Genesis 12
1 Forsothe the Lord seide to Abram, Go thou out of thi lond, and of thi kynrede, and of the hous of thi fadir, and come thou in to the lond which Y schal schewe to thee;
Then Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave this country where you are now living. Leave your father’s clan and his family. Go to a land that I will show you.
2 and Y schal make thee in to a greet folk, and Y schal blisse thee, and Y schal magnyfie thi name, and thou schalt be blessid;
I will cause your descendants to become a large nation. I will bless you and cause you to become (famous/highly esteemed). What I do for you will be a blessing to others.
3 Y schal blesse hem that blessen thee, and Y schal curse hem that cursen thee; and alle kynredis of erthe schulen be blessid in thee.
I will bless those who (bless/ask God to do good things for) you, and I will (curse/ask God to punish) those who do evil things to you. And because of what you do, groups of people all over the earth will receive blessings (OR, people will wish that God will bless others as much as he has blessed you).”
4 And so Abram yede out, as the Lord comaundide hym, and Loth yede with hym. Abram was of `thre scoor yeer and fiftene whanne he yede out of Aran.
So Abram left Haran [town], as Yahweh told him to do. Abram was 75 years old when he left there along with his wife, Sarai, and his nephew, Lot.
5 And he took Saray, his wijf, and Loth, the sone of his brother, and al the substaunce which thei hadden in possessioun, and the men whiche thei hadden bigete in Aran; and thei yeden out that thei `schulen go in to the loond of Chanaan. And whanne they camen in to it,
Abram also took along all the possessions and slaves that they had accumulated/acquired in Haran [town], and they left there and went to Canaan land.
6 Abram passide thorou the lond til to the place of Sichem, and til to the noble valey. Forsothe Chananei was thanne in the lond.
In Canaan they traveled as far as Shechem [town] and camped by a huge tree called the tree of Moreh. The Canaan people-group were still living in that land.
7 Sotheli the Lord apperide to Abram, and seide to hym, Y schal yyue this lond to thi seed. And Abram bildide there an auter to the Lord, that apperide to hym.
Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I will give this land to your descendants.” Then Abram built a stone altar to offer a sacrifice to Yahweh because Yahweh had appeared to him.
8 And fro thennus he passide forth to the hil Bethel, that was ayens the eest, and settide there his tabernacle, hauynge Bethel fro the west, and Hay fro the eest. And he bildide also there an auter to the Lord, and inwardli clepide his name.
From Shechem, Abram and his family traveled to the hills that were east of Bethel [town]. Bethel [town] was to the west of where they set up their tent, and Ai [town] was further to the east. There he built another stone altar and offered a sacrifice and worshiped Yahweh there.
9 And Abram yede goynge and goynge forth ouer to the south.
Then they left there and started traveling south to the Negev [Desert].
10 Sotheli hungur was maad in the lond; and Abram yede doun in to Egipt, to be a pilgrime ther, for hungur hadde maistrie in the lond.
There was (a famine/very little food to eat) in Canaan, so they went south to live in Egypt for a while.
11 And whanne he was nyy to entre in to Egipt, he seide to Saray, his wijf, Y knowe that thou art a fair womman,
Just as they were about to enter Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai, “Listen, I know that you are a very beautiful woman.
12 and that whanne Egipcians schulen se thee, thei schulen seie, it is his wijf, and thei schulen sle me, and `schulen reserue thee.
When the people in Egypt see you, they will say, ‘This woman is his wife!’ and they will kill me in order to get you, but they will not kill you.
13 Therfor, Y biseche thee, seie thou, that thou art my sistir, that it be wel to me for thee, and that my lijf lyue for loue of thee.
So I ask you to tell them that you are my sister, so that because of you telling them that, they will (spare my life/not kill me).”
14 And so whanne Abram hadde entrid in to Egipt, Egipcians sien the womman that sche was ful fair; and the prynces telden to Farao, and preiseden hir anentis him;
And as soon as they arrived in Egypt, the people in Egypt saw that his wife was indeed very beautiful.
15 and the womman was takun vp in to the hous of Farao.
When the king’s officials saw her, they told the king how beautiful she was. And they took her to the king’s palace.
16 Forsothe thei vsiden wel Abram for hir; and scheep, and oxun, and assis, and seruauntis, and seruauntessis, and sche assis, and camels weren to hym.
The king treated Abram kindly because of Sarai, and he gave Abram many sheep and cattle and donkeys and male and female slaves and camels.
17 Forsothe the Lord beet Farao and his hous with moste veniaunces, for Saray, the wijf of Abram.
But because the king had taken Sarai, Abram’s wife, Yahweh caused the king and the others in his household to be inflicted with terrible diseases.
18 And Farao clepide Abram, and seide to hym, What is it that thou hast do to me? whi schewidist thou not to me, that sche was thi wijf?
When the king realized why that was happening, he summoned Abram and said to him, “Why did you do this to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
19 for what cause seidist thou, that sche was thi sister, that Y schulde take hir in to wife to me? Now therfor lo! thi wiif; take thou hir, and go.
Why did you lie, saying she is your sister, with the result that I took her to be my wife? You should not have done that! So now take your wife, leave here and go!”
20 And Farao comaundide to men on Abram, and thei ledden forth hym, and his wijf, and alle thingis that he hadde.
Then the king told his officials/servants to take Abram and his wife and all his possessions out of Egypt.
