民长纪 6

1And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord: and he delivered them into the hand of Madian seven years.

2And they were grievously oppressed by them. And they made themselves dens and eaves in the mountains, and strong holds to resist.

3And when Israel had sown, Madian and Amalec, and the rest of the eastern nations came up:

4And pitching their tents among them, wasted all things as they were in the blade even to the entrance of Gaza: and they left nothing at all in Israel for sustenance of life, nor sheep, nor oxen, nor asses.

5For they and all their flocks came with their tents, and like locusts filled all places, an innumerable multitude of men, and of camels, wasting whatsoever they touched.

6And Israel was humbled exceedingly in the sight of Madian.

7And he cried to the Lord desiring help against the Madianites.

8And he sent unto them a prophet, and he spoke: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I made you to come up out of Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage,

9And delivered you out of the hands of the Egyptians, and of all the enemies that afflicted you: and I cast them out at your coming in, and gave you their land.

10And I said: I am the Lord your God, fear not the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell. And you would not hear my voice.

11And an angel of the Lord came, and sat under an oak, that was in Ephra, and belonged to Joas the father of the family of Ezri. And when Gedeon his son was threshing and cleansing wheat by the winepress, to flee from Madian,

12The angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said: The Lord is with thee, O most valiant of men.

13And Gedeon said to him: I beseech thee, my lord, if the Lord be with us, why have these evils fallen upon us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers have told us of, saying: The Lord brought us Out of Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the bands of Madian.

14And the Lord looked upon him, and said: Go in this thy strength, and then shalt deliver Israel out of the hand of Madian: know that I have sent thee.

15He answered and said: I beseech thee, my lord, wherewith shall I deliver Israel? Behold my family is the meanest in Manasses, and I am the least in my father’s house.

16And the Lord said to him: I will be with thee: and thou shalt cut off Madian as one man.

17And he said: If I have found grace before thee, give me a sign that it is thou that speakest to me,

18And depart not hence, till I return to thee, and bring a sacrifice, and offer it to thee. And he answered: I will wait thy coming.

19So Gedeon went in, and boiled a kid, and made unleavened loaves of a measure of flour: and putting the flesh in a basket, and the broth of the flesh into a pot, he carried all under the oak, and presented to him.

20And the angel of the Lord said to him: Take the flesh and the unleavened loaves, and lay them upon that rock, and pour out the broth thereon. And when he had done so,

21The angel of the Lord put forth the tip of the rod, which he held in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened loaves: and there arose a fire from the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened loaves: and the angel of the Lord vanished out of his sight.

22And Gedeon seeing that it was the angel of the Lord, said: Alas, my Lord God: for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.

23And the Lord said to him: Peace be with thee: fear not, thou shalt not die.

24And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it the Lord’s peace, until this present day. And when he was yet in Ephra, which is of the family of Ezri,

25That night the Lord said to him: Take a bullock of thy father’s, and another bullock of seven years, and thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal, which is thy father’s: and cut down the grove that is about the altar:

26And thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God in the top of this rock, whereupon thou didst lay the sacrifice before: and thou shalt take the second bullock, and shalt offer a holocaust upon a pile of the wood, which thou shalt cut down out of the grove.

27Then Gedeon taking ten men of his servants, did as the Lord had commanded him. But fearing his father’s house, and the men of that city, he would not do it by day, but did all by night.

28And when the men of that town were risen in the morning, they saw the altar of Baal destroyed, and the grove cut down, and the second bullock laid upon the altar, which then was built.

29And they said one to another: Who hath done this? And when they inquired for the author of the fact, it was said: Gedeon the son of Joas did all this.

30And they said to Joas: Bring out thy son hither, that he may die: because he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down his grove.

31He answered them: Are you the avengers of Baal, that you fight for him? he that is his adversary, let him die before tomorrow light appear: if he be a god, let him revenge himself on him that hath cast down his altar.

32From that day Gedeon was called Jerobaal, because Joss had said: Let Baal revenge himself on him that hath cast down his altar.

33Now all Madian, and Amalec, and the eastern people were gathered together, and passing over the Jordan, camped in the valley of Jezrael.

34But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gedeon, and be sounded the trumpet and called together the house of Abiezer, to follow him.

35And he sent messengers into all Manasses, and they also followed him: and other messengers into Aser and Zabulon and Nephtali, and they came to meet him.

36And Gedeon said to God: If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said,

37I will put this fleece of wool on the floor: if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground beside, I, shall know that by my hand, as thou hast said, thou wilt deliver Israel.

38And it was so. And rising before day wringing the fleece, he filled a vessel with the dew.

39And he said again to God: let not thy wrath be kindled against me if I try once more, seeking a sign in the fleece. I pray that the fleece only may be dry, and all the ground wet with dew.

40And God did that night as he had requested: and it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

1Fecerunt autem filii Israël malum in conspectu Domini: qui tradidit illos in manu Madian septem annis,

2et oppressi sunt valde ab eis. Feceruntque sibi antra et speluncas in montibus, et munitissima ad repugnandum loca.

3Cumque sevisset Israël, ascendebat Madian et Amalec, ceterique orientalium nationum:

4et apud eos figentes tentoria, sicut erant in herbis cuncta vastabant usque ad introitum Gazæ: nihilque omnino ad vitam pertinens relinquebant in Israël, non oves, non boves, non asinos.

5Ipsi enim et universi greges eorum veniebant cum tabernaculis suis, et instar locustarum universa complebant, innumera multitudo hominum et camelorum, quidquid tetigerant devastantes.

6Humiliatusque est Israël valde in conspectu Madian.

7Et clamavit ad Dominum postulans auxilium contra Madianitas.

8Qui misit ad eos virum prophetam, et locutus est: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Ego vos feci conscendere de Ægypto, et eduxi vos de domo servitutis,

9et liberavi de manu Ægyptiorum, et omnium inimicorum qui affligebant vos: ejecique eos ad introitum vestrum, et tradidi vobis terram eorum.

10Et dixi: Ego Dominus Deus vester: ne timeatis deos Amorrhæorum, in quorum terra habitatis. Et noluistis audire vocem meam.

11Venit autem angelus Domini, et sedit sub quercu, quæ erat in Ephra, et pertinebat ad Joas patrem familiæ Ezri. Cumque Gedeon filius ejus excuteret atque purgaret frumenta in torculari, ut fugeret Madian,

12apparuit ei angelus Domini, et ait: Dominus tecum, virorum fortissime.

13Dixitque ei Gedeon: Obsecro, mi domine, si Dominus nobiscum est, cur apprehenderunt nos hæc omnia? ubi sunt mirabilia ejus, quæ narraverunt patres nostri, atque dixerunt: De Ægypto eduxit nos Dominus? nunc autem dereliquit nos Dominus, et tradidit in manu Madian.

14Respexitque ad eum Dominus, et ait: Vade in hac fortitudine tua, et liberabis Israël de manu Madian: scito quod miserim te.

15Qui respondens ait: Obsecro, mi domine, in quo liberabo Israël? ecce familia mea infima est in Manasse, et ego minimus in domo patris mei.

16Dixitque ei Dominus: Ego ero tecum: et percuties Madian quasi unum virum.

17Et ille: Si inveni, inquit, gratiam coram te, da mihi signum quod tu sis qui loqueris ad me:

18nec recedas hinc, donec revertar ad te, portans sacrificium, et offerens tibi. Qui respondit: Ego præstolabor adventum tuum.

19Ingressus est itaque Gedeon, et coxit hædum, et de farinæ modio azymos panes: carnesque ponens in canistro, et jus carnium mittens in ollam, tulit omnia sub quercu, et obtulit ei.

20Cui dixit angelus Domini: Tolle carnes et azymos panes, et pone supra petram illam, et jus desuper funde. Cumque fecisset ita,

21extendit angelus Domini summitatem virgæ, quam tenebat in manu, et tetigit carnes et panes azymos: ascenditque ignis de petra, et carnes azymosque panes consumpsit: angelus autem Domini evanuit ex oculis ejus.

22Vidensque Gedeon quod esset angelus Domini, ait: Heu mi Domine Deus: quia vidi angelum Domini facie ad faciem.

23Dixitque ei Dominus: Pax tecum: ne timeas, non morieris.

24Ædificavit ergo ibi Gedeon altare Domino, vocavitque illud, Domini pax, usque in præsentem diem. Cumque adhuc esset in Ephra, quæ est familiæ Ezri,

25nocte illa dixit Dominus ad eum: Tolle taurum patris tui, et alterum taurum annorum septem, destruesque aram Baal, quæ est patris tui, et nemus, quod circa aram est, succide.

26Et ædificabis ibi altare Domino Deo tuo in summitate petræ hujus, super quam ante sacrificium posuisti: tollesque taurum secundum, et offeres holocaustum super struem lignorum, quæ de nemore succideris.

27Assumptis ergo Gedeon decem viris de servis suis, fecit sicut præceperat ei Dominus. Timens autem domum patris sui, et homines illius civitatis, per diem noluit id facere, sed omnia nocte complevit.

28Cumque surrexissent viri oppidi ejus mane, viderunt destructam aram Baal, lucumque succisum, et taurum alterum impositum super altare, quod tunc ædificatum erat.

29Dixeruntque ad invicem: Quis hoc fecit? Cumque perquirerent auctorem facti, dictum est: Gedeon filius Joas fecit hæc omnia.

30Et dixerunt ad Joas: Produc filium tuum huc, ut moriatur: quia destruxit aram Baal, et succidit nemus.

31Quibus ille respondit: Numquid ultores estis Baal, ut pugnetis pro eo? qui adversarius est ejus, moriatur antequam lux crastina veniat: si deus est, vindicet se de eo, qui suffodit aram ejus.

32Ex illo die vocatus est Gedeon Jerobaal, eo quod dixisset Joas: Ulciscatur se de eo Baal, qui suffodit aram ejus.

33Igitur omnis Madian, et Amalec, et orientales populi, congregati sunt simul: et transeuntes Jordanem, castrametati sunt in valle Jezraël.

34Spiritus autem Domini induit Gedeon, qui clangens buccina convocavit domum Abiezer, ut sequeretur se.

35Misitque nuntios in universum Manassen, qui et ipse secutus est eum: et alios nuntios in Aser et Zabulon et Nephthali, qui occurrerunt ei.

36Dixitque Gedeon ad Deum: Si salvum facis per manum meam Israël, sicut locutus es,

37ponam hoc vellus lanæ in area: si ros in solo vellere fuerit, et in omni terra siccitas, sciam quod per manum meam, sicut locutus es, liberabis Israël.

38Factumque est ita. Et de nocte consurgens expresso vellere, concham rore implevit.

39Dixitque rursus ad Deum: Ne irascatur furor tuus contra me si adhuc semel tentavero, signum quærens in vellere. Oro ut solum vellus siccum sit, et omnis terra rore madens.

40Fecitque Deus nocte illa ut postulaverat: et fuit siccitas in solo vellere, et ros in omni terra.

1Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, who delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years.

2And they were greatly oppressed by them. And they made for themselves hollows and caves in the mountains, and very fortified places for defense.

3And when Israel had planted, Midian and Amalek, and the rest of the eastern nations ascended,

4and pitching their tents among them, they laid waste to all that was planted, as far as the entrance to Gaza. And they left behind nothing at all to sustain life in Israel, neither sheep, nor oxen, nor donkeys.

5For they and all their flocks arrived with their tents, and they filled all places like locusts, an innumerable multitude of men and camels, devastating whatever they touched.

6And Israel was humbled greatly in the sight of Midian.

7And he cried out to the Lord, requesting assistance against the Midianites.

8And he sent to them a man who was a prophet, and he said: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I caused you to ascend from Egypt, and I led you away from the house of servitude.

9And I freed you from the hand of the Egyptians and from all of the enemies who were afflicting you. And I cast them out at your arrival, and I delivered their land to you.

10And I said: I am the Lord your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live. But you were not willing to listen to my voice.’ ”

11Then an Angel of the Lord arrived, and he sat under an oak tree, which was at Ophrah, and which belonged to Joash, the father of the family of Ezri. And while his son Gideon was threshing and cleaning the grain at the winepress, so that he might flee from Midian,

12the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and he said: “The Lord is with you, most valiant of men.”

13And Gideon said to him: “I beg you, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why have these things happened to us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers described when they said, ‘The Lord led us away from Egypt.’ But now the Lord has forsaken us, and he has delivered us into the hand of Midian.”

14And the Lord looked down upon him, and he said: “Go forth with this, your strength, and you shall free Israel from the hand of Midian. Know that I have sent you.”

15And responding, he said: “I beg you, my lord, with what shall I free Israel? Behold, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in the house of my father.”

16And the Lord said to him: “I will be with you. And so, you shall cut down Midian as if one man.”

17And he said: “If I have found grace before you, give me a sign that it is you who is speaking to me.

18And may you not withdraw from here, until I return to you, carrying a sacrifice and offering it to you.” And he responded, “I will wait for your return.”

19And so Gideon entered, and he boiled a goat, and he made unleavened bread from a measure of flour. And setting the flesh in a basket, and putting the broth of the flesh in a pot, he took it all under the oak tree, and he offered it to him.

20And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Take the flesh and the unleavened bread, and place them on that rock, and pour out the broth upon it.” And when he had done so,

21the Angel of the Lord extended the end of a staff, which he was holding in his hand, and he touched the flesh and the unleavened loaves. And a fire ascended from the rock, and it consumed the flesh and the unleavened loaves. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

22And Gideon, realizing that it had been the Angel of the Lord, said: “Alas, my Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.”

23And the Lord said to him: “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid; you shall not die.”

24Therefore, Gideon built an altar to the Lord there, and he called it, the Peace of the Lord, even to the present day. And while he was still at Ophrah, which is of the family of Ezri,

25that night, the Lord said to him: “Take a bull of your father’s, and another bull of seven years, and you shall destroy the altar of Baal, which is your father’s. And you shall cut down the sacred grove which is around the altar.

26And you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, at the summit of this rock, on which you placed the sacrifice before. And you shall take the second bull, and you shall offer a holocaust upon a pile of the wood, which you shall cut down from the grove.”

27Therefore, Gideon, taking ten men from his servants, did just as the Lord had instructed him. But fearing his father’s household, and the men of that city, he was not willing to do it by day. Instead, he completed everything by night.

28And when the men of that town had risen up in the morning, they saw the altar of Baal destroyed, and the sacred grove cut down, and the second bull set upon the altar, which then had been built.

29And they said one to another, “Who has done this?” And when they inquired everywhere as to the author of the deed, it was said, “Gideon, the son of Joash, did all these things.”

30And they said to Joash: “Bring forward your son here, so that he may die. For he has destroyed the altar of Baal, and he has cut down the sacred grove.”

31But he responded to them: “Could you be the avengers of Baal, so that you fight on his behalf? Whoever is his adversary, let him die before the light arrives tomorrow; if he is a god, let him vindicate himself against him who has overturned his altar.”

32From that day, Gideon was called Jerubbaal, because Joash had said, “Let Baal avenge himself against him who has overturned his altar.”

33And so, all of Midian, and Amalek, and the eastern peoples were gathered together. And crossing the Jordan, they encamped in the valley of Jezreel.

34But the Spirit of the Lord entered Gideon, who, sounding the trumpet, summoned the house of Abiezer so that he might follow him.

35And he sent messengers into all of Manasseh, who also followed him, and other messengers into Asher, and Zebulun, and Naphtali, who went to meet him.

36And Gideon said to God: “If you will save Israel by my hand, just as you have said:

37I will set this wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there will be dew only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that by my hand, as you have said, you will free Israel.”

38And so it was done. And rising in the night, wringing out the fleece, he filled a vessel with the dew.

39And again he said to God: “Let not your fury be enkindled against me, if I test once more, seeking a sign in the fleece. I pray that only the fleece may be dry, and all the ground may be wet with dew.”

40And that night, God did as he had requested. And it was dry only on the fleece, and there was dew on all the ground.