thee nothing, I am thy protector, and thy reward and meed shall be
great. Abram answered: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? Thou wottest
well I have no children, and sith I have none I will well that Eleazar
the son of my bailiff be my heir. Nay, said our Lord, he shall not be
thine heir, but he that shall issue and come of thy seed shall be thine
heir. Our Lord led him out and bade him behold the heaven, and number
the stars if thou mayst, and said to him, so shall thy offspringing and
seed be. And Abram believed it and gave faith to our Lord's words, and
it was reputed to him to justice. And our Lord said to him, I am the
Lord that led thee out of the land of Ur of the Chaldees for to give to
thee this land into thy possession. And Abram said: Lord, how shall I
know that I shall possess it? A voice said to Abram: Thy seed shall be
exiled into Egypt by the space of four hundred years, and shall be
there in servitude, and after, I shall bring them hither again in the
fourth generation. Thou shalt abide here unto thy good age, and shalt be
buried here, and go with thy fathers in peace. Sara was yet without
child, and she had a handmaid named Hagar, an Egyptian, and she on a day
said to Abram her husband: Thou seest I may bear no child, wherefore I
would thou took Hagar my maid, that thou might get a child which I might
keep and hold for mine. And ten year after that Abram had dwelled in
that land, he took Hagar, and anon she despised her mistress. Then Sara
said to Abram: Thou dost evil. My servant now hath me in despite, God
judge this between thee and me. To whom Abram answered: Thine handmaid
is in thine hands, chastise her as it pleaseth thee. After this Sara
chastised Hagar and put her to so great affliction that she went away;
and as she went an angel met with her in the wilderness by a well, and
said: Hagar, whence comest and whither goest thou? She answered: I flee
away from the face of my lady Sara. To whom the angel said, return again
and submit thee by humbleness unto thy lady, and I shall multiply thy
seed, and so much people shall come of it that it cannot be numbered for
multitude. And he said furthermore: Thou shalt bear a child and shalt
call him Ishmael. He shall be a fierce man, he shall be against all men,
and all men against him. Then Hagar returned home and served her lady,
and soon after this she was delivered of Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six
years old when Ishmael was born.
When Abram was ninety-nine years, our Lord appeared to him and said:
Abram, lo! I am the Lord Almighty, walk thou before me and be perfect,
and I shall keep covenant between me and thee and shall multiply thy
seed greatly. And Abram fell down lowting low to the earth and thanked
him. Then our Lord said I AM, and my covenant I shall keep to thee, thou
shalt be father of much people. Thou shalt no more be called Abram, but
Abraham, for I have ordained thee father of much people. I shall make
thee to increase most abundantly; kings and princes shall come of thee,
and shall stablish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed in thy
generations. I shall give to thee and to thy seed after thee the land of
thy pilgrimage, all the land of Canaan, into their possession and I
shall be their God. Yet said God to Abraham: And thou shalt keep thy
covenant to me, and thine heirs after thee in their generations, and
this shall be the covenant that ye shall keep and thine heirs after
thee. Every child masculine that shall be born shall be circumcised when
he is eight days old. And see that the men in your generation be
circumcised, begin at thyself and thy children. And all that dwell in
thy kindred, who of you that shall not be circumcised shall be cast and
put out for ever from my people, because he obeyeth not my statute and
ordinance. And thy wife Sara shall be called no more Sara but she shall
be called Sarah, and I shall bless her, and shall give to thee a son of
her, whom I shall bless also. I shall him increase into nations, and
kings of peoples shall come of him. Abraham fell down on his face
toward the earth and laughed in his heart, saying: May it be that a
woman of ninety years may bear a child? I beseech thee, Lord, that
Ishmael may live before thee. Our Lord said to Abraham, Sarah shall
bring forth a son whom thou shalt name Isaac, and I shall keep my
covenant to him for evermore, and to his heirs after him. And I have
heard thy request for Ishmael also. I shall bless him and increase, and
shall multiply his seed into much people, twelve dukes shall come of
him. I shall keep my covenant to Isaac, whom Sarah shall bring forth the
next year.
After this on a time, as Abraham sat beside his house in the vale of
Mamre in the heat of the day, and as he lift up his eyes, he saw three
young men coming to him, and anon as he saw these three standing by him
he ran to them and worshipped one alone; he saw three and worshipped but
one. That betokeneth the Trinity, and prayed them to be harboured with
him, and took water and washed their feet: and prayed them to tarry
under the tree, and he would bring bread to them for to comfort them.
And they bade him do as he had said, he went and bade Sarah to make
three ashy cakes and sent his child for a tender fat calf, which was
sodden and boiled. And he served them with butter and milk, and the
calf, and set it tofore them. He stood by them, and when they had eaten
they demanded him: Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said: Yonder in the
tabernacle. And he said, I shall go and come again, and Sarah thy wife
shall have a child. And she stood behind the door and heard it and
laughed, and said softly to herself: How may it be that I should bear a
child? She thought it impossible. Then said our Lord to Abraham: Why
laugheth Sarah thy wife, saying in scorn, Shall I bear a child? but as I
said to thee before, I shall return and come again, and she shall have a
child in that time. And he asked Sarah why she smiled in scorn, and she
said she smiled ne laughed not, and our Lord said, It is not so, for
thou laughedst.
When they had rested Abraham conveyed them on the way. And our Lord said
to Abraham: I have not hid from thee what I purpose to do. The cry of
Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied and their sin is much grievous. I shall
descend and see if the sin be so great, the stench thereof cometh to
heaven, I shall take vengeance and destroy them. Then Abraham said: I
hope, Lord, thou wilt not destroy the just and righteous man with the
wicked sinner. I beseech thee, Lord, to spare them. Our Lord said: If
there be fifty good and righteous men among them, I shall spare them.
And Abraham said: Good Lord, if there be found forty, I pray thee to
spare them. Our Lord said: If there be forty, I shall spare them, and so
from forty to thirty and from thirty to twenty and from twenty to ten,
and our Lord said: If there be found ten good men among them, I shall
not destroy them. And then our Lord went from Abraham, and he returned
home again. That same eventide came two angels into Sodom, and Lot sat
at his gate, and when he saw them he went and worshipped them and
prayed them to come and rest in his house, and abide there and wash
their feet. And they said: Nay, we shall abide here in the street, and
Lot constrained them and brought them into his house and made a feast to
them. Then said the angels to Lot: If thou have here of thy kindred,
sons or daughters, all them that long to thee, lead out of this city, we
shall destroy this place, for the cry thereof is come to our Lord, which
hath sent us for to destroy them. Lot went unto his kinsmen and said:
Arise and take your children, and go out of this city, for our Lord
shall destroy it. And they supposed that he had raved or japed [jested].
And as soon as it was day the angels said to Lot: Arise, and take thy
wife and thy two daughters, and go out of this town lest ye perish with
them. Yet he dissimuling, they took him by the hand and his wife and two
daughters, because that God should spare them, and led them out of the
city. And there they said to him: Save thy soul and look not behind thee
lest thou perish also, but save thee in the mountain. Lot said to them:
I beseech thee, my Lord, forasmuch as thy servant hath found grace
before thee, and that thou hast showed thy mercy to me, and that
peradventure I might take harm on the hill, that I may go into the
little city hereby and may be saved there. He said to Lot: I have heard
thy prayers, and for thy sake I shall not subvert this town for which
thou hast prayed, hie thee and save thyself there, for I may do nothing
till thou be therein. Therefore that town is called Zoar. So Lot went
in to Zoar; and the sun arose, and our Lord rained from heaven upon
Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire, and subverted the cities and all
the dwellers of the towns about that region, and all that was there
growing and burgeoning. Lot's wife turned her and looked toward the
cities, and anon she was turned into a statue or image of salt, which
abideth so unto this day. Abraham arose in the morning early, and looked
toward the cities, and saw the smoke ascending from the places, like as
it had been the light of a furnace. What time our Lord subverted these
cities he remembered Abraham, and delivered Lot from the vengeance of
the cities in which he dwelled. Then Lot ascended from Zoar and dwelled
in the mountain, and his two daughters with him. He dreaded to abide any
longer in the town, but dwelled in a cave, he and his two daughters with
him.
Abraham departed from thence and went southward and dwelled between
Kadesh and Shur, and went a pilgrimage to Gerar. He said that his wife
was his sister. Abimelech the king of Gerar sent for her and took her.
God came to Abimelech in his sleep and said: Thou shalt be dead for the
woman that thou hast taken, she hath an husband. Abimelech said: Lord,
wilt thou slay a man ignorant and rightful? She said that she was his
sister, in the simpleness of my heart and cleanness of my hands I did
this. And God said to him: I know well that with a simple heart thou
didst it, and therefore I have kept thee from her, now yield the woman
to her husband, and he shall pray for thee, he is a prophet and thou
shalt live. And if thou deliver her not, thou shalt die, and all they
that be in thy house. Abimelech arose up the same night and called all
his servants, and told them all these words. All they dreaded sore. Also
Abimelech called Abraham and said to him: What hast thou done to us,
that we have trespassed to thee? Thou hast caused me and my realm to sin
greatly. Thou hast done that thou shouldst not have done. What sawest
thou for to do so? Abraham said: I thought that the dread of God was not
in this place, and that ye would slay me for my wife; and certainly
otherwise she is also my sister, the daughter of my father but not of my
mother, and I have wedded her. And after that I went from the house of
my father, I said to her: Wheresomever we go say thou art my sister.
Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and servants and maidens, and gave to
Abraham, and delivered to him Sarah his wife, and said: Lo! the land is
here tofore thee, wheresoever thou wilt, dwell and abide. And he said to
Sarah: Lo! I have given to thy brother a thousand pieces of silver, this
shall be to thee a veil of thine eyes, and wheresomever thou go,
remember that thou wert taken. Abraham prayed for Abimelech and his
meiny [company] and God healed him, his wife and all his servants. Our
Lord then visited Sarah, and she brought forth a son in her old age,
that same time that God had promised. Abraham called his son that she
had borne, Isaac, and when he was eight days old he circumcised him as
God had commanded, and Abraham was then an hundred years old. Then said
Sarah: Who would have supposed that I should give suck to my child,
being so old? I laughed when I heard our Lord say so, and all they that
shall hear of it may well laugh. The child grew and was weaned, and
Abraham made a great feast at the day of his weaning. After this, on a
day when Sarah saw the son of Hagar her handmaid play with her son
Isaac, she said to Abraham: Cast out this handmaid with her son, the son
of the handmaid shall not be heir with my son Isaac. Abraham took this
word hard and grievously for his son. Then said God to him: Let it not
be hard to thee for thy son and handmaid, whatsomever Sarah say to thee
hear her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Yet shall I make
the son of the handmaid grow into great people, for he is of thy seed.
Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water,
and laid it on her shoulder, and gave to her the child and let her go,
which, when she was departed, erred in the wilderness of Beersheba. And
when the water was consumed that was in the bottle, she left the child
under a tree that was there and went thence as far as a bow shot and sat
her down, and said: I shall not see my son die, and there she wept. Our
Lord heard the voice of the child, and an angel called Hagar saying,
What doest thou, Hagar? Be not afeard, our Lord hath heard the voice of
the child from the place which he is now in. Arise and take the child
and hold him by the hand, for I shall make him to increase into much
people. God opened her eyes and she saw a pit of water, and anon she
went and filled the bottle, and gave the child to drink, and abode with
him, which grew and dwelled in the wilderness, and became there a young
man and an archer, and dwelled also in the desert of Paran. And his
mother took to him a wife of the land of Egypt.
That same time said Abimelech, and Phicol the prince of his host, unto
Abraham: Our Lord is with thee in all things that thou doest. Swear thou
by the Lord that thou grieve not me, ne them that shall come after me,
ne my kindred, but after the mercy that I have showed to thee, so do to
me and to my land in which thou hast dwelled as a stranger. And Abraham
said, I shall swear. And he blamed Abimelech for the pit of water which
his servants had taken away by strength. Abimelech answered: I know not
who hath done this thing, and thou toldest me not thereof, and I never
heard thereof till this day. And then after this they made covenant
together, and promised each to other to be friends together.
After all these things God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham,
Abraham. He answered and said: I am here, and he said to him: Take thou
thine only son that thou lovest, Isaac, and go into the land of Vision
and offer him in sacrifice to me upon one of the hills that I shall show
to thee. Then Abraham arose in the night, and made ready his ass, and
took with him two young men and Isaac his son. And when they had hewn
and gathered the wood together to make sacrifice, they went to the
place that God commanded him. The third day after, he lift up his eyes
and saw from afar the place, and he said to his children: Abide ye here
with the ass, I and my son shall go to yonder place, and when we have
worshipped there we shall return to you. Then he took the wood of the
sacrifice and laid it on his son Isaac, and he bare in his hands fire
and the sword. And as they went both together, Isaac said to his father:
Father mine. What wilt thou, my son? said Abraham, and he said: Lo! here
is fire and wood, where is the sacrifice that shall be offered? Abraham
answered: My son, God shall provide for him a sacrifice well enough.
They went forth and came to the place that God had ordained, and there
made an altar, and laid the wood thereon, and took Isaac and set him on
the wood on the altar, and took his sword and would have offered him up
to God. And lo! the angel of God cried to him from heaven saying:
Abraham, Abraham, which answered: I am here, and he said to him: Extend
not thy hand upon my child, and do nothing to him, now I know that thou
dreadest God, and hast not spared thine only son for me. Abraham looked
behind him, and saw among the briars a ram fast by the horns, which he
took, and offered him in sacrifice for his son. He called that place:
The Lord seeth. The angel called Abraham the second time saying: I have
sworn by myself, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and
hast not spared thine only son for me, I shall bless thee and shall
multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and like the gravel that is
on the seaside, thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies, and
in thy seed shall be blessed all the people of the earth, for thou
obeyedst to me. Abraham then returned to his servants, and went into
Beersheba and dwelled there. Sarah lived an hundred and twenty-seven
years and died in the city of Arba, which is Hebron in the land of
Canaan; for whom Abraham made sorrow and wept, and bought of the
children of Heth a field, and buried her worshipfully in a double
spelunke.
Abraham was an old man, and God blessed him in all his things. He said
to the eldest and upperest servant in all his house: I charge and
conjure thee by the name of God of heaven and of earth that thou suffer
not my son Isaac to take no wife of the daughters of Canaan amongst whom
I dwell, but go into the country where my kindred is, and take of them a
wife to my son. And the servant answered: If no woman there will come
with me into this country, shall I bring thy son into that country from
whence thou earnest? Abraham said: Beware that thou lead not my son
thither. The Lord of heaven and of earth, that took me from the house of
my father and from the place of my nativity, hath said and sworn to me,
saying: To thy seed I shall give this land. He shall send his angel
tofore thee, and thou shalt take there a wife for my son. If no woman
will come with thee thou shalt not be bounden by thine oath, but in no
wise lead my son thither. His servant then swore and promised to him
that he would so do.
He took ten camels of the flock of his lord, and of all his goods bare
with him, and went in to Mesopotamia unto the town of Nahor. And he made
the camels to tarry without the town by a pit side at such time as the
women be wont to come out for to draw water. And there he prayed our
Lord, saying: Lord God of my lord Abraham, I beseech thee to help me
this day, and do mercy unto my lord Abraham. Lo! I stand here nigh by
the well of water, and the daughters of the dwellers of this town come
hither for to draw water, therefore the maid to whom I say: Set down thy
pot that I may drink, and then she set down her pot and say: I will give
to thee drink, and to the camels, that I may understand thereby that she
be the maid that thou hast ordained to thy servant Isaac, and thou
showest thy mercy to my lord Abraham. He had not fully finished these
words with himself, but that Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah
wife of Nahor, brother of Abraham, came out of the town, having a pot on
her shoulder, which was a right fair maid, and much beauteous and
unknown to the man. She went down to the well and filled her pot with
water and returned. The servant of Abraham ran to her and said: I pray
thee to give me a little of the water in thy pot for to drink. Which
said: Drink, my lord, and lightly took the pot from her shoulder, and
held it, and gave him drink. And when he had drunk she said: Yet I shall
give to thy camels drink, and draw water for them till all have drunken;
and she poured out the water into a vessel that was there for beasts to
drink, and ran to the pit and drew water that every one drank his
draught. He then thought in himself secretly that God had made him to
have a prosperous journey.
After they had drunk, he gave her two rings to hang on her ears weighing
two shekels, and as many armlets weighing ten shekels, and asked her
whose daughter she was, and if there were any room in her father's house
to be lodged. And she answered: I am daughter to Bethuel, Nahor's son,
and in my father's house is place enough to lodge thee and thy camels,
and plenty of chaff and hay for them. And the man inclined down to the
ground and worshipped God saying: Blessed be the Lord God of my lord
Abraham, which hath not taken away his mercy ne his truth from my lord,
and hath brought me in my journey right into the house of my lord's
brother. The maid Rebekah ran and told at home all that she had heard.
Rebekah had a brother named Laban, which hastily went out to the man
where as he was when he had seen the rings in his sister's ears and her
poinettes or armlets on her hands; and had heard her say all that the
man said. He came to the man that stood by the well yet, and said to
him: Come in, thou blessed of God, why standest thou without? I have
made ready the house for thee, and have ordained place for thy camels.
And brought him in, and strawed his camels, and gave them chaff and hay,
and water to wash the camels' feet, and the men's feet that came with
him.
And they set forth bread tofore him, which said: I shall not eat till I
have done mine errand and said wherefore I am come. And it was answered
to him, say on, and he said: I am servant of Abraham, and God hath
blessed and magnified him greatly and hath given to him oxen and sheep,
silver and gold, servants men and women, camels and asses. And Sarah his
wife hath brought him forth a son in her old age, and he hath given to
him all that he had. And my lord hath charged and adjured me saying: In
no wise let my son Isaac have no wife of the daughters of Canaan in
whose land he dwelleth, but go unto the house of my father and of my
kindred, and of them thou shall take a wife to my son, wherefore I am
come hither. And told all how he prayed God of some token, and how
Rebekah did to him, and in conclusion desired to have Rebekah for his
lord Isaac; and if he would not, that he might depart and go into some
other place, on the right side or on the left, to seek a wife for his
lord's son. Then Bethuel and Laban said to him: This word is come of
God, against his will we may nothing do. Lo! Rebekah standeth tofore
thee, take her and go forth that she may be wife unto the son of thy
lord, as our Lord hath said. Which words when Abraham's servant had
heard, he fell down to the ground and thanked our Lord, and anon took
forth silver vessels and of gold and good clothes and gave them to
Rebekah for a gift. And to her brethren and mother he gave also gifts,
and anon they made a feast, and ate and were joyful together. On the
morn betimes, the servant of Abraham arose, and desired to depart and
take Rebekah with him and go to his lord. Then the mother and her
brethren said: Let the maid abide with us but only ten days, and then
take her and go thy way. I pray you, said he, retain ne let [hinder] me
not, our Lord hath addressed my way and achieved my errand, wherefore
let me go to my lord. And they said: We shall call the maid and know her
will; and when she was demanded if she would go with that man, she said:
Yea, I shall go with him. Then they let her go, and her nurse with her,
and so she departed, and they said to her: Thou art our sister, we pray
God that thou mayst increase into a thousand thousand, and that thy seed
may possess the gates of their enemies. Then Rebekah and her maidens
ascended upon the camels, and followed the servant of Abraham which
hastily returned unto his lord.
That same time, when they were come, Isaac walked by the way without
forth and looked up and saw the camels coming from far. Rebekah espied
him and demanded of the servant who that he was that came in the field
against them. He answered and said: That is my lord Isaac, and anon she
took her pall or mantle and covered her. The servant anon told unto his
lord Isaac all that he had done; which received her and led her into the
tabernacle of Sarah his mother and wedded her, and took her in to his
wife, and so much loved her, that the love attempered the sorrow that he
had for his mother. Abraham after this wedded another wife, by whom he
had divers children. Abraham gave to Isaac all his possessions, and to
his other children he gave movable goods, and departed the sons of his
concubines from his son Isaac whilst he yet lived. And all the days of
the life of Abraham were one hundred and seventy-five years, and then
died in good mind and age, and Isaac and Ishmael buried him by his wife
Sarah in a double spelunke [cave].
HERE BEGINNETH THE LIFE OF ISAAC
WITH THE HISTORY OF ESAU AND OF JACOB
_Which is read in the Church the Second Sunday in Lent_
Isaac was forty years old when he wedded Rebekah and she bare him no
children. Wherefore he besought our Lord that she might bring forth
fruit. Our Lord heard his prayer, and she had twain sons at once. The
first was rough from the head to the foot, and he was named Esau; and
the other was named Jacob. Isaac the father was sixty years old when
these children were born. And after this, when they were grown to
reasonable age, Esau became a ploughman, and a tiller of the earth, and
an hunter. And Jacob was simple and dwelled at home with his mother.
Isaac the father loved well Esau, because he ate oft of the venison that
Esau took, and Rebekah the mother loved Jacob.
Jacob on a time had made a good pottage, and Esau his brother had been
an hunting all day and came home sore an hungred, and found Jacob having
good pottage, and prayed him to give him some, for he was weary and much
hungry. To whom Jacob said: If thou wilt sell to me thy patrimony and
heritage I shall give thee some pottage. And Esau answered, Lo! I die
for hunger, what shall avail me mine inheritance if I die, and what
shall profit me my patrimony? I am content that thou take it for this
pottage. Jacob then said: Swear that to me thou shalt never claim it,
and that thou art content I shall enjoy it, and Esau sware it, and so
sold away his patrimony, and took the pottage and ate it, and went his
way, setting nothing thereby that he had sold his patrimony. This
aforesaid is to bring in my matter of the history that is read, for now
followeth the legend as it is read in the church.