Genèse 49
1 Or Jacob appela ses fils et leur dit: Assemblez-vous, afin que je vous annonce ce qui doit vous arriver dans les jours derniers.
Jacob summoned all his sons, and said to them,
2 Assemblez-vous, et écoutez, fils de Jacob, écoutez 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, mon premier-né, toi ma force et le principe de ma douleur; premier en dons, plus grand en puissance,
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 répandu comme l’eau; tu ne croîtras pas, parce que tu es monté sur le lit de ton père, et que tu as souillé sa couche.
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 sont frères, instruments d’iniquité dans le combat.
Simeon and Levi, you have both acted like criminals. You use your swords to act violently.
6 Que dans leur conseil n’entre pas mon âme, et que dans leurs assemblées ne se trouve pas ma gloire, parce que dans leur fureur, ils ont tué un homme, et que dans leur résolution ils ont renversé un mur.
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 leur fureur, parce qu’elle est opiniâtre, et leur indignation, parce qu’elle est implacable! je les diviserai dans Jacob, et je les disperserai dans 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, tes frères te loueront; ta main sera sur le cou de tes ennemis; les enfants 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 C’est le petit d’un lion, que Juda. Tu t’es élancé sur la proie, ô mon fils: te reposant, tu t’es couché comme le lion et comme la lionne; qui le provoquera?
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 sera pas ôté de Juda, ni le prince de sa postérité, jusqu’à ce que vienne celui qui doit être envoyé, et lui-même sera l’attente des nations.
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 liera, ô mon fils, à la vigne son ânon, et au cep son ânesse. Il lavera dans le vin sa robe, et dans le sang du raisin son manteau.
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 Ses yeux sont plus beaux que le vin, et ses dents plus blanches que le 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 habitera sur le rivage de la mer, et près du port des navires, s’étendant jusqu’à 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 Issachar, âne robuste, couché au milieu de son héritage.
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 sa terre était excellente; il a soumis son épaule aux fardeaux, et il s’est assujetti aux tributs.
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 tribu en 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 Que Dan devienne un serpent sur le chemin, un céraste dans le sentier, mordant le talon du cheval, afin que son cavalier 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 C’est votre Salut que j’attendrai, Seigneur.
Then Jacob prayed, “Yahweh, I am waiting for you to rescue me [from my enemies].”
19 Gad tout armé combattra devant lui; et lui-même se revêtira de ses armes en arrière.
[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 Aser, gras est son pain, et il fournira des délices aux rois
Asher, your descendants will eat good-tasting food; they will produce food that is delicious enough for kings to eat.
21 Nephthali, cerf échappé; il donne des paroles pleines de beauté.
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, fils croissant, fils croissant et beau à voir: les jeunes filles ont couru 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 Mais ils l’ont irrité, ils l’ont querellé, et ils lui ont porté envie, ceux qui avaient des dards.
Their enemies will attack them fiercely, and shoot at them with bows and arrows and pursue them.
24 Son arc s’est appuyé sur le fort; les liens de ses bras et de ses mains ont été brisés par les mains du puissant de Jacob; de là il est sorti pasteur, 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 Le Dieu de ton père sera ton soutien, et le Tout-Puissant te bénira des bénédictions célestes d’en haut, des bénédictions de l’abîme qui est en bas, des bénédictions de mamelles et de sein.
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 seront fortifiées par les bénédictions de ses pères jusqu’à ce que vienne le désir des collines éternelles; qu’elles se répandent sur la tête de Joseph et sur la tête de celui qui est Nazaréen 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, loup ravissant: le matin, il dévorera la proie, et le soir, il partagera les dépouilles.
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 Tous ceux-là sont les douze dans les tribus d’Israël: ainsi leur parla leur père, et il les bénit les uns après les autres des bénédictions propres à chacun deux.
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 Et il leur commanda, disant; Je vais être réuni à mon peuple: ensevelissez-moi avec mes pères dans la caverne double qui est dans le champ d’Ephron l’Hétéen,
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 Vis-à-vis de Mambré dans la terre de Chanaan, et qu’Abraham acheta d’Ephron l’Hétéen, avec le champ, pour y posséder un 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 l’a enseveli lui et Sara sa femme: là a été enseveli Isaac avec Rébecca sa femme: là aussi, ensevelie, repose Lia.
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 Les recommandations qu’il adressait à ses fils achevées, il retira ses pieds sur son lit, et mourut; et il fut réuni à son peuple.
That field and the cave in it were bought from the Heth people-group; so that is where I want you to bury me.”
When Jacob finished giving those instructions to his sons, he lay down on his bed again. Then he died [IDM].
