Genèse 42
1 Et lorsque Jacob vit qu'il y avait du blé en Égypte, il dit à ses fils: Pourquoi vous entre-regardez-vous?
When someone told Jacob that there was grain in Egypt that people could buy, he said to his sons, “(Why do you just sit there looking at each other?/Do not just sit there looking at each other!) [RHQ] We need some grain!”
2 Et il dit: Voici, j'ai appris qu'il y a du blé en Égypte: descendez-y et y faites des achats pour nous, afin que nous vivions et ne mourions pas.
He said to them, “Someone told me that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, in order that we will not die!”
3 Alors les dix frères de Joseph descendirent en Égypte pour y acheter du blé.
So Joseph’s ten [older] brothers went down to Egypt to buy some grain.
4 Mais quant à Benjamin, frère de Joseph, Jacob ne l'envoya point avec ses frères, car il disait: Je ne veux pas que malheur lui arrive.
But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s [younger] brother, to go with the others, because he was afraid/worried that something terrible might happen to him like what happened to Joseph.
5 Les fils d'Israël vinrent donc pour acheter du blé, parmi ceux qui venaient d'ailleurs; car la famine était dans le pays de Canaan.
So Jacob’s other sons went down from Canaan to Egypt to buy grain, and others from there went too, because there was a famine in Canaan also.
6 Or Joseph avait le pouvoir dans le pays; c'est lui qui vendait du blé à tout le peuple du pays. Et les frères de Joseph vinrent, et ils s'inclinèrent devant lui la face contre terre.
At that time Joseph was the governor of Egypt. He was the one who sold grain to people who came from all over Egypt and from many other countries [HYP] to buy grain. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, [they were told that it was necessary for them to talk with Joseph. So they went to him and] prostrated themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
7 Et à la vue de ses frères, Joseph les reconnut, mais il ne se fit pas connaître à eux, et il prit avec eux un langage dur et leur dit: D'où venez-vous? Et ils répondirent: Du pays de Canaan pour acheter des subsistances.
As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them. But he pretended that he did not know them. He spoke harshly to them, saying, “Where do you come from?” One of them replied, “We have come from Canaan, to buy some grain.”
8 Et Joseph reconnaissait ses frères, mais eux ne le reconnaissaient pas.
Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.
9 Et Joseph se rappela les songes qu'il avait faits sur eux, et il leur dit: Vous êtes des espions; c'est pour observer les endroits faibles du pays que vous êtes venus.
And then Joseph remembered what he had dreamed about them many years previously. [But he decided not to tell them yet that he was their younger brother]. He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to find out whether we will be able to defend ourselves [if you attack us]!”
10 Et ils lui répondirent: Non, monseigneur, et tes serviteurs sont venus pour acheter des subsistances.
One of them replied, “No, sir! We have come to buy grain.
11 Tous nous sommes fils d'un seul homme; nous sommes honnêtes; tes serviteurs ne sont point des espions.
We are all sons of one man. We are honest men, not spies.”
12 Et il leur dit: Non, car vous êtes venus pour observer les endroits faibles du pays.
He said to them, “[I do not believe you]. You have come just to see whether we would be able to defend ourselves if we were attacked!”
13 Et ils répondirent: Nous, tes serviteurs, sommes douze frères, fils d'un seul homme au pays de Canaan; et voici, le cadet est maintenant auprès de notre père, et l'un n'est plus.
But one of them replied, “No, that is not true! Originally there were twelve of us who were brothers, the sons of one man. Our younger brother is with our father. One [younger] brother has died. [EUP]”
14 Et Joseph leur dit: C'est ce que je vous disais: Vous êtes des espions.
Joseph replied, “[You are lying! I think] it is just as I told you. You are spies!
15 Voici l'épreuve que vous subirez: par la vie de Pharaon! vous ne sortirez pas d'ici que votre frère cadet n'y vienne.
But this is how I will determine whether what you are saying is true. I think that as surely as the king lives, you are spies. And you will not leave this place until your youngest brother comes here!
16 Envoyez l'un de vous chercher votre frère; quant à vous, restez prisonniers, pour montrer par cette épreuve s'il y a chez vous vérité ou non. Par la vie de Pharaon! vous êtes des espions.
Send one of your group to go and get your younger brother and bring him here. I will put the rest of you in prison, in order that I may test what you have said to find out whether what you are telling me is true. If the one who goes does not bring your younger brother here, then, just as surely as the king lives, it will be clear that you are lying and that you are spies.”
17 Et il les mit ensemble en prison pendant trois jours.
Then Joseph put them all in prison for three days.
18 Et le troisième jour Joseph leur dit: Faites ceci et vous vivrez; je crains Dieu!
On the third day, Joseph went to the prison and said to them, “I am a man who fears that God [will punish me if I do not do what I promise]. So do what I tell you, and I will spare your lives.
19 Si vous êtes honnêtes, que l'un de vos frères reste prisonnier dans le lieu de votre détention, et vous, partez pour porter les subsistances nécessaires à vos maisons,
If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, and the rest of you can take some grain back to your families who are very hungry because of the famine.
20 et ramenez-moi votre frère cadet; ainsi, vos discours seront vérifiés, et vous ne mourrez pas. Et c'est ce qu'ils firent.
But if you come back here again, you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that you can prove that what you told me is true, and as a result I will not have you executed.” So they agreed to do that.
21 Alors ils se dirent l'un à l'autre: Certainement nous fûmes coupables envers notre frère, lorsque témoins de l'angoisse de son âme nous ne voulûmes point l'écouter quand il nous suppliait; c'est pour cela que cette détresse nous est survenue.
They said to each other, “It is surely because of what we did to our [younger] brother that (we are being punished/God is punishing us)! We saw that he [SYN] was very distressed when he pleaded with us not to harm him. But we did not pay any attention to him, and that is why we are having this trouble!”
22 Et Ruben leur répondit en disant: Ne vous ai-je pas dit: Ne commettez pas un péché sur cet enfant? mais vous n'avez pas écouté; et son sang, voici, il est redemandé.
Reuben said to them, “I told you not to harm the boy [RHQ], but you did not pay attention to what I said! Now we are being (paid back/punished) for killing him [MTY]!”
23 Or ils ne se doutaient pas que Joseph comprenait; car ils communiquaient par un interprète.
While they were talking with Joseph, they were speaking through (an interpreter/someone who knew their language and the Egyptian language), but when they said these things among themselves, they were speaking in their own language, and they did not know that Joseph could understand their language, and that he could understand what they were saying.
24 Alors Joseph se tira à l'écart et pleura. Et revenant auprès d'eux il leur parla, et choisit parmi eux Siméon, qu'il lia sous leurs yeux.
[Because of what they said, Joseph realized that they admitted that what they had done to him many years previously was wrong]. He could not keep from crying, [and he did not want them to see him crying], so he left them and went outside the room and began to cry. But then he returned to them and talked to them again. Then he took Simeon, and while they were watching, he told his servants to tie him up. He left Simeon in the prison and told the others that they could go.
25 Et Joseph fit remplir leurs sacs de blé, et remettre leur argent, à chacun dans son sac, et leur fit donner des vivres pour la route. Et c'est ce qui fut fait pour eux.
Joseph told his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain, but he also told them to put the money that each one had paid for the grain in the top of his sack. He also told them to give them food to eat along the way. After the servants did those things for Joseph’s older brothers,
26 Et ils chargèrent leur denrée sur leurs ânes, et partirent de là.
his older brothers loaded the sacks of grain on their donkeys and left.
27 Et l'un d'eux ouvrit son sac pour donner du fourrage à son âne, dans le caravansérail, et il vit son argent, et voilà qu'il était à l'ouverture de son sac!
At the place where they stopped to sleep that night, one of them opened his sack to get some grain for his donkey. He was amazed to see his money in the top of the sack.
28 Et il dit à ses frères: Mon argent a été rendu, et le voici dans mon sac! Alors le cœur leur manqua; et se regardant l'un l'autre avec effroi ils disaient: Pourquoi Dieu nous a-t-il fait cela?
He exclaimed to his brothers, “Someone has returned my money! Here it is in my sack!” They started shaking with fear, and said to each other, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 Cependant ils arrivèrent chez Jacob, leur père, au pays de Canaan, et ils lui racontèrent tout ce qui leur était survenu et dirent:
When they returned to their father in Canaan land, they told him all that had happened to them. One of them said,
30 L'homme qui est le seigneur du pays nous a tenu un langage dur et nous a traités comme si nous venions épier le pays.
“The man who governs the whole land of Egypt talked very harshly to us. He acted toward us as though we were spying on his country.
31 Et nous lui avons dit: Nous sommes honnêtes, ne sommes point des espions;
But we told him, ‘We are honest men! We are not spies.
32 nous sommes douze frères, fils de notre père; l'un n'est plus, et le cadet est maintenant avec notre père au pays de Canaan.
Originally there were twelve of us who were brothers, the sons of one father. One has died [EUP], and our youngest brother is with our father in Canaan.’
33 Alors l'homme qui est le seigneur du pays, nous a dit: Voici ce qui me prouvera que vous êtes honnêtes: laissez chez moi l'un de vos frères, et emportez le nécessaire de vos maisons et partez; mais ramenez-moi votre frère cadet,
The man who is the governor of the land [did not believe us], so he said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are truly honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me. Then the rest of you can take some grain for your families that are starving from hunger and go.
34 pour que j'aie la preuve que vous n'êtes pas des espions, que vous êtes honnêtes, puis je vous rendrai votre frère et vous pourrez faire vos affaires dans le pays. –
But when you return, bring your youngest brother to me, in order that I will know that you are not spies, but instead, that you are honest men. Then I will release your brother for you. And then you can buy whatever you want in this country.’”
35 Et lorsqu'il vidèrent leurs sacs, voici, chacun d'eux avait sa bourse d'argent dans son sac; et à la vue de leur bourse d'argent ils furent effrayés, eux et leur père. –
As they were emptying their sacks, they were surprised that in each man’s sack was his pouch of money! When they and their father saw all the pouches of money, they were frightened.
36 Et Jacob, leur père, leur dit: Vous m'ôtez mes enfants! Joseph n'est plus et Siméon n'est plus, et vous voulez prendre Benjamin! tout tombe sur moi.
Their father Jacob said to them, “You have caused two of my children to be taken from me! Joseph is dead, and Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin from me! It is I who am suffering because of all these things that are happening!”
37 Et Ruben dit à son père: Tu peux faire mourir mes deux fils, si je ne te le ramène pas. Remets-le entre mes mains et je te le rendrai.
Reuben said to his father, “I will be responsible for Benjamin. [I will take him to Egypt and] bring him back to you. Let me take care of him. If I do not bring Benjamin back to you, you may kill both of my sons.”
38 Et il dit: Mon fils ne descendra pas avec vous; car son frère est mort et lui seul survit, et s'il lui arrivait malheur sur la route que vous suivrez, vous feriez descendre mes cheveux blancs douloureusement aux Enfers. (Sheol h7585)
But Jacob said, “No, I will not let my son go down there with you. His [older] brother is dead, and he is the only [one of my wife Rachel’s] sons who is left! If something harms him while you are traveling, you would cause me, a gray-haired old man, to die because of sorrow.” (Sheol h7585)
