UGenesisi 26
1 Kwasekusiba khona indlala elizweni, ngaphandle kwendlala yakuqala eyayikhona ensukwini zikaAbrahama. UIsaka wasesiya kuAbhimeleki inkosi yamaFilisti, eGerari.
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 INkosi yasibonakala kuye, yathi: Ungehleli eGibhithe, hlala elizweni engizakutshela lona;
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 hlala njengowezizwe kulelilizwe, futhi ngizakuba lawe ngikubusise; ngoba ngizanika wena lenzalo yakho wonke lamazwe, ngiqinise isifungo engasifunga kuAbrahama uyihlo.
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 Ngizakwandisa inzalo yakho njengenkanyezi zamazulu, ngizanika inzalo yakho lamazwe wonke; lenzalweni yakho zizabusiswa izizwe zonke zomhlaba;
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 ngalokhu ukuthi uAbrahama walalela ilizwi lami, wagcina ukulaya kwami, imilayo yami, izimiso zami lemithetho yami.
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 UIsaka wahlala-ke eGerari.
[so Isaac] stayed there [along with his wife and sons].
7 Amadoda aleyondawo asebuza ngomkakhe. Wasesithi: Ungudadewethu; ngoba wesaba ukuthi: Umkami. Hlezi amadoda aleyondawo angibulale ngenxa kaRebeka, ngoba wayekhangeleka kuhle.
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 Kwasekusithi esehlale khona isikhathi eside, uAbhimeleki inkosi yamaFilisti walunguza phansi ngewindi, wabona, khangela-ke, uIsaka wayedlala loRebeka umkakhe.
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 UAbhimeleki wasembiza uIsaka, wathi: Isibili, khangela, ungumkakho; utsho ngani ukuthi: Ungudadewethu? UIsaka wasesithi kuye: Ngoba ngathi, hlezi ngife ngenxa yakhe.
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 UAbhimeleki wasesithi: Kuyini lokhu okwenze kithi? Bekulula ukuthi omunye wabantu alale lomkakho; ubususibeka icala.
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 UAbhimeleki waselaya wonke umuntu, esithi: Othinta lindoda lomkayo uzabulawa isibili.
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 UIsaka wasehlanyela kulelolizwe, wathola ngalowomnyaka okuphindwe kalikhulu; iNkosi yasimbusisa.
Isaac planted grain in that land that year, and he harvested a very large crop, because Yahweh blessed him.
13 Lowomuntu waba mkhulu, waqhubeqhubeka waba mkhulu waze waba mkhulu kakhulu.
Isaac continued to acquire more and more possessions, until finally he became very wealthy.
14 Njalo wayelemfuyo yezimvu lemfuyo yezinkomo lenceku ezinengi; ngakho amaFilisti aba lomhawu ngaye.
He had large herds of sheep and goats and cattle, and many slaves. Because of that, the Philistine people envied him.
15 Lemithombo yonke izinceku zikayise ezaziyigebhile ensukwini zikaAbrahama uyise, amaFilisti ayeyivalile, ayigcwalisa ngenhlabathi.
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 UAbhimeleki wasesithi kuIsaka: Suka kithi, ngoba ulamandla kakhulu kulathi.
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 UIsaka wasesuka lapho, wamisa inkamba esigodini seGerari, wahlala khona.
So Isaac [and his family] moved from there. They set up their tents in Gerar Valley [and started to live there].
18 UIsaka wabuya waphanda imithombo yamanzi ababeyigebhile ensukwini zikaAbrahama uyise, ngoba amaFilisti ayeyivalile emva kokufa kukaAbrahama. Wayibiza amabizo ngamabizo uyise ayewabizile.
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 Izinceku zikaIsaka zasezigebha esihotsheni, zathola khona umthombo wamanzi agobhozayo.
Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water.
20 Njalo abelusi beGerari babangisana labelusi bakaIsaka, besithi: Amanzi ngawethu. Ngakho wabiza ibizo lomthombo iEseki, ngoba baphikisana laye.
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 Zasezigebha omunye umthombo, lalowo-ke bawubanga. Wasebiza ibizo lawo iSitina.
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 Waseqhubeka wasuka lapho, wagebha omunye umthombo, kodwa lowo kabawubanganga. Wasewubiza ibizo lawo iRehobothi, wathi: Ngoba iNkosi isisenzele indawo, futhi sizakuba lesithelo elizweni.
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 Wasesenyuka lapho waya eBherishebha.
From there Isaac went up to Beersheba.
24 INkosi yasibonakala kuye ngalobobusuku yathi: NginguNkulunkulu kaAbrahama uyihlo. Ungesabi ngoba ngilawe, ngizakubusisa ngiyandise inzalo yakho ngenxa kaAbrahama inceku yami.
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 Wasesakha khona ilathi, wabiza ebizweni leNkosi, wamisa khona ithente lakhe, lenceku zikaIsaka zagebha khona umthombo.
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 UAbhimeleki wasesiya kuye evela eGerari loAhuzathi umngane wakhe loFikoli induna yebutho lakhe.
[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 UIsaka wasesithi kubo: Lizeleni kimi, lokhu liyangizonda, lingixotshile kini?
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 Basebesithi: Sesibonile lokubona ukuthi iNkosi ilawe. Ngakho sathi: Ake kube khona isifungo phakathi kwethu, phakathi kwethu lawe, asenze isivumelwano lawe,
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 sokuthi ungasenzeli okubi, njengoba singakuthintanga, njengoba sikwenzele okuhle kuphela, sakuyekela wahamba ngokuthula; wena khathesi ungobusisiweyo weNkosi.
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 Wasebenzela idili, basebesidla banatha.
So Isaac made a feast for them, and they all ate and drank.
31 Basebevuka ekuseni kakhulu, bafungisana omunye komunye; uIsaka wasebayekela bahamba, basuka kuye ngokuthula.
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 Kwasekusithi ngalolosuku izinceku zikaIsaka zafika, zambikela mayelana lomthombo ezaziwugebhile, zathi kuye: Sithole amanzi.
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 Wawubiza ngokuthi yiShebha; ngakho ibizo lomuzi liyiBherishebha kuze kube lamuhla.
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 Kwasekusithi uEsawu eseleminyaka engamatshumi amane wathatha umfazi uJudithi indodakazi kaBeri umHethi, loBasemathi indodakazi kaEloni umHethi.
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 Lalaba baba lusizi lwawo umoya kuIsaka loRebeka.
Esau’s two wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.
