Genèse 42
1 Or, Jacob, ayant vu qu'il y avait vente en Égypte, dit à ses fils: D'où vient votre nonchalance?
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 Je sais qu'il y a du blé en Égypte; descendez-y et achetez-nous un peu de blé, afin que nous vivions et 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 les dix frères de Joseph allèrent 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, avec ses frères, Benjamin, le frère de Joseph: Car, dit-il, j'ai peur qu'une maladie ne le prenne en chemin.
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 Les fils de Jacob allèrent donc acheter, en compagnie de ceux qui partaient: car la famine était en la terre de Chanaan.
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 Or, Joseph était le chef de la contrée, et il vendait à tous les peuples de la terre; les frères de Joseph, étant arrivés, 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 À la vue de ses frères, Joseph les reconnut; mais il ne se fit point connaître à eux; il leur parla même avec sévérité, et il leur dit: D'où venez-vous? Et ils dirent: De la terre de Chanaan, acheter du blé.
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 Joseph reconnaissait bien ses frères, mais ils ne le reconnaissaient point.
Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.
9 Il se souvint alors des songes qu'il avait eus, et il leur dit: Vous êtes des espions; vous êtes venus épier ce qui se fait en la contrée.
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 dirent: Non, seigneur, tes serviteurs sont venus 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 pacifiques, et tes serviteurs ne sont pas des espions.
We are all sons of one man. We are honest men, not spies.”
12 Non, reprit-il, vous êtes venus pour voir ce qui se fait en la contrée.
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 en la terre de Chanaan; le plus jeune, est aujourd'hui avec notre père, et l'autre ne vit 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 Joseph leur dit: C'est bien cela, c'est ce que je vous ai dit: vous êtes des espions;
Joseph replied, “[You are lying! I think] it is just as I told you. You are spies!
15 C'est par là que vous serez reconnus. Par la santé du Pharaon! vous ne sortirez pas d'ici que votre frère le plus jeune n'y soit venu.
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 amène votre frère; en attendant, vous allez être retenus jusqu'à ce que vos paroles soient confirmées, et que l'on sache si vous dites vrai ou non. Si vous avez menti, par la santé du Pharaon! 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 mit en prison trois jours.
Then Joseph put them all in prison for three days.
18 Le troisième jour venu, il leur dit: Faites ce que je vais vous dire, et vous vivrez, car 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 pacifiques, que l'un de vous reste en prison, et que les autres partent; allez, emportez votre blé,
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 votre frère le plus jeune: ainsi vos paroles seront confirmées; si vous vous y refusez, apprêtez-vous à mourir. Et ils firent comme il avait dit.
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 Sur quoi, chacun dit à son frère: Oui, c'est mérité, car nous sommes coupables au sujet de notre frère; nous n'avons eu aucun souci de l'affliction de son âme; lorsqu'il nous suppliait, nous ne l'avons pas écouté; c'est pourquoi cette affliction est tombée 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 Ruben ajouta: Ne vous ai-je point dit: Ne maltraitez pas l'enfant? Mais vous n'avez rien voulu entendre, et voilà que son sang est vengé.
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 Ils parlaient entre eux et ne savaient pas que Joseph les entendait, car il s'était servi avec eux d'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 Joseph, s'étant éloigné, pleura; revenu auprès d'eux, il leur parla, prit Siméon, et l'enchaîna devant eux.
[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 Cependant, Joseph ordonna qu'on remplit leurs sacs, que dans chacun on remît l'argent, et qu'on leur donnât des vivres pour la route; et il fut fait comme il avait dit.
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 Après avoir chargé le blé sur leurs ânes, ils se mirent en route.
his older brothers loaded the sacks of grain on their donkeys and left.
27 Or, l'un d'eux, ayant délié son sac pour faire manger les ânes à la première halte, vit, à l'entrée du sac, sa bourse d'argent.
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: L'argent m'a été rendu, le voici dans mon sac; leur cœur fut saisi, ils se troublèrent; car ils se disaient les uns aux autres: Pourquoi Dieu nous a-t-il fait cela?
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 Arrivés chez Jacob, leur père, en la terre de Chanaan, ils lui racontèrent tout ce qui leur était advenu, 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 maître de la contrée nous a parlé sévèrement, et il nous a emprisonnés comme espions.
“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 Nous lui avons dit: Nous sommes pacifiques, nous ne sommes point des espions.
But we told him, ‘We are honest men! We are not spies.
32 Nous étions douze frères, fils du même père; l'un ne vit plus, et le plus jeune est aujourd'hui avec notre père, en la terre de Chanaan.
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 Mais l'homme maître de la contrée nous a dit: Vous me donnez vous-mêmes le moyen de savoir si vous n'êtes pas des espions, et si vous êtes pacifiques: laissez-moi l'un de vous, et, prenant les vivres que vous avez achetés pour votre maison, partez.
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 Allez me chercher votre plus jeune frère: je connaîtrai alors que vous n'êtes point des espions, mais que vous êtes pacifiques; je vous rendrai votre frère, et vous pourrez négocier en ce 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 Or, lorsqu'ils vidèrent leurs sacs, chacun trouva dans son sac sa bourse d'argent; ils virent les bourses d'argent, leur père les vit aussi, et ils eurent crainte.
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 Sur quoi Jacob, leur père, s'écria: Vous m'avez privé de mes enfants. Joseph n'est plus; Siméon n'est plus; me prendrez-vous aussi Benjamin? C'est sur moi que tout tombe.
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 Ruben répondit à son père: Fais mourir mes deux fils si je ne te ramène le tien; remets-le entre mes mains, et je le reconduirai près de toi.
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 Jacob dit: Mon fils ne partira pas avec vous; son frère est mort, celui-ci seul m'est resté; une maladie le prendra dans le chemin où vous irez, et, de tristesse, vous ferez descendre ma vieillesse au sein de la terre. (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)
