Judges 8

1And the men of Ephraim said to him: What is this that thou meanest to do, that thou wouldst not call us when thou wentest to fight against Madian? and they chid him sharply and almost offered violence.

2And he answered them: What could I have done like to that which you have done? Is not one bunch of grapes of Ephraim better than the vintages of Abiezer?

3The Lord hath delivered into your bands the princes of Madian, Oreb and Zeb: what could I have done like to what you have done? And when he had said this, their spirit was appeased, with which they swelled against him.

4And when Gedeon was come to the Jordan, he passed over it with the three hundred men, that were with him: who were so weary that they could not pursue after them that fled.

5And he said to the men of Soccoth: Give, I beseech you, bread to the people that is with me, for they are faint: that we may pursue Zebee, and Salmana the kings of Madian.

6The princes of Soccoth answered: Peradventure the palms of the hands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hand, and therefore thou demandest that we should give bread to thy army.

7And he said to them: When the Lord therefore shall have delivered Zebee and Salmana into my hands, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns and briers of the desert.

8And going up from thence, he came to Phanuel: and he spoke the like things to the men of that place. And they also answered him, as the men of Soccoth had answered.

9He said therefore to them also: When I shall return a conqueror in peace, I will destroy this tower.

10But Zebee and Salmana were resting with all their army. For fifteen thousand men were left of all the troops of the eastern people, and one hundred and twenty thousand warriors that drew the sword, were slain.

11And Gedeon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents, on the east of Nobe and Jegbaa, and smote the camp of the enemies, who were secure, and suspected no hurt.

12And Zebee and Salmana fled, and Gedeon pursued and took them, all their host being put in confusion.

13And returning from the battle before the sun rising,

14He took a boy of the men of Soccoth: and he asked him the names of the princes and ancients of Soccoth, and he described unto him seventy-seven men.

15And he came to Soccoth and said to them: Behold Zebee and Salmana, concerning whom you upbraided me, saying: Peradventure the hands of Zebee and Salmana, are in thy hands, and therefore thou demandest that we should give bread to the men that are weary and faint.

16So he took the ancients of the city and thorns and briers of the desert, and tore them with the same, and cut in pieces the men of Soccoth.

17And he demolished the tower of Phanuel, and slew the men of the city.

18And he said to Zebee and Salmana: What manner of men were they whom you slew in Thabor? They answered: They were like thee, and one of them as the son of a king.

19He answered them: They were my brethren, the sons of my mother. As the Lord liveth, if you had saved them, I would not kill you.

20And he said to Jether his eldest son: Arise, and slay them. But he drew not his sword: for he was afraid, being but yet a boy.

21And Zebee and Salmana said: Do thou rise, and run upon us: because the strength of a man is according to his age: Gedeon rose up and slew Zebee and Salmana: and he took the ornaments and bosses, with which the necks of the camels of kings are wont to be adorned.

22And all the men of Israel said to Gedeon: Rule thou over us and thy son, and thy son’s son: because thou hast delivered us from the hand of Madian.

23And he said to them: I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, but the Lord shall rule over you.

24And he said to them: I desire one request of you: Give me the earlets of your spoils. For the Ismaelites were accustomed to wear golden earlets.

25They answered: We will give them most willingly. And spreading a mantle on the ground, they cast upon it the earlets of the spoils.

26And the weight of the earlets that he requested, was a thousand seven hundred sicles of gold, besides the ornaments, and jewels, and purple raiment which the kings of Madian were went to use, and besides the golden chains that were about the camels’ necks.

27And Gedeon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city Ephra. And all Israel committed fornication with it, and it became a ruin to Gedeon and to all his house.

28But Madian was humbled before the children of Israel, neither could they any more lift up their beads: but the land rested for forty years, while Gedeon presided.

29So Jerobaal the son of Joas went, and dwelt in his own house.

30And he had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh, for he had many wives.

31And his concubine, that he had in Sichem, bore him a son, whose name was Abimelech.

32And Gedeon the son of Joas died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father in Ephra of the family of Ezri.

33But after Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned again, and committed fornication with Baalim. And they made a covenant with Baal, that he should be their god:

34And they remembered not the Lord their God, who delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies round about:

35Neither did they shew mercy to the house of Jerobaal Gedeon, according to all the good things he had done to Israel.

1Dixeruntque ad eum viri Ephraim: Quid est hoc quod facere voluisti, ut nos non vocares, cum ad pugnam pergeres contra Madian? jurgantes fortiter, et prope vim inferentes.

2Quibus ille respondit: Quod enim tale facere potui, quale vos fecistis? nonne melior est racemus Ephraim, vindemiis Abiezer?

3In manus vestras Dominus tradidit principes Madian, Oreb et Zeb: quid tale facere potui, quale vos fecistis? Quod cum locutus esset, requievit spiritus eorum, quo tumebant contra eum.

4Cumque venisset Gedeon ad Jordanem, transivit eum cum trecentis viris, qui secum erant: et præ lassitudine, fugientes persequi non poterant.

5Dixitque ad viros Soccoth: Date, obsecro, panes populo qui mecum est, quia valde defecerunt: ut possimus persequi Zebee et Salmana reges Madian.

6Responderunt principes Soccoth: Forsitan palmæ manuum Zebee et Salmana in manu tua sunt, et idcirco postulas ut demus exercitui tuo panes.

7Quibus ille ait: Cum ergo tradiderit Dominus Zebee et Salmana in manus meas, conteram carnes vestras cum spinis tribulisque deserti.

8Et inde conscendens, venit in Phanuel: locutusque est ad viros loci illius similia. Cui et illi responderunt, sicut responderant viri Soccoth.

9Dixit itaque et eis: Cum reversus fuero victor in pace, destruam turrim hanc.

10Zebee autem et Salmana requiescebant cum omni exercitu suo. Quindecim enim millia viri remanserant ex omnibus turmis orientalium populorum, cæsis centum viginti millibus bellatorum educentium gladium.

11Ascendensque Gedeon per viam eorum, qui in tabernaculis morabantur, ad orientalem partem Nobe et Jegbaa, percussit castra hostium, qui securi erant, et nihil adversi suspicabantur.

12Fugeruntque Zebee et Salmana, quos persequens Gedeon comprehendit, turbato omni exercitu eorum.

13Revertensque de bello ante solis ortum,

14apprehendit puerum de viris Soccoth: interrogavitque eum nomina principum et seniorum Soccoth, et descripsit septuaginta septem viros.

15Venitque ad Soccoth, et dixit eis: En Zebee et Salmana, super quibus exprobrastis mihi, dicentes: Forsitan manus Zebee et Salmana in manibus tuis sunt, et idcirco postulas ut demus viris, qui lassi sunt et defecerunt, panes.

16Tulit ergo seniores civitatis et spinas deserti ac tribulos, et contrivit cum eis atque comminuit viros Soccoth.

17Turrim quoque Phanuel subvertit, occisis habitatoribus civitatis.

18Dixitque ad Zebee et Salmana: Quales fuerunt viri, quos occidistis in Thabor? Qui responderunt: Similes tui, et unus ex eis quasi filius regis.

19Quibus ille respondit: Fratres mei fuerunt, filii matris meæ. Vivit Dominus, quia si servassetis eos, non vos occiderem.

20Dixitque Jether primogenito suo: Surge, et interfice eos. Qui non eduxit gladium: timebat enim, quia adhuc puer erat.

21Dixeruntque Zebee et Salmana: Tu surge, et irrue in nos: quia juxta ætatem robur est hominis. Surrexit Gedeon, et interfecit Zebee et Salmana: et tulit ornamenta ac bullas quibus colla regalium camelorum decorari solent.

22Dixeruntque omnes viri Israël ad Gedeon: Dominare nostri tu, et filius tuus, et filius filii tui: quia liberasti nos de manu Madian.

23Quibus ille ait: Non dominabor vestri, nec dominabitur in vos filius meus, sed dominabitur vobis Dominus.

24Dixitque ad eos: Unam petitionem postulo a vobis: date mihi inaures ex præda vestra. Inaures enim aureas Ismaëlitæ habere consueverant.

25Qui responderunt: Libentissime dabimus. Expandentesque super terram pallium, projecerunt in eo inaures de præda:

26et fuit pondus postulatarum inaurium, mille septingenti auri sicli, absque ornamentis, et monilibus, et veste purpurea, quibus reges Madian uti soliti erant, et præter torques aureas camelorum.

27Fecitque ex eo Gedeon ephod, et posuit illud in civitate sua Ephra. Fornicatusque est omnis Israël in eo, et factum est Gedeoni et omni domui ejus in ruinam.

28Humiliatus est autem Madian coram filiis Israël, nec potuerunt ultra cervices elevare: sed quievit terra per quadraginta annos, quibus Gedeon præfuit.

29Abiit itaque Jerobaal filius Joas, et habitavit in domo sua:

30habuitque septuaginta filios, qui egressi sunt de femore ejus: eo quod plures haberet uxores.

31Concubina autem illius, quam habebat in Sichem, genuit ei filium nomine Abimelech.

32Mortuusque est Gedeon filius Joas in senectute bona, et sepultus est in sepulchro Joas patris sui in Ephra de familia Ezri.

33Postquam autem mortuus est Gedeon, aversi sunt filii Israël, et fornicati sunt cum Baalim. Percusseruntque cum Baal fœdus, ut esset eis in deum:

34nec recordati sunt Domini Dei sui, qui eruit eos de manibus inimicorum suorum omnium per circuitum:

35nec fecerunt misericordiam cum domo Jerobaal Gedeon, juxta omnia bona quæ fecerat Israëli.

1And the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this, that you wanted to do, so that you would not call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they rebuked him strongly, and came close to using violence.

2And he responded to them: “But what could I have done that would be so great as what you have done? Is not one bunch of grapes of Ephraim better than the vintages of Abiezer?

3The Lord has delivered into your hands the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What could I have done that would be so great as what you have done?” And when he had said this, their spirit, which was swelling up against him, was quieted.

4And when Gideon had arrived at the Jordan, he crossed over it with the three hundred men who were with him. And they were so weary that they were unable to pursue those who were fleeing.

5And he said to the men of Succoth, “I beg you, give bread to the people who are with me, for they are greatly weakened, so that we may be able to pursue Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

6The leaders of Succoth answered, “Perhaps the palms of the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna are in your hand, and for this reason, you request that we give bread to your army.”

7And he said to them, “So then, when the Lord will have delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns and briers of the desert.”

8And going up from there, he arrived at Penuel. And he spoke to the men of that place similarly. And they also answered him, just as the men of Succoth had answered.

9And so he said to them also, “When I will have returned as a victor in peace, I will destroy this tower.”

10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were resting with their entire army. For fifteen thousand men were left out of all the troops of the eastern people. And one hundred twenty thousand warriors that drew the sword had been cut down.

11And Gideon ascended by the way of those who were dwelling in tents, to the eastern part of Nobah and Jogbehah. And he struck the camp of the enemies, who were confident and were suspecting nothing adverse.

12And Zebah and Zalmunna fled. And Gideon pursued and overtook them, sending their entire army into confusion.

13And returning from the war before sunrise,

14he took a boy from among the men of Succoth. And he asked him the names of the leaders and elders of Succoth. And he described seventy-seven men.

15And he went to Succoth, and he said to them: “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, over whom you rebuked me, saying: ‘Perhaps the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna are in your hands, and for this reason, you request that we give bread to men who are languishing and weakened.’ ”

16Therefore, he took the elders of the city, and, using the thorns and briers of the desert, he threshed them with these, and he cut the men of Succoth to pieces.

17He also overturned the tower of Penuel, and he killed the men of the city.

18And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were those whom you killed at Tabor?” They responded, “They were like you, and one of them was like the son of a king.”

19He answered them: “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had preserved them, I would not kill you.”

20And he said to Jether, his firstborn son, “Rise up, and put them to death.” But he did not draw his sword. For he was afraid, being still a boy.

21And Zebah and Zalmunna said: “You should rise up and rush against us. For the strength of a man is in accord with his age.” Gideon rose up, and he killed Zebah and Zalmunna. And he took the ornaments and studs, with which the necks of the royal camels are usually adorned.

22And all the men of Israel said to Gideon: “You should rule over us, and your son, and your son’s son. For you freed us from the hand of Midian.”

23And he said to them: “I will not rule over you. Neither shall my son rule over you. Instead, the Lord shall rule over you.”

24And he said to them: “I petition one request from you. Give me the earrings from your spoils.” For the Ishmaelites were accustomed to wear gold earrings.

25They responded, “We are very willing to give them.” And spreading a cloak on the ground, they cast upon it the earrings from the spoils.

26And the weight of the earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, aside from the ornaments, and necklaces, and purple garments, which the kings of Midian were accustomed to use, and aside from the gold chains on the camels.

27And Gideon made an ephod from these, and he kept it in his city, Ophrah. And all of Israel committed fornication with it, and it became a ruin to Gideon and to all his house.

28But Midian was humbled before the sons of Israel. Neither were they able any longer to lift up their necks. But the land rested for forty years, while Gideon presided.

29And so Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went and lived in his own house.

30And he had seventy sons, who went forth from his own thigh. For he had many wives.

31But his concubine, whom he had in Shechem, bore him a son named Abimelech.

32And Gideon, the son of Joash, died in a good old age, and he was buried in the sepulcher of his father, at Ophrah, of the family of Ezri.

33But after Gideon died, the sons of Israel turned away, and they committed fornication with the Baals. And they struck a covenant with Baal, so that he would be their god.

34And they did not remember the Lord their God, who rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on all sides.

35Neither did they show mercy to the house of Jerubbaal Gideon, in accord with all the good that he had done for Israel.