Genèse 49
1 Puis Jacob appela ses fils, et leur dit: Assemblez-vous, et je vous déclarerai ce qui vous doit arriver aux derniers jours.
Jacob summoned all his sons, and said to them,
2 Assemblez-vous, et écoutez, fils de Jacob; écoutez, [dis-je], Israël votre [père].
“Gather around me in order that I can tell you what will happen in the future. My sons, come and listen to me. I am your father, [Jacob, whom God named] Israel.
3 RUBEN, qui es mon premier-né, ma force, et le commencement de ma vigueur; qui excelles en dignité, et qui excelles [aussi] en force;
Reuben, you are my oldest son. You were born when I was young and energetic/strong. You are prouder and stronger than all the rest of my sons.
4 Tu t'es précipité comme de l'eau; tu n'auras pas la prééminence, car tu es monté sur la couche de ton père, et tu as souillé mon lit en y montant.
But you were as uncontrollable as a flood [SIM]. So now you will not be my most important son, because you climbed up onto my bed, and had sex with [MTY] my (concubine/slave who had become one of my wives). Your doing that caused me, your father, to have great shame.
5 SIMÉON et LÉVI, frères, [ont été] des instruments de violence [dans] leurs demeures.
Simeon and Levi, you have both acted like criminals. You use your swords to act violently.
6 Que mon âme n'entre point en leur conseil secret; que ma gloire ne soit point jointe à [leur] compagnie, car ils ont tué les gens en leur colère, et ont enlevé les bœufs pour leur plaisir.
I do not want to be with you when you make evil plans [DOU]. I do not want to join you in your meetings, because you killed people when you became very angry, and you (hamstrung/cut the tendons in the legs of) oxen just to (have fun/see them suffer).
7 Maudite soit leur colère, car elle a été violente; et leur furie, car elle a été roide; je les diviserai en Jacob, et les disperserai en Israël.
God says, ‘I will (curse/cause bad things to happen to) them for being very angry, for acting very cruelly when they were very furious. I will scatter their descendants [MTY] throughout Israel land.’
8 JUDA, quant à toi, tes frères te loueront: ta main sera sur le collet de tes ennemis; les fils de ton père se prosterneront devant toi.
Judah, your [older and younger] brothers will praise you. They will bow down before you, because you will thoroughly defeat [MTY] your enemies.
9 Juda [est] un fan de lion: mon fils, tu es revenu de déchirer; il s'est courbé, et s'est couché comme un lion qui est en sa force, et comme un vieux lion; qui le réveillera?
Judah is like a young lion [SIM] that has returned to its den satisfied after eating the animals that it has killed. He is like a lion that lies down and stretches out after eating; no one would dare to disturb it [RHQ].
10 Le sceptre ne se départira point de Juda, ni le Législateur d'entre ses pieds, jusqu'à ce que le Scilo vienne; et à lui [appartient] l'assemblée des peuples.
There will always be a ruler [MTY] from the descendants of Judah [MTY]. Each one will hold a scepter/staff to show that he has authority as a king. He will do that until the one to whom the scepter belongs comes, the one to whom the nations will bring tribute and show that they will obey him.
11 Il attache à la vigne son ânon, et au cep excellent le petit de son ânesse; il lavera son vêtement dans le vin, et son manteau dans le sang des grappes.
The grapevines of Judah’s descendants will produce grapes very abundantly. As a result, they will not object to tying their young donkeys to the grapevines in order that the donkeys can eat the leaves of the grapevines. [Wine will be very plentiful, with the result that] they could wash their cloaks in wine that is as red as blood [MET].
12 Il a les yeux vermeils de vin, et les dents blanches de lait.
Their eyes will be red because of [drinking too much] wine, but their teeth will be very white because of drinking much milk [from the cows].
13 ZABULON se logera au port des mers, et sera au port des navires; ses cotés [s'étendront] vers Sidon.
Zebulun, your descendants will live by the seashore where there will be a safe harbor for ships. Their land will extend north as far as Sidon [city].
14 ISSACAR est un âne ossu, couché entre les barres des étables.
Issachar, your descendants will be like strong donkeys that are lying down on the ground between their loads, [so tired that they cannot get up]!
15 Il a vu que le repos était bon, et que le pays était beau, et il a baissé son épaule pour porter et s'est assujetti au tribut.
They will see that their resting place is good, and that the land pleases them very much. But they will bend their backs to carry heavy loads and be forced to work for others.
16 DAN jugera son peuple, aussi bien qu'une autre des tribus d'Israël.
Dan, although your tribe will be small, their leaders will rule their people just like the leaders of other tribes of Israel will rule their people.
17 Dan sera un serpent sur le chemin, et une couleuvre dans le sentier, mordant les paturons du cheval, et celui qui le monte tombe à la renverse.
Your descendants will be like snakes at the side of a road, like poisonous snakes lying beside a path. They will strike the heels of horses that pass by, causing the riders to fall backwards [as the horses rear up on their hind legs].”
18 Ô Eternel! j'ai attendu ton salut.
Then Jacob prayed, “Yahweh, I am waiting for you to rescue me [from my enemies].”
19 Quant à GAD, des troupes viendront le ravager, mais il ravagera à la fin.
[Then Jacob continued telling his sons what would happen in the future. He said], “Gad, your tribe/descendants will be attacked by a group of bandits, but your tribe/descendants will pursue and attack them [MTY].
20 Le pain excellent [viendra] d'ASER, et il fournira les délices royales.
Asher, your descendants will eat good-tasting food; they will produce food that is delicious enough for kings to eat.
21 NEPHTHALI est une biche lâchée; il donne des paroles qui ont de la grâce.
Naphtali, your descendants will be like deer [MET] that are (free to/not tied down and can) run wherever they wish. They will give birth to children who are good-looking like (fawns/baby deer) [MET].
22 JOSEPH est un rameau fertile, un rameau fertile près d'une fontaine; ses branches se sont étendues sur la muraille.
Joseph, you will have many descendants [MET]. Their children will be as many as the fruit on a vine near a spring of water, whose branches extend over a wall.
23 On l'a fâché amèrement; on a tiré contre lui, et les maîtres tireurs de flèches ont été ses ennemis.
Their enemies will attack them fiercely, and shoot at them with bows and arrows and pursue them.
24 Mais son arc est demeuré en [sa] force, et les bras de ses mains se sont renforcés par la main du Puissant de Jacob, qui l'a aussi fait être le Pasteur, [et] la Pierre d'Israël.
But they will hold their bows steady and their arms will remain strong, because of the power [MTY] of my mighty God, because of Yahweh who guides and provides for me [MET] like a shepherd guides and provides for his sheep. The people of Israel will [ask Yahweh to protect them], [like people hide under] a huge [overhanging] to be protected.
25 [Cela est procédé] du [Dieu] Fort de ton père, lequel t'aidera; et du Tout-Puissant, qui te comblera des bénédictions des cieux en haut; des bénédictions de l'abîme d'embas; des bénédictions des mamelles et de la matrice.
God, the one whom I worship, will help your descendants. God Almighty will bless them by sending them rain from the sky and by giving them water from deep/far below the ground. He will give them many cattle and children [MET] (OR, and their cattle will have many offspring).
26 Les bénédictions de ton père ont surpassé les bénédictions de ceux qui m'ont engendré, jusqu'au bout des coteaux d'éternité; elles seront sur la tête de Joseph, et sur le sommet de la tête du Nazaréen d'entre ses frères.
The blessings that I want God to give you are great ones. They are greater than the blessings that come from the eternal mountains, greater than the ones that come from the everlasting hills. Joseph, I pray that these blessings will (be given to you/come upon your head), because you are the leader of your [older] brothers [and younger brother].
27 BENJAMIN est un loup qui déchirera; le matin il dévorera la proie, et sur le soir il partagera le butin.
Benjamin, your descendants will be like [MET] vicious/fierce wolves: In the morning they will kill their enemies like a wolf devours (its prey/the animals that it has killed), and in the evening they will divide among their warriors the spoils that they seized from their enemies.”
28 Ce sont là les douze tribus d'Israël, et c'[est] ce que leur père leur dit en les bénissant; et il bénit chacun d'eux de la bénédiction qui lui était propre.
Those twelve sons are the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel. That is what their father said to them as he blessed them, telling to each one words that were appropriate for him.
29 Il leur fit aussi ce commandement, et leur dit: Je m'en vais être recueilli vers mon peuple, enterrez-moi avec mes pères dans la caverne qui est au champ d'Héphron Héthien:
Then Jacob said to his sons, “I will soon die. Bury my body where some of my ancestors are buried, in the cave that is in the field that was bought from Ephron, who belonged to the Heth people-group.
30 Dans la caverne, dis-je, qui est au champ de Macpéla, vis-à-vis de Mamré, au pays de Canaan, laquelle Abraham acquit d'Héphron Héthien, avec le champ pour le posséder [comme le lieu] de son sépulcre.
That field is in the Machpelah area, east of Mamre [town], in Canaan. My grandfather Abraham bought it from Ephron to use as a burial place.
31 C'est là qu'on a enterré Abraham avec Sara sa femme; c'est là qu'on a enterré Isaac et Rébecca sa femme; et c'est là que j'ai enterré Léa.
That is where they buried him and his wife Sarah. That is where they buried my father Isaac and his wife Rebekah. And that is where I buried my wife Leah.
32 Le champ a été acquis des Héthiens avec la caverne qui y est.
That field and the cave in it were bought from the Heth people-group; so that is where I want you to bury me.”
33 Et quand Jacob eut achevé de donner ses commandements à ses fils, il retira ses pieds au lit, et expira, et fut recueilli vers ses peuples.
When Jacob finished giving those instructions to his sons, he lay down on his bed again. Then he died [IDM].
