Genesis 26

1 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.

Then came a time of great need in the land, like that which had been before in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

2 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,

And the Lord came to him in a vision and said, Do not go down to Egypt; keep in the land of which I will give you knowledge:

3 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.

Keep in this land, and I will be with you and give you my blessing; for to you and to your seed will I give all these lands, giving effect to the oath which I made to your father Abraham;

4 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,

I will make your seed like the stars of heaven in number, and will give them all these lands, and your seed will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth;

5 and kepte `my preceptis and comaundementis, and kepte cerymonyes and lawis.

Because Abraham gave ear to my voice and kept my words, my rules, my orders, and my laws.

6 And so Ysaac dwellide in Geraris.

So Isaac went on living in Gerar;

7 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.

And when he was questioned by the men of the place about his wife, he said, She is my sister; fearing to say, She is my wife; for, he said, the men of the place may put me to death on account of Rebekah; because she is very beautiful.

8 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.

And when he had been there for some time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looking through a window, saw Isaac playing with Rebekah his wife.

9 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.

And he said to Isaac, It is clear that she is your wife: why then did you say, She is my sister? And Isaac said, For fear that I might be put to death because of her.

10 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,

Then Abimelech said, What have you done to us? one of the people might well have had connection with your wife, and the sin would have been ours.

11 and seide, He that touchith the wijf of this man schal die bi deeth.

And Abimelech gave orders to his people that anyone touching Isaac or his wife was to be put to death.

12 Forsothe Isaac sowide in that lond, and he foond an hundrid fold in that yeer; and the Lord blesside hym.

Now Isaac, planting seed in that land, got in the same year fruit a hundred times as much, for the blessing of the Lord was on him.

13 And the man was maad riche, and he yede profitynge and encreessynge til he was maad ful greet.

And his wealth became very great, increasing more and more;

14 Also he hadde possessioun of scheep and grete beestis, and ful myche of meyne. For this thing Palestyns hadden enuye to hym,

For he had great wealth of flocks and herds and great numbers of servants; so that the Philistines were full of envy.

15 and thei stoppiden in that tyme and filliden with erthe alle the pittis whiche the seruauntis of Abraham his fadir hadden diggid,

Now all the water-holes, which his father's servants had made in the days of Abraham, had been stopped up with earth by the Philistines.

16 in so myche that Abymelech him silf seide to Ysaac, Go thou awei fro vs, for thou art maad greetly myytier than we.

And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are stronger than we are.

17 And he yede awei, that he schulde come to the stronde of Gerare, and dwelle there.

So Isaac went away from there, and put up his tents in the valley of Gerar, making his living-place there.

18 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.

And he made again the water-holes which had been made in the days of Abraham his father, and which had been stopped up by the Philistines; and he gave them the names which his father had given them.

19 Thei diggiden in the stronde, and thei founden wellynge watir.

Now Isaac's servants made holes in the valley, and came to a spring of flowing water.

20 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.

But the herdmen of Gerar had a fight with Isaac's herdmen, for they said, The spring is ours: so he gave the spring the name of Esek, because there was a fight about it.

21 And thei diggiden anothir, and thei stryueden also for that, and Ysaac clepide that pit enemytes.

Then they made another water-hole, and there was a fight about that, so he gave it the name of Sitnah.

22 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.

Then he went away from there, and made another water-hole, about which there was no fighting: so he gave it the name of Rehoboth, for he said, Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will have fruit in this land.

23 Forsothe he stiede fro that place in to Bersabee,

And from there he went on to Beer-sheba.

24 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.

That night the Lord came to him in a vision, and said, I am the God of your father Abraham: have no fear for I am with you, blessing you, and your seed will be increased because of my servant Abraham.

25 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.

Then he made an altar there, and gave worship to the name of the Lord, and he put up his tents there, and there his servants made a water-hole.

26 And whanne Abymelech, and Ochosat, hise frendis, and Ficol, duk of knyytis, hadden come fro Geraris to that place,

And Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his friend and Phicol, the captain of his army.

27 Isaac spak to hem, What camen ye to me, a man whom ye hatiden, and puttiden awei fro you?

And Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me, seeing that in your hate for me you sent me away from you?

28 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,

And they said, We saw clearly that the Lord was with you: so we said, Let there be an oath between us and you, and let us make an agreement with you;

29 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.

That you will do us no damage, even as we put no hand on you, and did you nothing but good, and sent you away in peace: and now the blessing of the Lord is on you.

30 Therfor Isaac made a feeste to hem; and after mete and drynk thei risen eerli,

Then he made a feast for them, and they all had food and drink.

31 and sworen ech to other; and Isaac lefte hem peisibli in to her place.

And early in the morning they took an oath one to the other: then Isaac sent them away and they went on their way in peace.

32 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.

And that day Isaac's servants came to him and gave him word of the water-hole which they had made, and said to him, We have come to water.

33 Wherfor Ysaac clepide that pit abundaunce; and the name of the citee was set Bersabee til in to present dai.

And he gave it the name of Shibah: so the name of that town is Beer-sheba to this day.

34 Esau forsothe fourti yeer eld weddide twei wyues, Judith, the douytir of Beeri Ethei, and Bethsamath, the douyter of Elon, of the same place;

And when Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite:

35 whiche bothe offendiden the soule of Isaac and of Rebecca.

And Isaac and Rebekah had grief of mind because of them.