Exode 1
1 Voici les noms des fils d’Israël, venus en Égypte avec Jacob et la famille de chacun d’eux:
The sons of Jacob who went to Egypt with him along with their families were
2 Ruben, Siméon, Lévi, Juda,
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
3 Issacar, Zabulon, Benjamin,
Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,
4 Dan, Nephthali, Gad et Aser.
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
5 Les personnes issues de Jacob étaient au nombre de soixante-dix en tout. Joseph était alors en Égypte.
Altogether there were 70 people [who went with] Jacob. That included his [sons, his grandsons, and two great-grandsons]. [His son] Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Joseph mourut, ainsi que tous ses frères et toute cette génération-là.
[Eventually] Joseph and his [older and younger] brothers and everyone [else in their family who lived] (in that generation/at that time) died.
7 Les enfants d’Israël furent féconds et multiplièrent, ils s’accrurent et devinrent de plus en plus puissants. Et le pays en fut rempli.
But Jacob’s descendants kept giving birth to many children [IDM]. The number [of his descendants] kept becoming larger and larger. As a result, there were so many of them that they were everywhere in Egypt (OR, that they [became a threat] to the Egyptians).
8 Il s’éleva sur l’Égypte un nouveau roi, qui n’avait point connu Joseph.
Then [several hundred years later], a new king began to rule [MTY] in Egypt. He did not know [what] Joseph [had done for the people of Egypt long ago].
9 Il dit à son peuple: Voilà les enfants d’Israël qui forment un peuple plus nombreux et plus puissant que nous.
He said to his people, “Look [at what has happened]! The Israeli people have become so numerous and so powerful that they [now might conquer] us!
10 Allons! Montrons-nous habiles à son égard; empêchons qu’il ne s’accroisse, et que, s’il survient une guerre, il ne se joigne à nos ennemis, pour nous combattre et sortir ensuite du pays.
We must find a way to control them! If we do not do that, their population will continue to grow. Then, if enemies [PRS] attack us, they will join with our enemies and fight against us, and they will escape from [our] land.”
11 Et l’on établit sur lui des chefs de corvées, afin de l’accabler de travaux pénibles. C’est ainsi qu’il bâtit les villes de Pithom et de Ramsès, pour servir de magasins à Pharaon.
So [the king and his officials] put supervisors over the Israeli people to cause them to suffer very much by [forcing them] to work very hard. They forced [the Israeli people to] build [two] cities, Pithom and Ramses, in which to store [supplies for the king/government].
12 Mais plus on l’accablait, plus il multipliait et s’accroissait; et l’on prit en aversion les enfants d’Israël.
But the more cruelly they treated the [Israeli people], the bigger the Israeli [population] grew, and they became more numerous all over [the land]. So the Egyptian people began to be afraid of the Israeli people.
13 Alors les Égyptiens réduisirent les enfants d’Israël à une dure servitude.
They forced the Israeli people to work very hard,
14 Ils leur rendirent la vie amère par de rudes travaux en argile et en briques, et par tous les ouvrages des champs: et c’était avec cruauté qu’ils leur imposaient toutes ces charges.
and by making them slaves, they made their lives miserable. They [forced them] to [build many buildings with] mortar and bricks. [They also forced them to do] other work in the fields. [In making them do all this work, the Egyptian officials treated them] ruthlessly/cruelly.
15 Le roi d’Égypte parla aussi aux sages-femmes des Hébreux, nommées l’une Schiphra, et l’autre Pua.
There were two Hebrew (midwives/women who helped the women when they were giving birth). [Hebrew means the same as Israeli.] The names of the women were Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to [those two women],
16 Il leur dit: Quand vous accoucherez les femmes des Hébreux et que vous les verrez sur les sièges, si c’est un garçon, faites-le mourir; si c’est une fille, laissez-la vivre.
“When you help the Hebrew women when they are giving birth [MTY], if [the baby that is born] is a boy, you must kill it. If [the baby] is a girl, you (may let it live/do not have to kill them).”
17 Mais les sages-femmes craignirent Dieu, et ne firent point ce que leur avait dit le roi d’Égypte; elles laissèrent vivre les enfants.
But the midwives feared/revered God. So they did not do what the king told them to do. They allowed the baby boys to live.
18 Le roi d’Égypte appela les sages-femmes, et leur dit: Pourquoi avez-vous agi ainsi, et avez-vous laissé vivre les enfants?
So the king summoned the [two] midwives and said to them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live?”
19 Les sages-femmes répondirent à Pharaon: C’est que les femmes des Hébreux ne sont pas comme les Égyptiennes; elles sont vigoureuses et elles accouchent avant l’arrivée de la sage-femme.
[One of] the midwives replied to the king, “[You need to realize that] the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. The Hebrew women are very strong/healthy. They give birth [to their babies] before we can get to them [to help them].”
20 Dieu fit du bien aux sages-femmes; et le peuple multiplia et devint très nombreux.
So God acted kindly toward the midwives, and the [Hebrew] people became even more numerous and strong.
21 Parce que les sages-femmes avaient eu la crainte de Dieu, Dieu fit prospérer leurs maisons.
Furthermore, because the midwives feared/revered God, he enabled them also to give birth to children.
22 Alors Pharaon donna cet ordre à tout son peuple: Vous jetterez dans le fleuve tout garçon qui naîtra, et vous laisserez vivre toutes les filles.
Then the king commanded all (the [Egyptian] people/his [advisors]): “You must throw into the Nile [River] every baby boy born that the [Hebrew women] give birth to! But you can allow the baby girls to live.”
