< Genèse 43 >

1 Or la famine devint fort grande en la terre.
The famine in Canaan got worse.
2 Et il arriva que comme ils eurent achevé de manger les vivres qu'ils avaient apportés d'Egypte, leur père leur dit: Retournez-vous-en, et achetez-nous un peu de vivres.
Finally, when Jacob and his family had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, Jacob said to them, “Go back to Egypt and buy some more grain for us!”
3 Et Juda lui répondit, et lui dit: Cet homme-là nous a expressément protesté, disant: Vous ne verrez point ma face que votre frère ne soit avec vous.
But Judah said to him, “The man who sold us the grain warned us sternly, ‘I will not let you see me [SYN] again if you come and your younger brother is not with you.’
4 Si [donc] tu envoies notre frère avec nous, nous descendrons [en Egypte], et t'achèterons des vivres.
So, if you will send our younger brother with us, we will go down to Egypt and buy some grain for you.
5 Mais si tu ne l'envoies, nous n'y descendrons point; car cet homme-là nous a dit: Vous ne verrez point ma face, que votre frère ne soit avec vous.
But if you will not send him, we will not go down there, because that man said to us, ‘I will not let you see me again if your younger brother is not with you.’”
6 Et Israël dit: Pourquoi m'avez-vous fait ce tort de déclarer à cet homme que vous aviez encore un frère?
Jacob asked, “Why did you cause me to have this trouble by telling the man that you had a younger brother?”
7 Et ils [répon]dirent: Cet homme s'est soigneusement enquis de nous, et de notre parenté, et nous a dit: Votre père vit-il encore? N'avez-vous point de frère? Et nous lui avons déclaré, selon ce qu'il nous avait demandé; pouvions-nous savoir qu'il dirait: Faites descendre votre frère?
One of them replied, “The man asked about us and about our family. He said, ‘Is your father still living? Do you have another brother?’ We had to answer his questions. (We could not know that he would say, ‘The next time that you come down here, bring your brother with you!’/How could we know that he would say, ‘The next time that you come down here, bring your brother with you!’)” [RHQ]
8 Et Juda dit à Israël son père: Envoie l'enfant avec moi, et nous nous mettrons en chemin, et nous en irons, et nous vivrons, et ne mourrons point, ni nous, ni toi aussi, ni nos petits enfants.
Then Judah said to his father Jacob, “Send the boy with me, and we will go immediately, in order that we and you and our children may get grain and not die from hunger.
9 J'en réponds, redemande-le de ma main; si je ne te le ramène; et si je ne te le représente, je serai toute ma vie sujet à la peine envers toi.
I myself will guarantee that he will return. You can require me to do what I am promising [IDM]. If I do not bring him back to you safely, you can say forever that (I am to blame/it was my fault [that he did not return to you)].
10 Que si nous n'eussions pas tant différé, certainement nous serions déjà de retour une seconde fois.
If we had not (wasted so much time/waited so long), by now we could have gone there and returned two times!”
11 Alors Israël leur père leur dit: Si cela est ainsi, faites ceci, prenez dans vos vaisseaux des choses les plus renommées du pays, et portez à cet homme un présent, quelque peu de baume, et quelque peu de miel, des drogues, de la myrrhe, des dattes, et des amandes.
Then their father Jacob said to them, “If there is no other way, do this: Put in your sacks some of the best things that are grown in this land, and take them down to the man as a gift. Take some balm/perfume and honey and spices and myrrh/ointment, some pistachio nuts, and almonds.
12 Et prenez de l'argent au double en vos mains, et rapportez celui qui a été remis à l'ouverture de vos sacs; peut-être cela s'est fait par ignorance.
Take twice as much money as you took the previous time, because you must return the silver that someone put in the tops of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake that it was put in your sacks.
13 Et prenez votre frère, et vous mettez en chemin, [et] retournez vers cet homme.
Take your younger brother and go back to that man.
14 Or le [Dieu] Fort, Tout-Puissant vous fasse trouver grâce devant cet homme, afin qu'il vous relâche votre autre frère, et Benjamin; et s'il faut que je sois privé [de ces deux fils], que j'en sois privé.
I will pray that God Almighty will cause that man to act mercifully toward you, so that he will let your other brother, as well as Benjamin, come back here with you. But as for me, if my sons are taken from me, then I will not have my sons!”
15 Alors ils prirent le présent, et ayant pris de l'argent au double en leurs mains, et Benjamin, ils se mirent en chemin, et descendirent en Egypte; puis ils se présentèrent devant Joseph.
So the men took the gifts that Jacob said that they should take, and twice the amount of money that the grain would cost, and they also took Benjamin. They went down quickly to Egypt, and they stood in front of Joseph.
16 Alors Joseph vit Benjamin avec eux, et dit à son maître d'hôtel: Mène ces hommes dans la maison, et tue quelque bête, et l'apprête; car ils mangeront à midi avec moi.
When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the man who (was in charge of/supervised) things in his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare a meal, because I want them to eat with me at noon.” [And he told him in what order they were to be seated].
17 Et l'homme fit comme Joseph lui avait dit; et amena ces hommes dans la maison de Joseph.
The man did as Joseph said. And he took them to Joseph’s house.
18 Et ces hommes eurent peur de ce qu'on les menait dans la maison de Joseph, et ils dirent: Nous sommes amenés à cause de l'argent qui fut remis la première fois dans nos sacs, c'est afin qu il se tourne et se jette sur nous, et nous prenne pour esclaves, et qu'il prenne nos ânes.
But they were afraid because he was taking them to Joseph’s house. They were thinking, “He is taking us here because of the silver that was put in our sacks the first time that we came here. While we are eating, he will have his servants attack us and seize us and cause us to become his slaves, and also take our donkeys.”
19 Puis ils s'approchèrent du maître d'hôtel de Joseph, et lui parlèrent à la porte de la maison,
They went with the man who was in charge of things in Joseph’s house. When they arrived at the entrance of the house,
20 En disant: Hélas, mon Seigneur! Certes nous descendîmes au commencement pour acheter des vivres.
one of them said to him, “Please, sir, listen to me. We came down here previously and bought some grain.
21 Et lorsque nous fûmes arrivés à l'hôtellerie, et que nous eûmes ouvert nos sacs, voici, l'argent de chacun était à l'ouverture de son sac, notre même argent selon son poids; mais nous l'avons rapporté en nos mains.
But at the place where we stopped for the night as we were returning home, we opened our sacks. We were astonished to see that in the top of each of our sacks was the exact amount of silver that we had paid for the grain! So we have brought it back with us.
22 Et nous avons apporté d'autre argent en nos mains pour acheter des vivres; et nous ne savons point qui a remis notre argent dans nos sacs.
We have also brought more silver with us to buy more grain. We do not know who put the silver in our sacks.”
23 Et il leur dit: Tout va bien pour vous, ne craignez point; votre Dieu et le Dieu de votre père vous a donné un trésor dans vos sacs, votre argent est parvenu jusqu'à moi; et il leur amena Siméon.
The man replied, [“Relax]! Do not worry about it! I received the silver that you brought. Your God, the God your father worships, must have put it in your sacks.” And then he brought Simeon to them from the prison.
24 Et cet homme les fit entrer dans la maison de Joseph, et leur donna de l'eau, et ils lavèrent leurs pieds; il donna aussi à manger à leurs ânes.
Then he took them into Joseph’s house. He gave them water to wash their feet and gave them food for the donkeys.
25 Et ils préparèrent le présent en attendant que Joseph revînt à midi; car ils avaient appris qu'ils mangeraient là du pain.
He told them that they were going to eat with Joseph at noon. So the men prepared their gifts to give to Joseph when he arrived.
26 Et Joseph revint à la maison, et ils lui présentèrent dans la maison le présent qu'ils avaient en leurs mains, et se prosternèrent devant lui jusqu'en terre.
When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts that they had brought into the house. Then they bowed down to the ground in front of him.
27 Et il leur demanda comment ils se portaient, et leur dit: Votre père, ce [bon] vieillard dont vous m'avez parlé, se porte-t-il bien? vit-il encore?
He asked them if they were (well/in good health), and then he asked, “How is the health of your old father, the one that you told me about? Is he still living?”
28 Et ils répondirent: Ton serviteur notre père se porte bien, il vit encore; et se baissant profondément ils se prosternèrent.
One of them replied, “Yes, our father, [who is willing to be] your servant, is still alive, and he is well.” Then again they bowed down in front of him.
29 Et lui élevant ses yeux vit Benjamin son frère, fils de sa mère, et il dit: Est-ce là votre jeune frère dont vous m'avez parlé? Et puis il dit: Mon fils, Dieu te fasse grâce!
Then he saw his [younger] brother Benjamin, his own mother’s other son. He asked them, “Is this your youngest brother, the one whom you told me about?” After they said “Yes,” he said to Benjamin, “Young man, I pray that God will act kindly toward you.”
30 Et Joseph se retira promptement, car ses entrailles étaient émues à la vue de son frère, et il cherchait un lieu où il pût pleurer, et entrant dans son cabinet, il pleura là.
Joseph quickly left the room. He realized that he was about to cry because he (was full of emotion about his younger brother/loved his younger brother so much). He went into his private room and cried there.
31 Puis s'étant lavé le visage, il sortit de là, et se faisant violence, il dit: Mettez le pain.
Then, after he washed the tears from his face, he came out, and controlling his emotions, he said to the servants, “Serve the food!”
32 Et on servit Joseph à part, et eux à part, et les Egyptiens qui mangeaient avec lui, [aussi] à part, parce que les Egyptiens ne pouvaient manger du pain avec les Hébreux; car c'est une abomination aux Egyptiens.
The people of Egypt considered that it was disgraceful for them to eat with Hebrews, so the servants served food to Joseph by himself, and served the other people of Egypt who ate with him by themselves, and they served Joseph’s older brothers and younger brother by themselves.
33 Ils s'assirent donc en sa présence; l'aîné selon son droit d'aînesse, et le plus jeune selon son âge; et ces hommes faisaient paraître l'un à l'autre leur étonnement.
His brothers were astonished to see that their seats were arranged according to their ages, from the oldest to the youngest!
34 Et il leur fit porter des mets de devant soi; mais la portion de Benjamin était cinq fois plus grande que toutes les autres, et ils burent, et firent bonne chère avec lui.
And when their portions of food were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s portion! So they ate food and drank wine with Joseph and became very cheerful.

< Genèse 43 >