Genesis 20
1 Abraham yede forth fro thennus in to the lond of the south, and dwellide bitwixe Cades and Sur, and was a pilgrym in Geraris;
Abraham left Mamre and moved southwest to the Negev desert and lived in a place named Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur.
2 and he seide of Sare, his wijf, Sche is my sistir. Therfor Abymalec, kyng of Gerare, sente, and took hir.
While he was there, he told people that Sarah was his sister, not his wife. Then King Abimelech of Gerar sent some of his men to Sarah, and they brought her to him to be his wife.
3 Sotheli God cam to Abymalec bi a sweuene in the nyyt, and seide to hym, Lo! thou schalt die, for the wooman which thou hast take, for sche hath an hosebond.
But God appeared to Abimelech in a dream during the night and said to him, “Listen to me! You are going to die because the woman you took is another man’s wife.”
4 Forsothe Abymalech touchide not hir; and he seide, Lord, whether thou schalt sle folc vnkunnynge and iust?
But Abimelech had not had sex [EUP] with her, so he said, “God, since the people of my nation and I am innocent; will you kill me?
5 Whether he seide not to me, Sche is my sistir, and sche seide, He is my brother? In the symplenesse of myn herte, and in the clennesse of myn hondis Y dide this.
He told me, ‘She is my sister,’ and she also said, ‘He is my brother.’ I did this with pure motives and I [SYN] have not done anything wrong yet.”
6 And the Lord seide to hym, And Y woot that thou didist bi symple herte, and therfor Y kepte thee, lest thou didist synne ayens me, and I suffride not that thou touchidist hir;
God said to him in another dream, “Yes, I know that your motives were pure. That is why I truly prevented you from sinning against me. I did not allow you to have sex [EUP] with her.
7 now therfor yelde thou the wijf to hir hosebonde, for he is a profete; and he schal preye for thee, and thou schalt lyue; sotheli if thou nylte yelde, wite thou that thou schalt die bi deeth, thou and alle thingis that ben thine.
Now, return this man’s wife to her husband, because he is (a prophet/a man who receives messages from me). He will pray for you, and you will (remain alive/not die). But if you do not return her to him, you will certainly die, and all the members of your household will also certainly die.”
8 And anoon Abynalech roos bi nyyt, and clepide alle his seruauntis, and spak alle these wordis in the eeris of hem; and alle men dredden greetli.
Early the next morning, Abimelech summoned all his officials, and told them everything that had happened. When they heard that [MTY], his men were very afraid [that God would punish them].
9 Sotheli Abymalec clepide also Abraham, and seide to hym, What hast thou do to vs? what synneden we ayens thee, for thou hast brouyt in on me and on my rewme a greuouse synne? thou hast do to vs whiche thingis thou ouytist not do.
Abimelech then summoned Abraham, and said to him, “You should not have done that to us [RHQ]! Did I do something wrong to you, with the result that you are causing me and the people in [MTY] my kingdom to be guilty of committing a great sin [RHQ]? You have done things to me that (should not be done/you should not have done)!”
10 And eft Abimalech axide, and seide, What thing seiyist thou, that thou woldist do this?
Abimelech asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”
11 Abraham answerde, Y thouyte with me, and seide, in hap the drede of God is not in this place; and thei schulen sle me for my wijf;
Abraham replied, “I said that because I thought, ‘They certainly do not respect God in this place. If they don’t respect God, they will not respect relationships with others. [If I say she is my sister, they will try to pay me a bride price] to get her. But if I say she is my wife, they will kill me to get her.’
12 in other maner forsothe and sche is my sister verili, the douyter of my fadir, and not the douyter of my moder; and Y weddide hir in to wijf;
Besides, she really [can be considered] my sister, because she is the daughter of my father, although she is not the daughter of my mother. She is the daughter of another woman, and I married her.
13 sotheli aftir that God ladde me out of the hous of my fadir, Y seide to hir, Thou schalt do this mercy with me in ech place to which we schulen entre; thou schalt seie, that Y am thi brother.
Later, when God told me to move away from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is the way you can show that you love me: Everywhere we go, say about me, “This is my brother.”’”
14 Therfore Abymelech took scheep, and oxun, and seruauntis, and handmaydenes, and yaf to Abraham; and he yeldide to him Sare, `his wijf, and seide, The lond is bifor you;
So Abimelech brought some sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham. And he returned his wife Sarah to him.
15 dwelle thou, where euere it plesith thee. Forsothe Abymelech seide to Sare, Lo!
And Abimelech said to him, “Look! All my land is here in front of you. Live in whatever place you like!”
16 Y yaf a thousand platis of siluer to thi brother; this schal be to thee in to hiling of iyen to al men that ben with thee; and whider euere thou goist, haue thou mynde that thou art takun.
And he said to Sarah, “Look here, I am giving 1,000 pieces of silver to your brother. This is to insure that no one will [bring up this matter again and] say that I have done something wrong. [EUP, IDM]”
17 Sotheli for Abraham preiede, God curide Abymelech, and his wijf, and handmaydens, and thei childiden;
Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech’s wife and his slave girls so that they could become pregnant.
18 for God hadde closid ech wombe of the hows of Abymelech, for Sare, the wijf of Abraham.
This was because Yahweh had caused it to be impossible for any of the women in Abimelech’s household to bear children, because Abimelech had taken Abraham’s wife Sarah.
