Olubereberye 26
1 Ne wabaawo enjala mu nsi, eteri eri eyabaawo mu biseera bya Ibulayimu. Isaaka n’agenda mu Gerali, ewa Abimereki kabaka w’Abafirisuuti.
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],
2 Ne Mukama n’amulabikira, n’amugamba nti, “Toserengeta Misiri, beera mu nsi gye ndikulaga.
but Yahweh appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt! Live in the land where I will tell you to go!
3 Beera mu nsi gye ndikulaga, nnaabeeranga naawe, n’akuwanga omukisa kubanga gwe n’abaana bo ndibawa ensi zino zonna, era ndituukiriza ekirayiro kye nalayirira kitaawo Ibulayimu.
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.
4 Ndyaza abaana b’enda yo ne baba ng’emmunyeenye ez’eggulu, era ndibawa n’ensi zino zonna. Era mu bo amawanga gonna ag’oku nsi mwe galiweerwa omukisa;
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.
5 kubanga Ibulayimu yagondera eddoboozi lyange, n’akwata bye namukuutira, n’ebiragiro byange, n’ebigambo byange awamu n’amateeka gange.”
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,”]
6 Bw’atyo Isaaka n’abeera mu Gerali,
[so Isaac] stayed there [along with his wife and sons].
7 abasajja ab’omu nsi omwo bwe baamubuuza ku mukazi we n’abaddamu nti, “Mwannyinaze.” Kubanga yatya okwogera nti, “Mukazi wange,” ng’alowooza nti, “Abasajja ab’omu nsi omwo tebalwa kunzita lwa Lebbeeka,” kubanga yali mulungi nnyo.
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.”
8 Bwe yamalayo ekiseera ekiwanvu, Abimereki, kabaka w’Abafirisuuti n’atunula mu ddirisa, n’alaba Isaaka ng’azannya ne Lebbeeka mukazi we.
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.
9 Abimereki kwe kuyita Isaaka n’amugamba nti, “Ddala, mukazi wo, lwaki wagamba nti, ‘Mwannyinaze’?” Isaaka n’amuddamu nti, “Kubanga nalowooza nti, ‘Nnyinza okufiirwa obulamu bwange ku lulwe.’”
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.”
10 Abimereki n’amugamba nti, “Kale kiki kino ky’otukoze? Omu ku basajja yandiyinzizza okusobya ku mukazi wo, wandituleeseeko omusango.”
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!”
11 Awo Abimereki n’alyoka alagira abantu bonna ng’agamba nti, “Buli alikwata ku musajja ono oba ku mukyala we waakuttibwa.”
Then Abimelech commanded all his people, saying, “Do not harm/molest this man or his wife! Anyone who does that will surely be executed!”
12 Isaaka n’asigala mu nsi omwo, n’afuna amakungula emirundi kikumi ag’ebyo bye yasiga, kubanga Mukama yamuwa omukisa.
Isaac planted grain in that land that year, and he harvested a very large crop, because Yahweh blessed him.
13 N’afuuka mugagga, obugagga bwe ne bweyongera n’agaggawala nnyo.
Isaac continued to acquire more and more possessions, until finally he became very wealthy.
14 Yalina ebisibo by’endiga bingi nnyo n’amagana g’ente, era n’abaweereza nfaafa; Abafirisuuti ne bamukwatirwa obuggya.
He had large herds of sheep and goats and cattle, and many slaves. Because of that, the Philistine people envied him.
15 Kyebaava bajjuza enzizi zonna abaddu ba kitaawe ze baasima mu biro bya kitaawe Ibulayimu, ne baziziba.
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.
16 Ne Abimereki n’agamba Isaaka nti, “Ggenda, tuveemu kubanga otuyitiridde amaanyi.”
Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “You people have become more numerous than we are, so I want you to get out of our area.”
17 Awo Isaaka n’avaayo n’azimba mu kiwonvu eky’e Gerali, n’abeera omwo.
So Isaac [and his family] moved from there. They set up their tents in Gerar Valley [and started to live there].
18 Isaaka n’azibukula enzizi ezaali zisimiddwa mu biseera bya Ibulayimu kitaawe, kubanga Abafirisuuti baziziba Ibulayimu bwe yamala okufa. Era ye Isaaka n’aziyita amannya gali kitaawe ge yali azituumye.
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.
19 Naye abaddu ba Isaaka bwe basima mu kiwonvu ne bazuula oluzzi olw’ensulo,
Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water.
20 abasumba b’omu Gerali ne bayomba n’abasumba ba Isaaka nga bagamba nti, “Amazzi gaffe.” Oluzzi olwo kyeyava alutuuma Eseki, kubanga baawakana naye.
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.
21 Kyebaava basima oluzzi olulala, era nalwo ne baluyombera, lwo kwe kuluyita Situna.
Then Isaac’s servants dug another well, but they quarreled about who owned that one also. So Isaac named it Sitnah, [which means ‘opposition]’.
22 Awo n’avaayo n’asima oluzzi olulala, olwo lwo ne bataluyombera, kyeyava alutuuma Lekobosi, ng’agamba nti, “Kubanga kaakano Mukama atuwadde ebbanga, era tujja kukulaakulanira muno.”
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.”
23 Bwe yava eyo n’agenda e Beeruseba.
From there Isaac went up to Beersheba.
24 Ekiro ekyo Mukama n’alabikira Isaaka, n’amugamba nti, “Nze Katonda wa Ibulayimu kitaawo, totya. Kubanga ndiwamu naawe, ndikuwa omukisa era ndyaza abaana bo ku lwa Ibulayimu omuddu wange.”
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.”
25 Awo n’azimbawo ekyoto n’akoowoola erinnya lya Mukama, n’asimba eyo eweema ye. Era n’eyo abaddu be ne basimayo oluzzi.
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.
26 Mu kiseera kye kimu Abimereki n’ava mu Gerali ng’ali ne Akuzasa gwe yeebuuzangako amagezi ne Fikoli omukulu w’eggye lye, n’agenda eri Isaaka.
[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.
27 Isaaka n’ababuuza nti, “Lwaki muzze gye ndi ng’ate mwankijjanya ne mungobaganya?”
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?”
28 Ne bamuddamu nti, “Tulabidde ddala nga Mukama ali naawe, kyetuva tugamba nti, ‘Wabeewo ekirayiro wakati wo naffe. Era tukole endagaano naawe,
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,
29 nga tolitukola kabi, nga ffe bwe tutaakakukola era nga tetuliiko kye tukukoze, wabula ebirungi era nga twakusiibula mirembe.’ Kaakano gwe oli muntu Mukama gw’awadde omukisa.”
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.”
30 Awo Isaaka n’abakolera ekijjulo ne balya ne banywa.
So Isaac made a feast for them, and they all ate and drank.
31 Ku makya ennyo ne bagolokoka ne balayiriragana, Isaaka n’abawerekerako ne bava gy’ali mirembe.
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.
32 Ku lunaku olwo lwennyini, abaddu ba Isaaka ne bajja ne bamutegeeza eby’oluzzi lwe baasima, ne bamugamba nti, “Tuzudde amazzi.”
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!”
33 N’alutuuma Siba; erinnya ly’ekibuga kyeriva liba Beeruseba na buli kati.
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’].
34 Esawu bwe yaweza emyaka amakumi ana egy’obukulu, n’awasa Yudisi muwala wa Beeri Omukiiti, ne Besimansi muwala wa Eroni naye Omukiiti.
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].
35 Ne bakaluubiriza nnyo Isaaka ne Lebbeeka obulamu.
Esau’s two wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.
