Genèse 48
1 Ces choses s’étant ainsi passées, on annonça à Joseph que son père était malade; or, Joseph ayant pris avec lui ses deux fils, Manassé et Ephraïm, se mit en chemin.
Some time later, someone told Joseph, “[Hey, ] your father is ill.” When Joseph heard that, he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to see his father.
2 Et on dit au vieillard: Voici votre fils Joseph qui vient vers vous. Or reprenant ses forces, il s’assit sur son lit.
When someone told Jacob, “Look, your son Joseph has come to see you!” Jacob sat up on the bed, even though it was difficult for him to do that.
3 Et quand Joseph fut entré près de lui, il dit: Le Dieu tout-puissant m’a apparu à Luza qui est dans la terre de Chanaan, et il m’a béni,
He said to Joseph, “When I was at Luz in Canaan, God Almighty appeared to me. He blessed me
4 Et a dit: Je te ferai croître et te multiplierai, et je te ferai le père d’une multitude de peuples; et je te donnerai cette terre, et à ta postérité après toi, en possession éternelle.
and said to me, ‘I am going to enable you to become the father of many children. You will have many descendants, and they will become [the ancestors of] many people-groups. And I will give this land to your descendants to possess forever.’
5 C’est pourquoi tes deux fils qui te sont nés en Égypte, avant que je vinsse vers toi, seront miens. Ephraïm et Manassé comme Ruben et Siméon seront censés à moi.
“And now I will consider that your two sons, who were born to you here in Egypt before I came here, will (belong to me/be as though they are my sons). Ephraim and Manasseh will be [as though they were] my sons, and they will inherit my possessions, just like my sons Reuben and Simeon [and the others] will.
6 Mais les autres que tu auras engendrés après eux, seront tiens, et ils seront appelés du nom de leurs frères dans leurs possessions.
If you later become the father of any more children, they will not be considered to be my children, but as my grandchildren, and [in Canaan] they will receive as part of what they inherit some of the same land that is in the territory that their brothers [Ephraim and Manasseh] will inherit.
7 Car, lorsque je venais de Mésopotamie, Rachel me mourut en chemin même, dans la terre de Chanaan, et c’était le printemps: j’entrais à Ephrata, et je l’ensevelis près du chemin d’Ephrata, qui est appelée d’un autre nom Bethléhem.
Many years ago, as I was returning from Paddan-Aram/Mesopotamia, your mother Rachel died in the Canaan region, while we were still traveling, not far from Ephrath [town]. So I buried her body there alongside the road to Ephrath [which is now called Bethlehem].”
8 Or, voyant ses fils, il lui dit: Qui sont ceux-ci?
When Jacob saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these boys?”
9 Joseph répondit: Ce sont mes fils que Dieu m’a donnés en ce lieu. Approche-les de moi, dit Jacob, afin que je les bénisse.
Joseph replied, “They are the sons that God has given to me here in Egypt.” Jacob said, “Bring them close to me so that I can bless them.”
10 Car les yeux d’Israël étaient obscurcis, à cause de sa grande vieillesse, et il ne pouvait voir distinctement. Lors donc qu’ils furent approchés de lui, les ayant baisés et embrassés,
Jacob was almost blind because he was very old. He could not recognize the boys. So Joseph brought his sons close to his father, and Jacob kissed them and hugged them.
11 Il dit à son fils: Je n’ai pas été privé de te voir; de plus. Dieu m’a montré ta postérité.
Jacob said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see you again, but look at this! God has allowed me to see not only you, but he has allowed me to see your children, too!”
12 Lorsque Joseph les eut retirés des bras de son père, il se prosterna, incliné vers la terre.
Joseph took the boys from alongside Jacob’s knees. Then he bowed down with his face to the ground.
13 Puis, il plaça Ephraïm à sa droite, c’est-à-dire, à la gauche d’Israël, et Manassé à sa gauche, c’est-à-dire à la droite de son père, et il les approcha tous deux de lui.
Then Joseph took both of the boys, putting Ephraim on his right side toward Jacob’s left hand, and putting Manasseh on his left side toward Jacob’s right hand, and brought them close to Jacob.
14 Israël étendant sa main droite, la posa sur la tête d’Ephraïm, le plus jeune des deux frères, et la gauche sur Manassé, qui était l’aîné, changeant ses mains de place.
But Jacob [did not do what Joseph wanted him to do. Instead], he reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, even though he was the younger son. He crossed his arms and put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the older son.
15 Et Jacob bénit les fils de Joseph, et il dit: Que le Dieu en présence duquel ont marché mes pères Abraham et Isaac, le Dieu qui me nourrit depuis mon enfance jusqu’au présent jour;
Then he (blessed/asked God to bless) Joseph and his sons, saying, “My grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac conducted their lives as God desired, and to this very day God has led me and taken care of me as a shepherd leads and cares for his sheep [MET].
16 Que l’ange qui m’a délivré de tous les maux, bénisse ces enfants; que mon nom soit invoqué sur eux, et les noms aussi de mes pères Abraham et Isaac, et qu’ils croissent en multitude sur la terre.
The angel whom he sent has kept me from being harmed in any way. I pray that God will bless these boys. I pray that people will never forget about me and about Abraham and Isaac because of what God does for these boys. I pray that they will have many descendants who will live all over the earth.”
17 Mais Joseph, voyant que son père avait posé la main droite sur la tête d’Ephraïm, en eut une grande peine, et, prenant la main de son père, il tâcha de la lever de dessus la tête d’Ephraïm et de la transporter sur la tête de Manassé.
When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head and not on Manasseh’s head, he was distressed/displeased. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
18 Et il dit à son père: Il ne convient pas de faire ainsi, mon père: puisque celui-ci est l’aîné, mettez votre main droite sur sa tête.
Joseph said to him, “My father, that is not right! The one on whom you put your left hand is my older son. Put your right hand on his head.”
19 Mais Jacob, refusant, dit: Je le sais, mon fils, je le sais: celui-ci sera aussi chef de peuples, et il se multipliera: mais son frère plus jeune, sera plus grand que lui, et sa postérité formera un grand nombre de nations.
But his father refused, saying, “I know that, my son, I know what I am doing. Manasseh’s descendants will also become a people-group, and they will become important. But his younger brother’s descendants will become greater than his will. His descendants will become several nations.”
20 Il les bénit donc en ce moment-là, disant: En toi sera béni Israël, et l’on dira: Dieu te fasse comme à Ephraïm et Manassé. Ainsi il mit Ephraïm devant Manassé.
So he blessed them both on that day, saying, “The people in Israel will use your names when they bless people. They will say, ‘We pray that God will help you as he helped Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In that way, Jacob said that Ephraim would become more important than Manasseh.
21 Et il dit à Joseph son fils: Voici que moi je meurs, mais Dieu sera avec vous, et il vous ramènera dans le pays de vos pères.
Then Jacob said to Joseph, “I am about to die. But I know that God will help/protect you. And some day he will take your descendants back to the land of their ancestors.
22 Je te donne de plus qu’à tes frères une part que j’ai enlevée à l’Amorrhéen avec mon glaive et mon arc.
And it is to you, not to your brothers, that I will give the fertile hill in the Shechem area. I captured that land from the Amor people-group, fighting them with my sword and my bow and arrows.”
