Genèse 37
1 Cependant, Jacob demeurait dans la terre où son père avait été passager, la terre de Chanaan.
Jacob continued to live in the Canaan region where his father had lived previously.
2 Voici les générations de Jacob. Joseph avait dix-sept ans, et il paissait, avec ses frères, les brebis de son père; il était le plus jeune, et il paissait les brebis avec les fils de Balla, et avec les fils de Zelpha, femmes de son père; et ils portèrent contre Joseph à leur père une méchante accusation.
(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 Jacob aimait Joseph plus qu'aucun de ses fils, parce qu'il était le fils de sa vieillesse; et il lui fut faire une tunique bigarrée.
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 Ses frères, ayant vu que son père l'aimait plus qu'aucun de ses fils, le haïrent; et ils ne pouvaient plus lui dire une seule parole de paix.
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 Or, Joseph, ayant eu un songe, le rapporta à ses frères.
One night Joseph had a dream. He told his brothers about the dream.
6 Il leur dit: Écoutez le songe que j'ai eu.
He said to them, “Listen to the dream I had!
7 Il me semblait que vous faisiez des gerbes au milieu du champ: ma gerbe se tenait debout et restait droite, et vos gerbes entourant la mienne se prosternaient devant elle.
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 Ses frères lui dirent: Est-ce que tu dois être roi et régner sur nous, ou nous dominer comme un seigneur? Et ils le haïssaient plus encore, à cause de ses songes et à cause de son récit.
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 Il eut plus tard un autre songe qu'il raconta à son père et à ses frères, disant: J'ai encore eu un songe; le voici: C'était comme le soleil, et la lune, et onze étoiles qui m'adoraient.
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 Son père le réprimanda, et lui dit: Qu'est-ce que ce songe que tu as eu? Est-ce donc que moi, et la mère, et tes frères, nous en viendrons à t'adorer sur la terre?
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 Ainsi ses frères le jalousaient; quant au père, il méditait sur ces choses.
Joseph’s older brothers were furious/angry with him, but his father just kept thinking about what the dream meant.
12 Sur ces entrefaites, ses frères partirent pour paître en Sichem les brebis de leur père;
One day Joseph’s older brothers went to take care of their father’s sheep and goats that were eating grass near Shechem.
13 Et Israël dit à Joseph: Tes frères ne paissent-ils pas en Sichem? Viens, que je t'envoie auprès d'eux; et il dit: Me voici.
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 Jacob lui dit: Vas-y; vois si tes frères se portent bien, ainsi que les brebis, et rapporte-le-moi. Joseph étant donc parti de la vallée d'Hébron pour aller en Sichem,
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 Un homme le rencontra errant dans la campagne, et l'homme l'interrogea, disant: Que cherches-tu?
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 Il répondit: Je cherche mes frères; dis-moi où ils paissent.
Joseph replied, “I am looking for my older brothers. Can you tell me where they are taking care of their sheep and goats?”
17 L'homme reprit: Ils ont quitté leur pâturage, car je les ai entendus se dire: Allons en Dothaïn. Joseph alla aussitôt où étaient ses frères, et il les trouva en Dothaïn.
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 Dès qu'ils l'aperçurent de loin, bien avant qu'il les eût abordés, ils pensèrent méchamment à le faire mourir;
But they saw him when he was still far away, and they decided to kill him.
19 Et ils se dirent entre eux: Voilà le songeur qui vient.
They said to each other [things like], “Here comes that dreamer!”
20 Maintenant donc allons, tuons-le, et jetons-le dans une des citernes; puis nous dirons: Une bête fauve l'a mangé; nous verrons alors ce qu'il adviendra de ses songes.
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 Ce qu'ayant entendu Ruben, il résolut de l'arracher de leurs mains, et il dit: Non, ne lui donnons pas le coup de la mort.
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 Ruben, qui voulait l'arracher de leurs mains et le rendre à son père, leur dit: Ne versez pas de sang; jetez-le dans une des citernes du désert, mais ne portez pas les mains sur lui.
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 Lors donc que Joseph arriva près de ses frères, ils le dépouillèrent de la tunique bigarrée dont il était vêtu.
So when Joseph arrived where his older brothers were, they seized him and ripped off his pretty robe with long sleeves.
24 Et, l'ayant pris, ils le jetèrent dans la citerne, qui alors se trouvait vide; il n'y avait pas une goutte d'eau.
Then they took him and threw him into the pit/cistern. But the pit/cistern was dry; there was no water in it.
25 Ils s'assirent ensuite pour manger du pain, et, ayant levé les yeux, ils virent des voyageurs ismaélites arrivant de Galaad avec leurs chamelles chargées de parfums, de gomme et de myrrhe qu'ils allaient vendre en Égypte.
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 Alors, Juda dit à ses frères: Que nous reviendra-t-il d'avoir fait périr notre frère, et de cacher son sang?
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 Vendons-le plutôt à ces Ismaélites et ne portons pas les mains sur lui, car il est notre frère et notre chair. Ses frères y consentirent.
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 Comme les marchands madianites approchaient, ils tirèrent Joseph de la citerne, le mirent sur pied, et le vendirent aux Ismaélites vingt drachmes d'or; et les hommes emmenèrent Joseph en Égypte.
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 Cependant, Ruben était revenu vers la citerne, et n'y voyant point Joseph, il déchira ses vêtements.
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 Puis se tournant vers ses frères, il leur dit: L'enfant n'est plus là; et moi, où désormais irai-je?
He went back to his [younger] brothers and said, “The boy is not in the pit/cistern! What can I do now?” [RHQ]
31 Ils prirent la tunique de Joseph, égorgèrent un chevreau pris parmi les chèvres, souillèrent de sang la tunique bigarrée,
[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 Et la renvoyèrent à leur père; ceux qui la portaient lui dirent: Nous avons trouvé cette tunique, vois si ce n'est pas la tunique de ton fils.
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 Il la reconnut aussitôt, et dit: C'est la tunique de mon fils; une bête fauve l'a mangé, une bête fauve a ravi Joseph.
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 Et Jacob déchira ses vêtements; il ceignit ses reins d'un cilice, et il pleura son fils bien des jours.
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 En vain ses fils se réunirent-ils avec ses filles, et vinrent-ils tous pour le consoler; il ne voulut point être consolé, disant: Je descendrai près de mon fils au sein de la terre en pleurant. Et le père de Joseph le pleura, (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 Quant aux Madianites, ils vendirent Joseph en Égypte, à Putiphar, eunuque du Pharaon, chef de ses cuisines.
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.
