Beginning

6 Forsooth the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he betook them into the hand of Midian seven years. (And the Israelites did more evil before the Lord, and he delivered them into the hands of the Midianites for seven years.)

² And Israel was oppressed of them greatly; and Israel made ditches, and dens to themselves in hills, and most strong places to fight against Midian. (And Israel was greatly oppressed by them; and in the hills they made ditches, and caves, and strongholds for themselves, from which to fight against the Midianites.)

³ And when Israel had sown, Midian ascended, and Amalek (was with them), and others of the nations of the east;

⁴ and they setted their tents beside the sons of Israel, and they wasted all things that were in herbs, either green corn, unto the entering of Gaza, and utterly they left not in Israel anything pertaining to life, not sheep, not oxen, not asses (and they left not utterly any beast alive in Israel, not sheep, nor oxen, nor donkeys).

⁵ For they and all their flocks came with their tabernacles, and at the likeness of locusts they full-filled all things, and a multitude of men and of camels was without number (yea, they were a multitude without number of men and of camels), and they wasted whatever thing(s) they touched.

⁶ And Israel was made low greatly in the sight of Midian (And Israel was brought greatly low before the Midianites). And Israel cried to the Lord,

⁷ and asked (for) help against (the) Midianites;

⁸ and he sent to them a man, a prophet, and he spake to them, (and said,) The Lord God of Israel saith these things, I made you to go up from Egypt, and I led you out of the house of servage,

⁹ and I delivered you from the hand of Egyptians, and of all [the] enemies that tormented you (and from all of the enemies who tormented you); and I casted them out at your entering, and I gave to you the land of them;

¹⁰ and I said, I am the Lord your God; dread ye not the gods of Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; and ye would not hear my voice. (and I said, I am the Lord your God; fear ye not, or do not ye worship, the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye live; but ye would not listen to me.)

¹¹ And (then) an angel of the Lord came, and sat under an oak, that was in Ophrah, and it pertained to Joash, the father of the family of Abiezrites. And when Gideon, the son of Joash, threshed, and purged wheat in a presser, that he should flee Midian (And when Gideon, the son of Joash, threshed, and purged wheat in a winepress, to hide it from the Midianites),

¹² an angel of the Lord appeared to him (the angel of the Lord appeared to him), and said, The Lord be with thee, thou strongest of men.

¹³ And Gideon said to him, My lord, I beseech, if the Lord is with us, why then have all these evils taken us? Where be the marvels of him, which our fathers told, and said, The Lord hath led us out of Egypt? For now he hath forsaken us, and hath betaken us into the hand of Midian. (And Gideon said to him, My lord, I beseech thee, if the Lord is with us, then why have all these evils overtaken us? Where be his miracles, which our fathers told us about? Yea, they said, The Lord led us out of Egypt. But now, he hath deserted us, and hath delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.)

¹⁴ And the Lord beheld to him, and said, Go thou in this strength of thee, and thou shalt deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; (and) know thou, that I have sent thee.

¹⁵ And Gideon answered (to the angel), and said, My lord, I beseech, in what thing shall I deliver Israel? (My lord, I beseech thee, how can I save Israel?) Lo! my family is the lowest in Manasseh, and I am the least in the house of my father.

¹⁶ And the Lord said to him, I shall be with thee, and thou shalt smite Midian as one man. (And the Lord said to him, I shall be with thee, and thou shalt strike down all of the Midianites like one man.)

¹⁷ And Gideon said, If I have found grace before thee, give to me a sign, that thou, that speakest to me, art sent of God’s part; (And Gideon said to the angel, If I have found grace before thee, give me a sign, that thou, who speakest to me, art sent from God;)

¹⁸ go thou not away from hence, till I turn again to thee, and bring (a) sacrifice, and offer (it) to thee. Which answered, I shall abide thy coming (And he answered, I shall wait for thee).

¹⁹ And so Gideon went in, and seethed a kid, and took therf loaves of a bushel of meal, and (he put) the flesh in a pannier; and he put the broth of the flesh in a pot, and he bare all these things (to) under the oak, and offered those to him.

²⁰ To whom the angel of the Lord said, Take thou the flesh, and the therf loaves, and put them on that stone, and pour the broth above. And when he had done so, (To whom the angel of the Lord said, Take thou the flesh, and the unleavened bread, and put them on that stone, and pour the broth upon it. And when he had done so,)

²¹ the angel of the Lord held forth the end of the staff, which he held in the hand (which he held in his hand), and he touched the fleshes, and the therf loaves; and fire ascended from the stone, and wasted the fleshes, and [the] therf loaves. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his eyes.

²² And Gideon saw that he was an angel of the Lord, and he said, Lord God, alas to me, for I saw the angel of the Lord face to face. (And Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, and he said, Lord God, alas for me, for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.)

²³ And the Lord said to him, Peace be with thee; dread thou not (fear not ), thou shalt not die.

²⁴ Then Gideon builded there an altar to the Lord, and he called it the Peace of the Lord, (and it is there) unto this present day. And when he was yet in Ophrah, which is of the family of Abiezrites, (Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and he called it Jehovahshalom, and it is there unto this present day, in Ophrah, which is of the family of the Abiezrites.)

²⁵ the Lord said to him in that night, Take thou thy father’s bull, and another bull of seven years, and thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal, that is thy father’s, and cut thou down the wood, which is about the altar; (And then the Lord said to him that night, Take thou thy father’s bull, and another bull that is seven years old, and destroy thou the altar of Baal, that is thy father’s, and cut thou down the pole of idolatry, which is beside the altar;)

²⁶ and thou shalt build an altar to thy Lord God in the highness of this stone, on which thou puttedest (the) sacrifice before; and thou shalt take the second bull, and thou shalt offer (a) burnt sacrifice on the heap of trees, which thou cuttedest down of the wood. (and thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God on top of this stone, on which before thou hast put the sacrifice; and thou shalt take the second bull, and thou shalt offer a burnt sacrifice on the heap of wood from the pole of idolatry which thou hast cut down.)

²⁷ Therefore Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord commanded to him. And Gideon dreaded the house of his father (And Gideon feared his father’s family), and the men of that city, and (so) he would not do (it) by day, but he fulfilled all things by night.

²⁸ And when men of that city had risen early, they saw the altar of Baal destroyed, and the wood cut down, and the tother bull put on the altar, that was builded. (And when the men of that city had risen in the morning, they saw that the altar of Baal had been destroyed, and the pole of idolatry had been cut down, and the other bull put on the altar that Gideon had built there.)

²⁹ And they said together, Who hath done this? And when they inquired (of) the doer of the deed, it was said, Gideon, the son of Joash, did all these things.

³⁰ And they said to Joash, Bring forth thy son hither, that he die, for he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down the wood about it. (And they said to Joash, Bring thy son here, so that we can kill him, for he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down the pole of idolatry that was beside it.)

³¹ To whom Joash answered, Whether ye be the vengers of Baal, that ye fight for him? he that is (the) adversary of him, die he, before the morrow light come; if he is God, venge he himself of him that hath cast down his altar (yea, if he is a god, avenge he himself upon him who hath thrown down his altar).

³² From that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, for-thy that Joash had said, Baal take vengeance of him that hath cast down his altar. (So from that day, Gideon was called Jerubbaal, or Let Baal contend, for Joash had said, Let Baal himself take vengeance upon him who hath thrown down his altar.)

³³ Therefore all Midian, and Amalek, and the peoples of the east were gathered together, and they passed over (the) Jordan, and setted tents in the valley of Jezreel. (And so all the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and the peoples of the east were gathered together, and they passed over the Jordan River to the west side, and pitched their tents in the Jezreel Valley.)

³⁴ Forsooth the spirit of the Lord clothed, or full-filled, Gideon; and he sounded with a clarion, and called together the house of Abiezer, that it should follow him. (And the spirit of the Lord filled Gideon full; and he sounded with a trumpet, and called out all the house of Abiezer to follow him.)

³⁵ And he sent messengers into all Manasseh, and he followed Gideon (and they followed Gideon); and he sent other messengers into Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali, and they (also) came to him.

³⁶ And Gideon said to the Lord, If thou makest safe Israel by mine hand, as thou hast spoken, (And Gideon said to the Lord, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said,)

³⁷ I shall put this fleece of wool in the cornfloor; if the dew is in the fleece alone, and dryness is in all the earth, I shall know, that thou shalt deliver Israel by mine hand, as thou hast spoken. (for me to be certain of that, I shall put this fleece of wool on the threshing floor; and tomorrow, if dew is found only on the fleece, and the ground all around it is dry, then I shall know for sure that thou shalt save Israel by my hand, just as thou hast said.)

³⁸ And it was done so. And he rose by night (And he rose up early), and when the fleece was wrung out, he (had) filled a basin (full) with dew;

³⁹ and (then) he said again to the Lord, Thy strong vengeance be not wroth against me, if I assay yet once (again), and seek a sign in the fleece (and seek a sign with the fleece); I pray, that the fleece alone be dry, and that all the earth (around it) be moist with dew.

⁴⁰ And (so) the Lord did in that night, as Gideon asked; and dryness was in the fleece alone, and dew was in all the earth (and the next day, the fleece was dry, but there was dew on the ground all around it).

7 Then Jerubbaal, which also is Gideon, rose by night, and all the people with him, and came to the well which is called Harod. And the tents of Midian were in the valley, at the north coast of the high hill. (Then Jerubbaal, that is Gideon, and all the people with him, rose up early, and they came to the well which is called Harod. And the tents of the Midianites were pitched in the valley to the north of Mount Moreh.)

² And the Lord said to Gideon, (Too) Much people is with thee, and Midian shall not be betaken into the hands thereof, lest Israel have glory against me, and say, I am delivered by my strengths. (And the Lord said to Gideon, Too many people be with thee, and the Midianites shall not be delivered into their hands, lest the people of Israel take the glory from me, and say, We were saved by our own strength.)

³ Speak thou to the people, and preach thou, while all men hear, (and say,) He that is fearedful, and dreadful, turn again. And (so) they (who were afraid) went away from the hill of Gilead, and (in all) two and twenty thousand of men turned again from the people; and only ten thousand (still) dwelled (there).

⁴ And the Lord said to Gideon, Yet the people is (too) much; lead thou them to the waters, and there I shall prove them, and he (shall) go with thee, of whom I shall say, that he (should) go; and turn he again, whom I shall forbid to go.

⁵ And when the people had gone down to the waters, the Lord said to Gideon, Thou shalt separate them by themselves that lap (up the) waters with hand and tongue, as dogs be wont to lap (it up); and those, that drink with knees bowed, shall be in the tother part.

⁶ And so the number of them, that lapped (up the) waters, by the hand casting (it) to the mouth, was three hundred men; and all the tother multitude drank kneeling.

⁷ And the Lord said to Gideon, In three hundred men, that lapped waters, I shall deliver you, and I shall betake Midian in thine hand; and all the tother multitude turn again into their place. (And the Lord said to Gideon, With the three hundred men who lapped up the water, I shall save you, and I shall deliver the Midianites into thy hands; and all the other multitude should return to their homes.)

⁸ And [so] when they had taken meats and trumps for the number of them, he commanded all the tother multitude to go (back) to their tabernacles; and Gideon, with (those) three hundred men, gave himself to [the] battle. And the tents of Midian were beneath in the valley (And the tents of the Midianites were pitched below him in the valley).

⁹ In the same night the Lord said to him, Rise thou (up), and go down into their tents, for I have betaken them in thine hand (for I have delivered them into thy hands);

¹⁰ and if thou dreadest to go alone, Phurah, thy servant, go down with thee. (and if thou fearest to go down alone, let thy servant Phurah go down with thee.)

¹¹ And when thou shalt hear what they speak, then thine hands shall be strengthened, and thou shalt go down securer to the tents of [the] enemies. Therefore he went down, and Phurah, his servant (And so he, and his servant Phurah, went down), into the part of [the] tents, where the watches of (the) armed men were.

¹² And Midian, and Amalek, and all the peoples of the east lay spread abroad in the valley, as the multitude of locusts; and the camels were unnumberable, as gravel that lieth in the brink of the sea. (And the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and all the peoples of the east lay spread abroad in the valley, like a multitude of locusts; and their camels were innumerable, like the gravel, or the sand, that lieth at the seashore.)

¹³ And when Gideon had come down, a man told (of) a dream to his neighbour, and he told by this manner that, that he had seen, (saying,) I saw a dream, and it seemed to me, that as a barley loaf, baken under ashes, was wallowed, and it came down into the tents of Midian; and when it had come to a tabernacle, it smote it, and destroyed it, and made it even utterly to the earth. (And when Gideon had come down, a man told his neighbour about a dream that he had, and he told in this manner what he had seen, saying, I had a dream, and it seemed to me, that a barley loaf, baked under ashes, was rolled down into the tents of the Midianites; and when it came to a tent, it struck it, and destroyed it, and made it utterly even to the ground.)

¹⁴ That man answered, to whom he spake (And that man to whom he spoke, answered), This is none other thing, no but the sword of Gideon, [the] son of Joash, a man of Israel; for the Lord God hath betaken Midian, and all [the] tents thereof, into the hands of Gideon.

¹⁵ And when Gideon had heard the dream, and the interpreting thereof, he worshipped the Lord, and turned again to the tents of Israel, and said, Rise ye (up); for the Lord hath betaken into our hands the tents of Midian (for the Lord hath delivered the host, or the army, of the Midianites into our hands).

¹⁶ And he parted the three hundred men into three parts, and he gave them trumps in their hands, and empty pots, and lamps (with lamps), that is, (with) burning brands, either torches, that might not lightly be quenched, in the midst of the pots.

¹⁷ And he said to them, Do ye this thing which ye see me do; I shall enter into a part of the tents, and follow ye that, that I do.

¹⁸ When the trump in my hand shall sound, sound ye also all about the tents, and cry ye together, To the Lord, and to Gideon.

¹⁹ And Gideon entered, and the three hundred men that were with him, into a part of the tents, when the watches of midnight began; and when the keepers were raised, they began to sound with trumps, and to beat together the pots among themselves (and after the guards had changed, they began to sound with the trumpets, and to beat the pots together).

²⁰ And when they sounded in three places by compass, and had broken the pots, they held [the] lamps in their left hands, and [the] sounding trumps in their right hands; and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon;

²¹ and they stood all in their place, about the tents of their enemies. And so all the tents were troubled; and they cried [out], and yelled, and fled; (and they all stood in their places, about the tents of their enemies. And all the army was troubled, and many of the enemies cried out, and yelled, and fled away;)

²² and nevertheless the three hundred men continued, sounding with trumps. And the Lord sent sword in all the tents, and they killed themselves by death each other; and they (who were left) fled till to Bethshittah, (in Zererath), and by the side, from Abelmeholah into Tabbath. (but the three hundred men continued sounding with the trumpets. And the Lord set each man in the camp against his neighbour, and they killed each other with their swords; and those who were left fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to Abelmeholah Ridge by Tabbath.)

²³ And men of Israel cried together, of Naphtali, and of Asher, and of all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian; and the Lord gave victory to the people of Israel in that day. (Then the men of Israel from Naphtali, and Asher, and from both parts of Manasseh, were called out, and they pursued the Midianites; and the Lord gave victory to the people of Israel on that day.)

²⁴ And Gideon sent messengers into all the hill (country) of Ephraim, and said, Come ye down against the coming of Midian, and occupy ye the waters till to Bethbarah and (the) Jordan. And all Ephraim cried (And all the men of Ephraim were called out), and before-occupied the waters of the Jordan until Bethbarah.

²⁵ And Ephraim killed two chief men of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; he killed Oreb in the stone of Oreb, and Zeeb in the presser of Zeeb; and Ephraim pursued Midian, and they bare the heads of Oreb and of Zeeb to Gideon, over the floods of Jordan. (And the Ephraimites killed the two chief men of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at the stone of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb; and they pursued the Midianites, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, on the other side of the Jordan River.)