Genèse 37
1 Cependant, Jacob demeurait dans la terre où son père avait été passager, la terre de Chanaan.
Now Jacob was living in the land where his father had made a place for himself, in the land of Canaan.
2 Voici les générations de Jacob. Joseph avait dix-sept ans, et il paissait, avec ses frères, les brebis de son père; il était le plus jeune, et il paissait les brebis avec les fils de Balla, et avec les fils de Zelpha, femmes de son père; et ils portèrent contre Joseph à leur père une méchante accusation.
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 Jacob aimait Joseph plus qu'aucun de ses fils, parce qu'il était le fils de sa vieillesse; et il lui fut faire une tunique bigarrée.
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, ayant vu que son père l'aimait plus qu'aucun de ses fils, le haïrent; et ils ne pouvaient plus lui dire une seule parole de paix.
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 Or, Joseph, ayant eu un songe, le rapporta à ses frères.
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: Écoutez le songe que j'ai eu.
And he said to them, Let me give you the story of my dream.
7 Il me semblait que vous faisiez des gerbes au milieu du champ: ma gerbe se tenait debout et restait droite, et vos gerbes entourant la mienne se prosternaient devant elle.
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 dirent: Est-ce que tu dois être roi et régner sur nous, ou nous dominer comme un seigneur? Et ils le haïssaient plus encore, à cause de ses songes et à cause de son récit.
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 eut plus tard un autre songe qu'il raconta à son père et à ses frères, disant: J'ai encore eu un songe; le voici: C'était comme le soleil, et la lune, et onze étoiles qui m'adoraient.
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 Son père le réprimanda, et lui dit: Qu'est-ce que ce songe que tu as eu? Est-ce donc que moi, et la mère, et tes frères, nous en viendrons à t'adorer 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 le jalousaient; quant au père, il méditait sur ces choses.
And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.
12 Sur ces entrefaites, ses frères partirent pour paître en Sichem les brebis de leur père;
Now his brothers went to keep watch over their father's flock in Shechem.
13 Et Israël dit à Joseph: Tes frères ne paissent-ils pas en Sichem? Viens, que je t'envoie auprès d'eux; et il dit: Me voici.
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 Jacob lui dit: Vas-y; vois si tes frères se portent bien, ainsi que les brebis, et rapporte-le-moi. Joseph étant donc parti de la vallée d'Hébron pour aller en 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 Un homme le rencontra errant dans la campagne, et l'homme l'interrogea, disant: Que cherches-tu?
And a man saw him wandering in the country, and said to him, What are you looking for?
16 Il répondit: Je cherche mes frères; dis-moi où ils paissent.
And he said, I am looking for my brothers; please give me word of where they are keeping their flock.
17 L'homme reprit: Ils ont quitté leur pâturage, car je les ai entendus se dire: Allons en Dothaïn. Joseph alla aussitôt où étaient ses frères, et il les trouva en 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 Dès qu'ils l'aperçurent de loin, bien avant qu'il les eût abordés, ils pensèrent méchamment à le faire mourir;
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 dirent entre eux: Voilà le songeur qui vient.
Saying to one another, See, here comes this dreamer.
20 Maintenant donc allons, tuons-le, et jetons-le dans une des citernes; puis nous dirons: Une bête fauve l'a mangé; nous verrons alors ce qu'il adviendra de 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 Ce qu'ayant entendu Ruben, il résolut de l'arracher de leurs mains, et il dit: Non, ne lui donnons pas le coup de la mort.
But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.
22 Ruben, qui voulait l'arracher de leurs mains et le rendre à son père, leur dit: Ne versez pas de sang; jetez-le dans une des citernes du désert, mais ne portez pas les mains sur lui.
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 Lors donc que Joseph arriva près de ses frères, ils le dépouillèrent de la tunique bigarrée dont il était vêtu.
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat which he had on;
24 Et, l'ayant pris, ils le jetèrent dans la citerne, qui alors se trouvait vide; il n'y avait pas une goutte d'eau.
And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it.
25 Ils s'assirent ensuite pour manger du pain, et, ayant levé les yeux, ils virent des voyageurs ismaélites arrivant de Galaad avec leurs chamelles chargées de parfums, de gomme et de myrrhe qu'ils allaient vendre 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 Alors, Juda dit à ses frères: Que nous reviendra-t-il d'avoir fait périr notre frère, et de cacher son sang?
And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood?
27 Vendons-le plutôt à ces Ismaélites et ne portons pas les mains sur lui, car il est notre frère et notre chair. Ses frères y consentirent.
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 Comme les marchands madianites approchaient, ils tirèrent Joseph de la citerne, le mirent sur pied, et le vendirent aux Ismaélites vingt drachmes d'or; et les hommes emmenèrent Joseph 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 était revenu vers la citerne, et n'y voyant point Joseph, il déchira ses vêtements.
Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,
30 Puis se tournant vers ses frères, il leur dit: L'enfant n'est plus là; et moi, où désormais irai-je?
He went back to his brothers, and said, The child is gone; what am I to do?
31 Ils prirent la tunique de Joseph, égorgèrent un chevreau pris parmi les chèvres, souillèrent de sang la tunique bigarrée,
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 Et la renvoyèrent à leur père; ceux qui la portaient lui dirent: Nous avons trouvé cette tunique, vois si ce n'est pas la tunique de ton fils.
And they took the coat to their father, and said, We came across this; is it your son's coat or not?
33 Il la reconnut aussitôt, et dit: C'est la tunique de mon fils; une bête fauve l'a mangé, une bête fauve a ravi 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 Jacob déchira ses vêtements; il ceignit ses reins d'un cilice, et il pleura son fils bien des jours.
Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went on weeping for his son day after day.
35 En vain ses fils se réunirent-ils avec ses filles, et vinrent-ils tous pour le consoler; il ne voulut point être consolé, disant: Je descendrai près de mon fils au sein de la terre en pleurant. Et le père de Joseph le pleura, (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 Quant aux Madianites, ils vendirent Joseph en Égypte, à Putiphar, eunuque du Pharaon, chef de ses cuisines.
And in Egypt the men of Midian gave him for a price to Potiphar, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house.
