< Genesis 43 >

1 The famine in Canaan got worse.
Cependant la famine pesait sur le pays.
2 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!”
Et lorsqu'ils eurent entièrement consommé le blé qu'ils avaient apporté d'Égypte, leur père leur dit: Allez nous acheter encore quelques subsistances.
3 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.’
Et Juda lui répondit en disant: L'homme nous a fait cette protestation: Vous ne serez point admis en ma présence à moins que votre frère ne soit avec vous.
4 So, if you will send our younger brother with us, we will go down to Egypt and buy some grain for you.
Si tu veux laisser venir notre frère avec nous, nous irons t'acheter des subsistances;
5 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.’”
mais si tu ne veux pas le laisser venir, nous n'irons pas, car l'homme nous a dit: Vous ne serez point admis en ma présence, à moins que votre frère ne soit avec vous.
6 Jacob asked, “Why did you cause me to have this trouble by telling the man that you had a younger brother?”
Et Israël dit: Pourquoi en avez-vous si mal agi envers moi que de découvrir à cet homme, si vous aviez encore un frère?
7 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]
Et ils répondirent: Il nous a questionnés sur nous et notre famille en disant: Votre père vit-il encore? avez-vous encore un frère? Et nous nous sommes expliqués aux termes de ces questions-là. Pouvions-nous nous douter qu'il dirait: Allez chercher votre frère?
8 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.
Et Juda dit à Israël, son père: Laisse l'enfant venir avec nous, et nous nous lèverons et nous partirons, et nous vivrons et nous ne mourrons pas, ni nous, ni toi, ni nos enfants!
9 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)].
Je réponds de lui, tu le réclameras de ma main; si je ne te le ramène pas et ne te le représente pas, je me constitue coupable envers toi pour toute ma vie.
10 If we had not (wasted so much time/waited so long), by now we could have gone there and returned two times!”
Car si nous n'avions pas tardé, nous serions déjà revenus deux fois.
11 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.
Alors Israël, leur père, leur dit: S'il faut qu'il en soit ainsi, faites ceci: Prenez dans vos valises des produits les plus vantés du pays, et portez-les à cet homme comme une offrande, un peu de baume et un peu de miel [de raisin], d'aromates et de ladanum, de pistaches et d'amandes.
12 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.
Et prenez d'autre argent dans vos mains, et reprenez l'argent qui a été remis à l'entrée de vos sacs: peut-être y a-t-il eu méprise.
13 Take your younger brother and go back to that man.
Et prenez votre frère, et mettez-vous en marche et retournez vers cet homme.
14 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!”
Et que Dieu, le Tout-Puissant, vous fasse trouver miséricorde devant l'homme, afin qu'il vous relâche votre autre frère et Benjamin! Pour moi, comme j'ai perdu mes enfants, je les perds encore.
15 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.
Et ces hommes prirent ce présent, et ils prirent d'autre argent dans leurs mains, et Benjamin, et ils partirent et descendirent en Égypte, et se présentèrent devant Joseph.
16 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].
Et lorsque Joseph vit Benjamin avec eux, il dit à l'intendant de sa maison: Conduis ces hommes à la maison, et égorge des bêtes de boucherie, et apprête-les; car ces hommes mangeront avec moi à midi.
17 The man did as Joseph said. And he took them to Joseph’s house.
Et l'intendant exécuta ce que lui disait Joseph, et conduisit ces hommes à la maison de Joseph.
18 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.”
Et ces hommes eurent peur quand ils se virent menés à la maison de Joseph, et ils dirent: C'est au sujet de l'argent qui s'est retrouvé dans nos sacs, qu'on nous y mène pour nous assaillir et tomber sur nous et nous prendre comme esclaves avec nos ânes.
19 They went with the man who was in charge of things in Joseph’s house. When they arrived at the entrance of the house,
Alors ils abordèrent l'intendant de la maison de Joseph, et lui parlèrent à la porte de la maison, en ces termes:
20 one of them said to him, “Please, sir, listen to me. We came down here previously and bought some grain.
Nous t'en conjurons, monseigneur! Nous sommes d'abord descendus ici pour acheter des substances.
21 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.
Puis quand nous fûmes arrivés à l'hôtellerie, et que nous eûmes ouvert nos sacs, voilà que l'argent de chacun de nous s'est trouvé en haut de son sac, notre argent avec tout son poids, et nous l'avons rapporté dans nos mains;
22 We have also brought more silver with us to buy more grain. We do not know who put the silver in our sacks.”
et nous apportons d'autre argent pour acheter des subsistances. Nous ignorons qui a mis notre argent dans nos sacs.
23 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.
Et il répondit: Vous resterez sains et saufs! Soyez sans crainte! Votre Dieu et le Dieu de votre père a déposé pour vous un trésor dans vos sacs, votre argent m'est parvenu. Et il leur amena Siméon élargi.
24 Then he took them into Joseph’s house. He gave them water to wash their feet and gave them food for the donkeys.
Et l'intendant les introduisit dans la maison de Joseph, et donna de l'eau pour baigner leurs pieds, et il donna du fourrage pour leurs ânes.
25 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.
Et ils préparèrent le présent en attendant que Joseph vînt à midi; car ils avaient appris qu'ils mangeraient le pain en ce lieu.
26 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.
Et Joseph étant arrivé au logis, ils lui apportèrent dans la maison le présent qu'ils avaient entre les mains, et ils s'inclinèrent devant lui contre terre.
27 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?”
Et il leur demanda de leurs nouvelles et dit: Est-il en santé votre père, ce vieillard dont vous m'avez parlé? vit-il encore?
28 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.
Et ils répondirent: Ton serviteur, notre père, est en santé, il vil encore. Et ils s'inclinèrent et se prosternèrent.
29 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.”
Alors levant les yeux il aperçut Benjamin, son frère, fils de sa mère, et dit: Est-ce là votre frère cadet dont vous m'avez parlé?
30 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.
Et il dit: Que Dieu te soit propice, mon fils! Et Joseph avait hâte, car son cœur s'embrasait pour son frère et il cherchait où pleurer, et il entra dans l'intérieur, et il pleura.
31 Then, after he washed the tears from his face, he came out, and controlling his emotions, he said to the servants, “Serve the food!”
Puis s'étant lavé le visage, il sortit, et il se contenait et dit: Servez!
32 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.
Et on le servit à part, et eux à part, et les Égyptiens qui mangeaient avec lui, à part; car les Egyptiens n'osent pas manger le pain avec les Hébreux, parce que c'est une abomination pour les Egyptiens.
33 His brothers were astonished to see that their seats were arranged according to their ages, from the oldest to the youngest!
Et ils se trouvaient assis devant lui, le premier-né selon son rang de primogéniture, et le cadet à son rang de cadet; et ces hommes s'entre-regardaient stupéfaits.
34 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.
Et Joseph leur faisait porter des portions des mets qui lui étaient servis, et la portion de Benjamin était cinq fois plus grande que les portions d'eux tous. Et ils burent, et firent gaie chère avec lui.

< Genesis 43 >