創世記 37
1 ヤコブは父の寄留の地、すなわちカナンの地に住んだ。
Jacob settled down and lived in Canaan as his father had done.
2 ヤコブの子孫は次のとおりである。ヨセフは十七歳の時、兄弟たちと共に羊の群れを飼っていた。彼はまだ子供で、父の妻たちビルハとジルパとの子らと共にいたが、ヨセフは彼らの悪いうわさを父に告げた。
This is the story of Jacob and his family. Joseph was seventeen, and helped look after the flock with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph told his father about some of the bad things his brothers were doing.
3 ヨセフは年寄り子であったから、イスラエルは他のどの子よりも彼を愛して、彼のために長そでの着物をつくった。
Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him when he was already old. He made a colorful robe with long sleeves for Joseph.
4 兄弟たちは父がどの兄弟よりも彼を愛するのを見て、彼を憎み、穏やかに彼に語ることができなかった。
When his brothers noticed that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and had nothing good to say about him.
5 ある時、ヨセフは夢を見て、それを兄弟たちに話したので、彼らは、ますます彼を憎んだ。
Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more.
6 ヨセフは彼らに言った、「どうぞわたしが見た夢を聞いてください。
“Listen to this dream I had,” he told them.
7 わたしたちが畑の中で束を結わえていたとき、わたしの束が起きて立つと、あなたがたの束がまわりにきて、わたしの束を拝みました」。
“We were tying up bundles of grain out in the fields when all of a sudden my bundle stood up, and your bundles came over and bowed down to it.”
8 すると兄弟たちは彼に向かって、「あなたはほんとうにわたしたちの王になるのか。あなたは実際わたしたちを治めるのか」と言って、彼の夢とその言葉のゆえにますます彼を憎んだ。
“Do you really think you're going to be our king?” they asked. “Do you honestly believe you're going to rule over us?” They hated him even more because of his dream and how he described it.
9 ヨセフはまた一つの夢を見て、それを兄弟たちに語って言った、「わたしはまた夢を見ました。日と月と十一の星とがわたしを拝みました」。
Then he had another dream told his brothers about it. “Listen, I had another dream,” he explained. “The sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down before me.”
10 彼はこれを父と兄弟たちに語ったので、父は彼をとがめて言った、「あなたが見たその夢はどういうのか。ほんとうにわたしとあなたの母と、兄弟たちとが行って地に伏し、あなたを拝むのか」。
He also told his father as well as his brothers, and his father told him off, saying, “What's this dream that you've had? Are we—I and your mother and brothers—really going to come and bow down to the ground before you?”
11 兄弟たちは彼をねたんだ。しかし父はこの言葉を心にとめた。
Joseph's brothers became jealous of him, but his father puzzled over the meaning of the dream.
12 さて兄弟たちがシケムに行って、父の羊の群れを飼っていたとき、
One day Joseph's brothers took their father's flocks to graze near Shechem.
13 イスラエルはヨセフに言った、「あなたの兄弟たちはシケムで羊を飼っているではないか。さあ、あなたを彼らの所へつかわそう」。ヨセフは父に言った、「はい、行きます」。
Israel told Joseph, “Your brothers are looking after the sheep near Shechem. Get ready because I want you to go and see them.” “I'll do it,” Joseph replied.
14 父は彼に言った、「どうか、行って、あなたの兄弟たちは無事であるか、また群れは無事であるか見てきて、わたしに知らせてください」。父が彼をヘブロンの谷からつかわしたので、彼はシケムに行った。
So he told him, “Off you go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and come back and let me know.” So he sent him off. Joseph set out from the Hebron Valley,
15 ひとりの人が彼に会い、彼が野をさまよっていたので、その人は彼に尋ねて言った、「あなたは何を捜しているのですか」。
and arrived in Shechem. A man there found him wandering about in the field, so he asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 彼は言った、「兄弟たちを捜しているのです。彼らが、どこで羊を飼っているのか、どうぞわたしに知らせてください」。
“I'm looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Can you please tell me where they're looking after the flock?”
17 その人は言った、「彼らはここを去りました。彼らが『ドタンへ行こう』と言うのをわたしは聞きました」。そこでヨセフは兄弟たちのあとを追って行って、ドタンで彼らに会った。
“They've already left,” the man replied. “I heard them say, ‘Let's go to Dothan.’” So Joseph followed his brothers and caught up with them at Dothan.
18 ヨセフが彼らに近づかないうちに、彼らははるかにヨセフを見て、これを殺そうと計り、
But they saw him coming way off in the distance, and before he got to them, they made plans to kill him.
19 互に言った、「あの夢見る者がやって来る。
“Look, here comes the Lord of Dreams!” they said to each other.
20 さあ、彼を殺して穴に投げ入れ、悪い獣が彼を食ったと言おう。そして彼の夢がどうなるか見よう」。
“Come on, let's kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We'll say that some wild animal has eaten him. Then we'll see what happens to his dreams!”
21 ルベンはこれを聞いて、ヨセフを彼らの手から救い出そうとして言った、「われわれは彼の命を取ってはならない」。
When Reuben heard all this, he tried to save Joseph from them.
22 ルベンはまた彼らに言った、「血を流してはいけない。彼を荒野のこの穴に投げ入れよう。彼に手をくだしてはならない」。これはヨセフを彼らの手から救いだして父に返すためであった。
“Let's not attack and kill him,” he suggested. “Don't murder him, just throw him into this pit here in the desert. You don't need to be guilty of violence.” Reuben said this so that he could come back later and rescue Joseph from them and take him home to his father.
23 さて、ヨセフが兄弟たちのもとへ行くと、彼らはヨセフの着物、彼が着ていた長そでの着物をはぎとり、
So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off his robe—the colorful long-sleeved robe he was wearing—
24 彼を捕えて穴に投げ入れた。その穴はからで、その中に水はなかった。
grabbed him and threw him into a pit. (The pit was empty—it didn't have any water in it.)
25 こうして彼らはすわってパンを食べた。時に彼らが目をあげて見ると、イシマエルびとの隊商が、らくだに香料と、乳香と、もつやくとを負わせてエジプトへ下り行こうとギレアデからやってきた。
They were just sitting down to have a meal when they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic spices, balm, and myrrh to take to Egypt.
26 そこでユダは兄弟たちに言った、「われわれが弟を殺し、その血を隠して何の益があろう。
“What's the point of killing our brother?” Judah asked his brothers. “Then we'd have to cover up his death!
27 さあ、われわれは彼をイシマエルびとに売ろう。彼はわれわれの兄弟、われわれの肉身だから、彼に手を下してはならない」。兄弟たちはこれを聞き入れた。
Instead, why don't we sell him to these Ishmaelites? We don't have to kill him. After all he's our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
28 時にミデアンびとの商人たちが通りかかったので、彼らはヨセフを穴から引き上げ、銀二十シケルでヨセフをイシマエルびとに売った。彼らはヨセフをエジプトへ連れて行った。
So when the Ishmaelites (who were traders from Midian) came by, they pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites took him to Egypt.
29 さてルベンは穴に帰って見たが、ヨセフが穴の中にいなかったので、彼は衣服を裂き、
When Reuben came back later and looked into the pit, Joseph was gone. He tore his clothes in grief.
30 兄弟たちのもとに帰って言った、「あの子はいない。ああ、わたしはどこへ行くことができよう」。
He returned to his brothers. “The boy's gone!” he moaned. “What am I going to do now?”
31 彼らはヨセフの着物を取り、雄やぎを殺して、着物をその血に浸し、
They slaughtered a goat and dipped Joseph's robe in the blood.
32 その長そでの着物を父に持ち帰って言った、「わたしたちはこれを見つけましたが、これはあなたの子の着物か、どうか見さだめてください」。
Then they sent the colorful robe to their father with the message, “We found this. Please examine it and see if it's your son's robe or not.”
33 父はこれを見さだめて言った、「わが子の着物だ。悪い獣が彼を食ったのだ。確かにヨセフはかみ裂かれたのだ」。
His father recognized it right away and said, “This is my son's robe! Some wild animal must have eaten him. Poor Joseph has been ripped to pieces, no doubt about it!”
34 そこでヤコブは衣服を裂き、荒布を腰にまとって、長い間その子のために嘆いた。
Jacob tore his clothes in grief and dressed in sackcloth. He mourned the death of his son for a long time.
35 子らと娘らとは皆立って彼を慰めようとしたが、彼は慰められるのを拒んで言った、「いや、わたしは嘆きながら陰府に下って、わが子のもとへ行こう」。こうして父は彼のために泣いた。 (Sheol h7585)
All his sons and daughters tried to console him, but he rejected their attempts. “No,” he said, “I will go down into my grave mourning for my son.” So Joseph's father went on weeping for him. (Sheol h7585)
36 さて、かのミデアンびとらはエジプトでパロの役人、侍衛長ポテパルにヨセフを売った。
In the meantime the Ishmaelites had arrived in Egypt and had sold Joseph to Potiphar. Potiphar was one of Pharaoh's officers, the captain of the guard.
