Genèse 37
1 Mais Jacob habita dans la terre de Chanaan, dans laquelle son père avait été comme étranger.
Now Jacob was living in the land where his father had made a place for himself, in the land of Canaan.
2 Et voici ses générations: Joseph, lorsqu’il avait seize ans, paissait le troupeau de son père, avec ses frères, étant encore enfant: et il était avec les fils de Bala et de Zelpha, femmes de son père; et il accusa ses frères auprès de son père d’un crime détestable.
These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a boy seventeen years old, was looking after the flock, together with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph gave their father a bad account of them.
3 Or Israël aimait Joseph par-dessus tous ses fils, parce que c’est dans sa vieillesse qu’il l’avait engendré: et il lui fit une tunique d’un tissu de diverses couleurs.
Now the love which Israel had for Joseph was greater than his love for all his other children, because he got him when he was an old man: and he had a long coat made for him.
4 Ses frères donc voyant qu’il était aimé par son père plus que tous ses autres frères, le haïssaient, et ne pouvaient rien lui dire avec douceur.
And because his brothers saw that Joseph was dearer to his father than all the others, they were full of hate for him, and would not say a kind word to him.
5 Il arriva aussi qu’il raconta à ses frères un songe qu’il avait vu; prétexte qui fut la semence d’une plus grande haine.
Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of it, which made their hate greater than ever.
6 Il leur dit donc: Ecoutez mon songe que j’ai vu:
And he said to them, Let me give you the story of my dream.
7 Je croyais que nous étions à fier des gerbes dans le champ, et que ma gerbe se levait et se tenait comme debout, et que les vôtres, étant autour, se prosternaient devant ma gerbe.
We were in the field, getting the grain stems together, and my grain kept upright, and yours came round and went down on the earth before mine.
8 Ses frères lui répondirent: Est-ce que tu seras notre roi? ou serons-nous soumis à ta puissance? Ainsi ce prétexte de songes et de discours fournit un aliment à leur envie et à leur haine.
And his brothers said to him, Are you to be our king? will you have authority over us? And because of his dream and his words, their hate for him became greater than ever.
9 Il vit encore un autre songe qu’il raconta à ses frères, disant: J’ai vu en songe comme le soleil et la lune et onze étoiles se prosterner devant moi.
Then he had another dream, and gave his brothers an account of it, saying, I have had another dream: the sun and the moon and eleven stars gave honour to me.
10 Lorsqu’il l’eut rapporté à son père et à ses frères, son père le reprit, et dit: Que veut dire ce songe que tu as vu? est-ce que moi, ta mère et tes frères, nous nous prosternerons devant toi sur la terre?
And he gave word of it to his father and his brothers; but his father protesting said, What sort of a dream is this? am I and your mother and your brothers to go down on our faces to the earth before you?
11 Ainsi ses frères lui portaient envie, mais son père considérait la chose en silence.
And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.
12 Et comme ses frères s’étaient arrêtés à Sichem pour paître les troupeaux de leur père,
Now his brothers went to keep watch over their father's flock in Shechem.
13 Israël lui dit: Tes frères paissent les brebis dans les pâturages de Sichem: viens, je t’enverrai vers eux. Joseph répondant:
And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers with the flock in Shechem? come, I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here am I.
14 Je suis prêt, il lui dit: Va, et vois si tout va bien pour tes frères et pour les troupeaux, et rapporte-moi ce qui se fait. Envoyé de la vallée d’Hébron, il vint à Sichem:
And he said to him, Go now, and see if your brothers are well and how the flock is; then come back and give me word. So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 Et un homme le trouva errant dans la campagne, et lui demanda ce qu’il cherchait.
And a man saw him wandering in the country, and said to him, What are you looking for?
16 Et lui répondit: Ce sont mes frères que je cherche; dis-moi où ils paissent les troupeaux.
And he said, I am looking for my brothers; please give me word of where they are keeping their flock.
17 Et cet homme lui dit: Ils sont partis d’ici; et je les ai entendus, disant: Allons à Dothaïn. Joseph alla donc après ses frères, et il les trouva à Dothaïn.
And the man said, They have gone away from here, for they said in my hearing, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after them and came up with them at Dothan.
18 Lorsque ceux-ci l’eurent vu de loin, avant qu’il approchât d’eux, ils projetèrent de le tuer:
But they saw him when he was a long way off, and before he came near them they made a secret design against him to put him to death;
19 Et ils se disaient mutuellement: Voici le songeur qui vient;
Saying to one another, See, here comes this dreamer.
20 Venez, tuons-le, et jetons-le dans une vieille citerne; nous dirons: Une bête sauvage l’a dévoré; et alors on verra ce que lui servent ses songes.
Let us now put him to death and put his body into one of these holes, and we will say, An evil beast has put him to death: then we will see what becomes of his dreams.
21 Mais entendant cela, Ruben s’efforçait de le sauver de leurs mains, et disait:
But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.
22 Ne tuez pas son âme et ne versez pas son sang; mais jetez-le dans cette citerne qui est dans le désert, et conservez vos mains pures. Or il disait cela, voulant l’arracher de leurs mains, et le rendre à son père.
Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.
23 Aussitôt donc qu’il fut arrivé près de ses frères, ils le dépouillèrent de sa tunique longue, tissue de diverses couleurs.
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat which he had on;
24 Et ils le jetèrent dans la vieille citerne, où il n’y avait pas d’eau.
And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it.
25 Puis s’asseyant pour manger du pain, ils virent des voyageurs Ismaélites qui venaient de Galaad, et leurs chameaux portant des aromates, de la résine et du stacté en Égypte.
Then seating themselves, they took their meal: and looking up, they saw a travelling band of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt, with spices and perfumes on their camels.
26 Juda dit alors à ses frères: Que nous servira si nous tuons notre frère et nous cachons son sang?
And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood?
27 Il vaut mieux qu’il soit vendu aux Ismaélites, et que nos mains ne soient pas souillées; car il est notre frère et notre chair. Ses frères acquiescèrent à ses discours.
Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him.
28 Et des marchands Madianites passant, ils le retirèrent de la citerne, et le vendirent vingt pièces d’argent aux Ismaélites qui le menèrent en Égypte.
And some traders from Midian went by; so pulling Joseph up out of the hole, they gave him to the Ishmaelites for twenty bits of silver, and they took him to Egypt.
29 Cependant Ruben étant revenu à la citerne, n’y trouva pas l’enfant;
Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,
30 Alors, ses vêtements déchirés, il retourna vers ses frères et dit: L’enfant ne paraît pas, et moi, où irai-je?
He went back to his brothers, and said, The child is gone; what am I to do?
31 Ils prirent donc sa tunique et la trempèrent dans le sang d’un chevreau qu’ils avaient tué,
Then they took Joseph's coat, and put on it some of the blood from a young goat which they had put to death,
32 Envoyant des gens pour la porter à leur père, et pour lui dire: Nous l’avons trouvée; vois si c’est la tunique de ton fils, ou non.
And they took the coat to their father, and said, We came across this; is it your son's coat or not?
33 Quand le père l’eut reconnue, il dit: C’est la tunique de mon fils; une bête farouche et cruelle l’a dévoré, une bête a dévoré Joseph.
And he saw that it was, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast has put him to death; without doubt Joseph has come to a cruel end.
34 Et, ses vêtements déchirés, il se couvrit d’un cilice, pleurant son fils pendant longtemps.
Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went on weeping for his son day after day.
35 Or, tous ses enfants s’étant rassemblés pour adoucir la douleur de leur père, il ne voulut pas recevoir de consolation, mais il dit: Je descendrai pleurant vers mon fils dans l’enfer. Et lui persévérant dans son pleur, (Sheol h7585)
And all his sons and all his daughters came to give him comfort, but he would not be comforted, saying with weeping, I will go down to the underworld to my son. So great was his father's sorrow for him. (Sheol h7585)
36 Les Madianites vendirent Joseph en Égypte à Putiphar, eunuque de Pharaon, chef des soldats.
And in Egypt the men of Midian gave him for a price to Potiphar, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house.
