Matthew 1
1 The book of the generacioun of Jhesu Crist, the sone of Dauid, the sone of Abraham.
[This is] the record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, the descendant of [King] David and of Abraham, [from whom all we Jews have descended].
2 Abraham bigat Isaac. Isaac bigat Jacob. Jacob bigat Judas and hise britheren.
Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and Judah’s [older and younger] brothers.
3 Judas bigat Fares and Zaram, of Tamar. Fares bigat Esrom.
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, [and their mother] was Tamar. Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram.
4 Esrom bigat Aram. Aram bigat Amynadab. Amynadab bigat Naason. Naason bigat Salmon.
Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon bigat Booz, of Raab. Booz bigat Obeth, of Ruth. Obeth bigat Jesse. Jesse bigat Dauid the king.
Salmon and his wife Rahab, [a non-Jewish woman], were the parents of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed. [Obed’s mother was] Ruth, [another non-Jewish woman]. Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Dauid the king bigat Salamon, of hir that was Vries wijf.
Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon. [Solomon’s mother was previously married to] Uriah.
7 Salomon bigat Roboam. Roboam bigat Abias.
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asaph.
8 Abias bigat Asa. Asa bigat Josaphath. Josaphath bigat Joram. Joram bigat
Asaph was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was an ancestor of Uzziah.
9 Osias. Osias bigat Joathan. Joathan bigat Achaz. Achaz bigat Ezechie.
Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 Ezechie bigat Manasses. Manasses bigat Amon.
Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah.
11 Amon bigat Josias. Josias bigat Jeconyas and his britheren, in to the transmygracioun of Babiloyne.
Josiah was the grandfather of Jeconiah and Jeconiah’s brothers. [They lived] at the time when the [Babylonian army] took the Israelites as captives to the [country of] Babylon.
12 And aftir the transmygracioun of Babiloyne, Jeconyas bigat Salatiel. Salatiel bigat Zorobabel.
After the Babylonians took the Israelites to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the grandfather of Zerubbabel.
13 Zorobabel bigat Abyut. Abyut bigat Eliachym. Eliachym bigat Asor.
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
14 Asor bigat Sadoc. Sadoc bigat Achym.
Eliakim was the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim.
15 Achym bigat Elyut. Elyut bigat Eleasar. Eleasar bigat Mathan.
Akim was the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16 Mathan bigat Jacob. Jacob bigat Joseph, the hosebonde of Marye, of whom Jhesus was borun, that is clepid Christ.
Jacob was the father of Joseph. Joseph was Mary’s husband, and Mary was Jesus’ mother. Jesus is the one who is called {whom we call} the Messiah.
17 And so alle generaciouns fro Abraham to Dauid ben fourtene generacions, and fro Dauid to the transmygracioun of Babiloyne ben fourtene generaciouns, and fro the transmygracioun of Babiloyne to Crist ben fourtene generaciouns.
[As you can calculate, I have grouped Jesus’] ancestors [as follows: ] There was [a succession of] 14 of them from [the time when] Abraham [lived] to [the time when King] David [lived]. There was [a succession of] 14 of them from [the time when] David [lived] to [the time when] the [Israelites were taken] {[the Babylonian army took the Israelites]} away to Babylon. There was [a succession of] 14 of them from [the time when the Israelites were taken] {[the Babylonian army took the Israelites]} away to Babylon until [the time when] the Messiah [was born].
18 But the generacioun of Crist was thus. Whanne Marie, the modir of Jhesu, was spousid to Joseph, bifore thei camen togidere, she was foundun hauynge of the Hooli Goost in the wombe.
This is [the account of what happened just before] Jesus Christ was born. Mary, his mother, {had publicly promised Joseph that she would marry him} had been publicly promised to marry Joseph. Before they began to sleep together, [Mary] realized that she was pregnant. [It was the power of] the Holy Spirit that had caused her to become pregnant.
19 And Joseph, hir hosebonde, for he was riytful, and wolde not puplische hir, he wolde priueli haue left hir.
Joseph, her [future] husband, was a man who obeyed God’s commands. [One of those commands was that men must divorce women who had acted immorally. So when Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant, he assumed that she was pregnant as a result of her acting immorally]. So he decided to break the engagement. But because he did not want to shame her publicly, he decided to do it privately.
20 But while he thouyte thes thingis, lo! the aungel of the Lord apperide `in sleep to hym, and seide, Joseph, the sone of Dauid, nyle thou drede to take Marie, thi wijf; for that thing that is borun in hir is of the Hooli Goost.
While he was seriously considering this, much to his surprise, in a dream he saw an angel whom the Lord [had sent]. The angel said, “Joseph, descendant of [King] David, do not be afraid that [you(sg) would be doing wrong if you(sg) would marry] Mary. Instead, [begin to treat her] as your wife, because the Holy Spirit, [not a man], has caused her to be pregnant.
21 And she shal bere a sone, and thou shalt clepe his name Jhesus; for he schal make his puple saaf fro her synnes.
She will give birth to a son. Since it is he who will cause that his people will be saved from [the guilt of] their having sinned, name [the baby] Jesus, [which means ‘the Lord saves people’].”
22 For al this thing was don, that it schulde be fulfillid, that was seid of the Lord bi a prophete, seiynge, Lo!
All this happened as a result of what the Lord told the prophet [Isaiah to write long ago about what was going to happen]. This is what Isaiah wrote:
23 a virgyn shal haue in wombe, and she schal bere a sone, and thei schulen clepe his name Emanuel, that is to seie, God with vs.
“Listen, a virgin will become pregnant and will give birth to a son. They will call him Emmanuel.” Emmanuel means ‘God is with us’.
24 And Joseph roos fro sleepe, and dide as the aungel of the Lord comaundide hym, and took Marie, his wijf;
When Joseph got up from sleep, he did what the angel whom the Lord [had sent] commanded him to do. He took [Mary] home to be his wife.
25 and he knew her not, til she hadde borun her firste bigete sone, and clepide his name Jhesus.
But he did not have sexual relations with her until she had given birth to a son. And [Joseph] named him Jesus.
