Genesis 26
1 Some time later there was a severe (famine/scarcity of food) there. That was different from the famine that occurred when Abraham was alive. So Isaac went [southeast] to Gerar [town, to talk] to Abimelech, the king of the Philistine people-group. [What happened was this: Isaac considered going to Egypt],
Forsothe for hungur roos on the lond, aftir thilke bareynesse that bifelde in the daies of Abraham, Isaac yede forth to Abymelech, kyng of Palestyns, in Gerara.
2 but Yahweh appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt! Live in the land where I will tell you to go!
And the Lord apperide to hym, and seide, Go not doun in to Egipt, but reste thou in the lond which Y schal seie to thee,
3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will help you and bless you, because it is to you and your descendants that I will give all these lands, and I will do what I solemnly promised to your father.
and be thou a pilgrym ther ynne; and Y schal be with thee, and Y schal blesse thee; for Y schal yyue alle these cuntrees to thee and to thi seed, and Y schal fille the ooth which Y bihiyte to Abraham, thi fadir.
4 I will cause your descendants to be as numerous as the stars in the sky. I will give to your descendants all these lands, and I will cause your descendants to be a blessing to the people of [MTY] all nations on the earth.
And Y schal multiplie thi seed as the sterris of heuene, and Y schal yyue alle these thingis to thin eyris, and alle folkis of erthe schulen be blessid in thi seed, for Abraham obeide to my vois,
5 I will do that because your father Abraham obeyed me. He obeyed everything that I told him to do, everything that I declared and all the laws that I gave him.” So Isaac [went and asked King Abimelech if he would permit him to live in the Gerar area. The king said, “Okay,”]
and kepte `my preceptis and comaundementis, and kepte cerymonyes and lawis.
6 [so Isaac] stayed there [along with his wife and sons].
And so Ysaac dwellide in Geraris.
7 When the men in Gerar [town] asked who Rebekah was, Isaac said, “She is my sister.” He said that because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “Rebekah is very beautiful, so they will want her. [If I say that she is my sister, they know they will have to negotiate about a bride price because I am her older brother; but if I say that she is my wife, no negotiation will be possible]. They will just kill me to get her.”
And whanne he was axid of men of that place of his wijf, he answarde, Sche is my sistir; for he dredde to knowleche that sche was felouschipid to hym in matrymonye, and gesside lest peraduenture thei wolden sle him for the fairnesse of hir.
8 When Isaac had been there a long time, one day Abimelech, the king of the Philistine people-group, looked down from a window [in his palace] and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
And whanne ful many daies weren passid, and he dwellide there, Abymelech, kyng of Palestyns, bihelde bi a wyndow, and seiy hym pleiynge with Rebecca, his wijf.
9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said to him, “Now I realize that she is really your wife! So why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied to him, “I said that because I thought that someone here might kill me to get her.”
And whanne Isaac was clepid, the kyng seide, It is opyn, that sche is thi wijf; whi liedist thou, that sche was thi sistir? Isaac answerde, Y dredde, lest Y schulde die for hir.
10 Abimelech said, “(You should not have done this to us!/Why did you do this?) [RHQ] One of our people might have (had sex with/slept with) [EUP] your wife, and you would have caused us to be guilty of a great sin!”
And Abymelech seide, Whi hast thou disseyued vs? Sum man of the puple myyte do letcherie with thi wijf, and thou haddist brouyt in greuous synne on vs. And the kyng comaundide to al the puple,
11 Then Abimelech commanded all his people, saying, “Do not harm/molest this man or his wife! Anyone who does that will surely be executed!”
and seide, He that touchith the wijf of this man schal die bi deeth.
12 Isaac planted grain in that land that year, and he harvested a very large crop, because Yahweh blessed him.
Forsothe Isaac sowide in that lond, and he foond an hundrid fold in that yeer; and the Lord blesside hym.
13 Isaac continued to acquire more and more possessions, until finally he became very wealthy.
And the man was maad riche, and he yede profitynge and encreessynge til he was maad ful greet.
14 He had large herds of sheep and goats and cattle, and many slaves. Because of that, the Philistine people envied him.
Also he hadde possessioun of scheep and grete beestis, and ful myche of meyne. For this thing Palestyns hadden enuye to hym,
15 So all the wells that the servants of his father Abraham had dug during the time when he was alive, the people filled up with dirt.
and thei stoppiden in that tyme and filliden with erthe alle the pittis whiche the seruauntis of Abraham his fadir hadden diggid,
16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “You people have become more numerous than we are, so I want you to get out of our area.”
in so myche that Abymelech him silf seide to Ysaac, Go thou awei fro vs, for thou art maad greetly myytier than we.
17 So Isaac [and his family] moved from there. They set up their tents in Gerar Valley [and started to live there].
And he yede awei, that he schulde come to the stronde of Gerare, and dwelle there.
18 There were several wells in that area that had been dug when Isaac’s father Abraham was living, but Philistine people had filled them up [with dirt] after Abraham died. Now Isaac and his servants removed the dirt, and Isaac gave the wells the same names that his father had given to them.
And he diggide eft other pittis, whiche the seruauntis of Abraham his fadir hadden diggid, and whiche the Filisteis hadden stoppid sumtyme, whanne Abraham was deed; and he clepide tho pittis bi the same names, bi whiche his fadir hadde clepid bifore.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water.
Thei diggiden in the stronde, and thei founden wellynge watir.
20 But other men who lived in Gerar [Valley] who took care of their animals argued/quarreled with the men who took care of Isaac’s animals, and said, “The water in this well is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek, which means ‘dispute’, because they disputed about who owned it.
But also strijf of scheepherdis of Gerare was there ayens the scheepherdis of Isaac, and thei seiden, The watir is oure; wherfor of that that bifelde he clepide the name of the pit fals chaleng.
21 Then Isaac’s servants dug another well, but they quarreled about who owned that one also. So Isaac named it Sitnah, [which means ‘opposition]’.
And thei diggiden anothir, and thei stryueden also for that, and Ysaac clepide that pit enemytes.
22 They moved on from there and dug another well, but this time no one quarreled about who owned it. So Isaac named it Rehoboth, [which means ‘uninhabited place’], saying, “Yahweh has given us an uninhabited place to live in, a place that is not wanted by other people, and we will become very prosperous here.”
And he yede forth fro thennus, and diggide another pit, for which thei stryueden not, therfor he clepid the name of that pit largenesse; and seide, Now God hath alargid vs, and hath maad to encreesse on erthe.
23 From there Isaac went up to Beersheba.
Forsothe he stiede fro that place in to Bersabee,
24 The first night that he was there, Yahweh appeared to him and said, “I am God, whom your father Abraham worshiped. Do not be afraid of anything. I will help you and bless you, and because of what I promised my servant Abraham, I will greatly increase the number of your descendants.”
where the Lord God apperide to him in that nyyt; and seide, Y am God of Abraham, thi fadir; nyle thou drede, for Y am with thee, and Y schal blesse thee, and Y schal multiplie thi seed for my seruaunt Abraham.
25 So Isaac built a stone altar there [and offered a sacrifice] to worship Yahweh. He [and his servants] set up their tents there, and his servants started to dig a well.
And so Ysaac bildide ther an auter to the Lord; and whanne the name of the Lord was inwardli clepid, he stretchide forth a tabernacle; and he comaundide hise seruauntis that thei schulden digge pittis.
26 [While they were digging the well], King Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar, along with Ahuzzath, his advisor, and Phicol, the commander of his army.
And whanne Abymelech, and Ochosat, hise frendis, and Ficol, duk of knyytis, hadden come fro Geraris to that place,
27 Isaac asked them, “You (acted in a hostile way toward me/treated me like an enemy) before, and sent me away. So why have you come to me now?”
Isaac spak to hem, What camen ye to me, a man whom ye hatiden, and puttiden awei fro you?
28 One of them answered, “We have seen that Yahweh helps you. So we said to each other, ‘We should have an agreement between us and you. We should make a peace treaty with you,
Whiche answeriden, We seiyen that God is with thee, and therfor we seiden now, An ooth be bitwixe vs, and make we a couenaunt of pees,
29 stating that you will not harm us, in the same way that we did not molest [EUP] you.’ We always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now Yahweh is blessing you.”
that thou do not ony yuel to vs, as we touchiden `not ony thing of thine, nethir diden that that hirtide thee, but with pees we leften thee encressid bi the blessyng of the Lord.
30 So Isaac made a feast for them, and they all ate and drank.
Therfor Isaac made a feeste to hem; and after mete and drynk thei risen eerli,
31 Early the next morning they all (swore/solemnly promised) each other that they would do what they had promised. Then Isaac sent them home peacefully.
and sworen ech to other; and Isaac lefte hem peisibli in to her place.
32 That day Isaac’s servants came to him and told him about the well that they had finished digging. They said, “We found water in the well!”
Lo! forsothe in that dai the seruauntis of Ysaac camen, tellynge to him of the pit which thei hadden diggid, and seiden, We han foundun watir.
33 Isaac named the well Shibah, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘oath’]. To the present time the town there has the name Beersheba [which means ‘Friendship Agreement Well’].
Wherfor Ysaac clepide that pit abundaunce; and the name of the citee was set Bersabee til in to present dai.
34 When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon. Both of those women were descendants of Heth, [not from Isaac’s clan].
Esau forsothe fourti yeer eld weddide twei wyues, Judith, the douytir of Beeri Ethei, and Bethsamath, the douyter of Elon, of the same place;
35 Esau’s two wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.
whiche bothe offendiden the soule of Isaac and of Rebecca.
