypt, so that the people in this country will not die from hunger.”
37 Ce discours plut à Pharaon et à tous ses serviteurs.
The king and his officials thought that this would be a good plan.
38 Et Pharaon dit à ses serviteurs: "Pourrions-nous trouver un homme tel que celui-ci, plein de l’esprit de Dieu?"
So the king said to them, “(Can we find any other man like Joseph, a man to whom God has given his Spirit?/It is not likely that we will find another man like this man, one to whom God has given his Spirit!)” [RHQ]
39 Et Pharaon dit à Joseph: "Puisque Dieu t’a révélé tout cela, nul n’est sage et entendu comme toi.
Then the king said to Joseph, “Because God has revealed all this to you, it seems to me that there is no one who is as wise as you and who can decide wisely about things.
40 C’Est toi qui sera le chef de ma maison; tout mon peuple sera gouverné par ta parole et je n’aurai sur toi que la prééminence du trône."
So I will put you in charge of everything in my palace. All the people here in Egypt must obey what you command. Only because I am king [MTY] will I have more authority than you.”
41 Pharaon dit à Joseph: "Vois! je te mets à la tête de tout le pays d’Égypte."
Then the king said to Joseph, “I am now putting you in charge of the whole country of Egypt.”
42 Et Pharaon ôta son anneau de sa main et le passa à celle de Joseph; il le fit habiller de byssus et suspendit le collier d’or de son cou.
The king took from his finger the ring that had his seal on it, and he put it on Joseph’s finger. He put robes made of fine linen on him, and he put a gold chain around his neck.
43 Il le fit monter sur son second char; on cria devant lui: Abrêk et il fut installé chef de tout le pays d’Égypte.
Then he arranged for Joseph to ride around in the chariot [that showed that he was] the second-most important man in the country. When Joseph rode in the chariot, men shouted to the people who were on the road in front of him, “Get off the road!” So the king put Joseph in charge of everything in the country.
44 Pharaon dit à Joseph: "Je suis le Pharaon; mais, sans ton ordre, nul ne remuera la main ni le pied dans tout le pays d’Égypte."
The king said to Joseph, “I am the king, but no one in the whole land of Egypt will do anything [IDM] if you do not permit them to do it.”
45 Pharaon surnomma Joseph Çâfenath Panéah et il lui donna pour femme Asenath, fille de Pôti Féra, prêtre d’On. Joseph fit une excursion dans le pays d’Égypte.
The king gave Joseph a new name, Zaphenath-Paneah. He also gave him Asenath to be his wife. She was the daughter of Potiphera, who was a priest in a temple in On [city]. Then Joseph became known (OR, traveled) through all the land of Egypt.
46 Or, Joseph avait trente ans lorsqu’il parut devant Pharaon, roi d’Egypte. Joseph, étant sorti de devant Pharaon, parcourut tout le pays d’Egypte.
Joseph was 30 years old when he started to work for the king of Egypt. To do his work, he left the king’s palace and traveled throughout Egypt.
47 La terre, pendant les sept années de fertilité, produisit d’abondantes moissons.
During the next seven years, the land produced abundant crops, so there was plenty of food.
48 On amassa toutes les denrées des sept années, qui se trouvèrent dans le pays d’Égypte et l’on approvisionna les villes: on mit dans chaque ville les denrées des campagnes d’alentour.
As Joseph supervised them, his helpers collected one-fifth of all the grain that was produced during those years, and stored it in the cities. In each city, he had his helpers store up the grain that was grown in the fields that surrounded that city.
49 Et Joseph fit des amas de blé considérables comme le sable de la mer; tellement qu’on cessa de le compter, car c’était incalculable.
Joseph had them store up a huge amount of grain. It looked as plentiful as the sand on the seashore. There was so much grain that after a while they stopped keeping records of how much grain was stored, because there was more grain than they could measure.
50 Or, il naquit à Joseph, avant qu’arrivât la période de disette, deux fils, que lui donna Asenath, fille de Pôti Féra, prêtre d’On.
Before the seven years of famine started, Joseph’s wife Asenath gave birth to two sons.
51 Joseph appela le premier né Manassé: "Car Dieu m’a fait oublier toutes mes tribulations et toute la maison de mon père."
Joseph named the first one Manasseh, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘forget]’, because, he said, “God has caused me to forget all my troubles and all my father’s family.”
52 Au second, il donna le nom d’Éphraïm: "Car Dieu m’a fait fructifier dans le pays de ma misère."
He named his second son Ephraim, [which means ‘to have children]’, because, he said, “God has given me children here in this land where I have suffered.”
53 Quand furent écoulées les sept années de l’abondance qui régnait dans le pays d’Égypte,
Finally the seven years in which there was plenty of food ended.
54 survinrent les sept années dedisette, comme l’avait prédit Joseph. II y eut famine dans tous les pays, mais dans tout le pays d’Égypte il y avait du pain.
Then the seven years of famine started, just as Joseph had predicted. There was also a famine in all the other nearby lands, but although the crops did not grow, there was food everywhere in Egypt, because of the grain they had stored up in the cities.
55 Tout le territoire égyptien étant affligé par la disette, le peuple demanda à grands cris, à Pharaon, du pain. Mais Pharaon répondit à tous les Égyptiens: "Allez à Joseph; ce qu’il vous dira, vous le ferez."
When all the people of [MTY] Egypt had eaten all of their own food and were still hungry, they begged the king for food. So the king told all the people of Egypt, “Go to Joseph, and do what he tells you to do.”
56 Comme la famine régnait sur toute la contrée, Joseph ouvrit tous les greniers et vendit du blé aux Égyptiens. La famine persista dans le pays d’Égypte.
When the famine was very bad throughout the whole country, Joseph ordered his helpers to open the storehouses. Then they sold the grain in the storehouses to the people of Egypt, because the famine was very severe all over Egypt.
57 De tous les pays on venait en Égypte pour acheter à Joseph, car la famine était grande dans toute la contrée.
And people from many [HYP] nearby countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was very severe everywhere [HYP].
