Genèse 38
1 En ce temps-là, il advint que Juda se sépara de ses frères, et s'en alla chez un Odollamite, dont le nom était Hiras.
Around this time, Judah left his brothers and set up his tents at Adullam, near to a local man named Hirah.
2 Juda vit là une fille de Chananéen dont le nom était Sué; il la prit, et il s'approcha d'elle.
There Judah happened to see the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua and married her. He slept with her,
3 Celle-ci ayant conçu, enfanta un fils qu'elle nomma Her.
and she became pregnant and had a son he named Er.
4 Puis, ayant conçu de nouveau, elle enfanta un fils qu'elle nomma Onan,
She became pregnant again and had a son she named Onan.
5 Elle enfanta encore un fils qu'elle appela Séla; or, elle habitait Chasbi lorsqu'elle les enfanta.
Then she had another son she named Shelah who was born in Kezib.
6 Juda prit pour Her, son premier-né, une femme dont le nom était Thamar.
Much later, Judah arranged for Er, his firstborn son, to marry a woman named Tamar.
7 Her, premier-né de Juda, fut méchant devant le Seigneur, et Dieu le fit périr.
But Er did what was evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord put him to death.
8 Juda dit alors à Onan: Approche-toi de la femme de ton frère, épouse-la, et relève la race de ton frère.
Judah told Onan, “Go and sleep with your brother's wife to fulfill the requirements of a brother-in-law to have children on behalf of your brother.”
9 Mais Onan, sachant que les enfants ne seraient point pour lui, lorsqu'il s'approchait de la femme de son frère, répandait la semence à terre, afin de ne point donner de race à son frère.
Onan realized that any children he had wouldn't be his own, so whenever he slept with his brother's wife he made sure she wouldn't become pregnant by withdrawing and spilling his semen on the ground. In this way he prevented any children being born on behalf of his brother.
10 Et il parut méchant devant Dieu pour avoir fait cela, et Dieu fit mourir celui-là aussi.
But what he did was evil in the Lord's sight, so he also put Onan to death.
11 Juda dit alors à Thamar, sa bru: Reste veuve dans la maison de ton père jusqu'à ce que mon fils Séla soit grand. Mais il se disait en lui-même: Prenons garde que celui-là aussi ne meure comme ses frères. Et Thamar, étant partie, demeura en la maison de son père.
Then Judah told his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Go to your father's house and live there as a widow until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “Maybe he'll die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went and stayed in her father's house.
12 Les jours s'écoulèrent, et Sué, femme de Juda, mourut; après que Juda se fut consolé, il s'en alla avec Hiras, son pâtre Odollamite, en Thamma, vers ceux qui tondaient ses brebis.
A long time later Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah had finished the time of mourning, he went to visit his sheepshearers at Timnah with his friend Hirah from Adullam.
13 Et des gens vinrent à Thamar, sa bru, disant: Voici que ton beau-père monte en Thamma pour tondre ses brebis.
Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going to Timnah to shear his sheep.”
14 Alors, elle quitta ses vêtements de veuve, et mit son large voile; elle se fit belle, et elle s'assit devant la porte d'Enan qui est sur le chemin de Thamna, car elle voyait que Séla ayant grandi et que Juda ne la lui faisait point prendre pour femme.
So she took off her widow's clothes and covered herself with a veil, disguising herself. She sat down beside the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. She had realized that even though Shelah had now grown up, nothing had been done about her marrying him.
15 Juda l'ayant vue, la prit pour une prostituée, car elle avait voilé sa figure, et il ne la reconnut pas.
Judah saw her and thought she must be a prostitute because she had veiled her face.
16 Il quitta le chemin pour aller à elle, et il lui dit: Laisse-moi m'approcher de toi; car il ne savait pas que c'était sa bru; elle lui dit: Que me donneras-tu si tu t'approches de moi?
He went over to her at the side of the road and said, “I want to sleep with you.” He didn't know she was his daughter-in-law. “What will you give me if I let you sleep with me?” she asked.
17 Je t'enverrai, répondit-il, un chevreau de mon troupeau de chèvres. Elle repartit: Tu me donneras des gages jusqu'à ce que tu me l'aies envoyé.
“I'll send you a young goat from my flock,” he replied. “What guarantee will you give me to make sure you'll send it?” she asked.
18 Et il reprit: Quel gage te donnerai-je? Ton anneau, dit-elle, ton petit collier, et la baguette que tu as à la main. Il les lui donna donc; il s'approcha d'elle, et elle conçut de lui.
“What guarantee do I have to give you?” he asked. “Your signet seal and its cord, and your walking stick that you're holding,” she replied. He handed them over to her. He slept with her and she became pregnant.
19 Puis, s'étant levée, elle partit, ôta et replia son large voile, et elle remit ses vêtements de veuve.
She left, went home, took off her veil, and put on her widow's clothes.
20 De son côté, Juda donna le chevreau à son pâtre d'Odollam, pour qu'il retirât ses gages des mains de la femme; mais celui-ci ne put la trouver.
Judah sent his friend Hirah from Adullam with a young goat to get back his belongings he'd left as a guarantee from the woman, but he couldn't find her.
21 Il interrogea les hommes du lieu: Où est la prostituée qui s'est assise à Enan sur le chemin? Ils lui dirent qu'il n'y avait pas de prostituée dans le pays.
Hirah asked the men there, “Where's the cult prostitute that sits by the entrance road to Enaim?” “There's no cult prostitute here,” they answered.
22 Et il retourna près de Juda. Je n'ai trouvé personne, dit-il, et les hommes du lieu affirment qu'il n'y a point chez eux de prostituée.
Hirah went back to Judah and told him, “I couldn't find her, and the men there said, ‘There's no cult prostitute here.’”
23 Et Juda dit: Qu'elle retienne les gages, mais que l'on se garde de nous faire des reproches: car j'ai envoyé le chevreau, et tu n'as point trouvé la personne.
“Let her keep what I gave her,” Judah replied. “We'll look ridiculous to people if we go on searching. In any case I did try to send her the young goat as promised but you couldn't find her.”
24 Or, il advint, trois mois après, que des gens allèrent trouver Juda, disant: Thamar, ta bru, s'est prostituée, et elle a conçu de sa prostitution; et Juda dit: Qu'on l'amène et qu'elle soit brûlée.
Then about three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has had sex like a prostitute and now as a result she's pregnant!” “Bring her out and burn her to death!” Judah ordered.
25 Comme on l'emmenait, elle envoya à son beau-père, disant: C'est de l'homme à qui ces choses appartiennent que j'ai conçu; et elle ajouta: Reconnais à qui sont l'anneau, le petit collier et la baguette.
As she was brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law, saying, “I'm pregnant by the man who owns these things.” Then she added, “Please look carefully at this signet seal and its cord and walking stick. Who do they belong to?”
26 Et Juda les reconnut, et il dit: Thamar est plus juste que moi, car je ne l'ai point donnée à Séla mon fils. Mais il ne la connut plus de nouveau.
Judah recognized them right away and said, “She has honored the law more than I have, because I didn't give her in marriage to my son Shelah.” He didn't sleep with Tamar again.
27 Or, il advint, lorsqu'elle allait enfanter, que deux jumeaux étaient dans ses entrailles.
When the time came for Tamar to give birth, she was found to be carrying twins.
28 Et pendant qu'elle enfantait, l'un présenta d'abord une main à laquelle la sage-femme attacha de l'écarlate, disant: Celui-ci sortira le premier.
One baby put out his hand, and the midwife tied a scarlet thread around on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.”
29 Dès qu'il eut retiré sa main, soudain son frère sortit, et la sage-femme dit: Pourquoi est-ce toi qui as rompu la clôture? et elle lui donna le nom de Pharès.
But then he pulled back his hand and his brother was born, she said, “How did you burst out?” So he was named Perez.
30 Après cela l'autre frère sortit, ayant encore au bras l'écarlate, et elle le nomma Zara.
Then his brother with the scarlet thread on his wrist was born. He was named Zerah.
