Laitloekkung 8
1 Tedae anih te Ephriam hlang loh, “Kaimih taengah mebang hno lae na saii tih, Midian vathoh thil ham na caeh vaengah kaimih tloe tah nang khue pawh,” a ti na uh tih anih te thamahnah neh a ho uh.
Then the men of Ephraim asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to attack the Midianite?” They argued furiously with him.
2 Te vaengah amih te Gideon loh, “Nangmih bangla balae ka saii coeng, Abiezer kah misurbit lakah Ephraim yoep he a then moenih a?
“Now what have I achieved in comparison to you?” Gideon replied. “Even Ephraim's left-over grapes are better than Abiezer's whole grape harvest!
3 Midian mangpa Oreb neh Zeeb te Pathen loh na kut dongla m'paek coeng tih nangmih bangla balae ka saii thai. Anih lamkah a mueihla a tahah vaengah a hekah ol a thui,” a ti nah.
God handed over to you Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite commanders. What have I managed to achieve in comparison to you?” When he told them this their animosity towards him died down.
4 Gideon ha pawk van neh Jordan te pahoi kat tih a taengkah hlang ya thum neh buhmueh rhathih la a hloem uh.
Then Gideon crossed the Jordan with his three hundred men. Even though they were exhausted they continued the chase.
5 Te dongah Sukkoth hlang rhoek taengah, “Ka kho kung kah pilnam ham he buh hluem khaw m'paek pah laem, Midian manghai Zebah neh Zalmunna hnuk ka hloem ah amih khaw kamah khaw buhmueh rhathih lam ni ka om uh,” a ti nah.
When they got to Succoth, Gideon asked the people there, “Please provide some bread to the men with me because they're worn out—I'm pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings.”
6 Tedae Sukkoth mangpa rhoek loh na caempuei te buh ka paek uh ham khaw Zebah neh Zalmunna kut te na kut dongah om oepsoeh pawn a?” a ti nah.
But the Succoth town leaders replied, “Why should we give your army bread when you haven't even captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet?”
7 Te dongah Gideon loh, “Zebah neh Zalmunna te BOEIPA loh ka kut dongla han tloeng vaengah na saa te khosoek kah a hling neh, mutlohling neh kam baih bitni,” a ti nah.
“In that case, once the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I'll return and thrash you with thorns and briers from the desert!” Gideon replied.
8 Te lamkah te Penuel la cet tih koep a thui bal dae anih te Sukkoth hlang rhoek kah a doo bangla Penuel hlang rhoek long khaw a doo uh.
He left and went to Penuel and asked them the same thing, but the people of Penuel answered the same way as the people of Succoth.
9 Te dongah Penuel hlang rhoek te khaw a voek tih, “Sading la ka mael vaengah rhaltoengim he kam phil bitni,” a ti nah.
So he told them, “When I return victorious, I'll demolish this tower!”
10 Te vaengah Zebah neh Zalmunna tah Karkor ah khothoeng ca caem boeih khui lamkah aka sueng boeih thawng hlai nga tluk loh amih rhoi taengah lambong la a om puei. Te vaengah cunghang aka pom hlang thawng ya pakul loh cungku uh.
Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies of around fifteen thousand men. These were all who remained of the armies of the people of the East—one hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already been killed.
11 Gideon khaw, Nobah neh Jobehah khothoeng kah dap ah aka om rhoek longpuei ah cet tih lambong lambong te a tloek daengah ngaikhuek la om pueng.
Gideon took the caravan route to the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, catching them offguard.
12 Zebah neh Zalmunna te rhaelrham rhoi van dae a hnukah a hloem. Midian manghai rhoi Zebah neh Zalmunna te a tuuk van nen tah lambong boeih te a lakueng sak.
Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, but he chased after the two Midianite kings and captured them, defeating the whole of their terrified army.
13 Joash capa Gideon khaw caemtloek lamkah lamkah te Heres kham longah ha mael.
Then Gideon, son of Joash, returned from the battle through the Heres Pass.
14 Te vaengah Sukkoth hlang rhoek khui lamkah camoe te a tuuk tih a dawt. Anih ham Sukkoth mangpa rhoek neh hamca rhoek hlang sawmrhih parhih ming te boeih a daek.
There he captured a young man from Succoth and questioned him. The man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.
15 Te phoeiah Sukkoth hlang rhoek te a paan tih, “Zebah neh Zalmunna la he, kai nan hnael uh tih, 'Buh aka lamlum na hlang rhoek te ka paek uh ham khaw, na kut ah Zebah neh Zalmunna kut loh om pawn a,’ na ti uh te,” a ti nah.
Gideon went and said to the Sukkoth town leaders, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, the ones you taunted me about when you said, ‘Why should we give your exhausted army bread when you haven't even captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet?’”
16 Te phoeiah khopuei kah a hamca rhoek neh Sukkoth hlang rhoek te a loh tih khosoek kah a hling, mutlohling neh a toel.
So he took the town elders of Succoth and taught them a lesson using thorns and briers from the desert.
17 Penuel rhaltoengim te khaw a phil tih khopuei hlang rhoek te khaw a ngawn.
He also demolished the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.
18 Te phoeiah Zebah neh Zalmunna te, “Tabor ah na ngawn uh te mebang hlang rhoek lae,” a ti nah hantah, “Namah bangla om tih amih te manghai capa kah a suisak bangla rhip om uh,” a ti rhoi.
Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What were they like, the men you killed at Tabor?” “They looked like you,” they answered. “Each of them had the stature of a prince.”
19 Te vaengah ka mana rhoi aw BOEIPA kah hingnah dongah amih te ka manu ca rhoek ni, amih te na hing sak koinih nangmih he kang ngawn pawt sue,” a ti nah.
“Those were my brothers, my mother's sons,” Gideon burst out. “As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I wouldn't kill you!”
20 Te phoeiah a caming Jether te, “Thoo lamtah amih rhoi he ngawn,” a ti nah. Tedae a camoe pueng dongah a rhih tih a cunghang te camoe loh rhawp bong pawh.
He told Jether, his oldest son, “Go on, kill them!” But the boy refused to draw his sword, because he was young and afraid.
21 Zebah neh Zalmunna long khaw, “Namah te thoo lamtah kaimih rhoi he n'cuuk thil,” a ti nah. A thayung thamal loh hlang la a poeh sak van dongah Gideon khaw thoo tih Zebah neh Zalmunna te a ngawn. A kalauk rhawn dongkah oi te khaw a loh pah.
Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Come on, you do it! Show yourself a man and kill us!” So Gideon went over and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments from the necks of their camels.
22 Te vaengah Gideon te Israel hlang rhoek loh, “Kaimih he Midian kut lamkah nan khang coeng dongah namah neh na ca long khaw, na ca kah a ca khaw kaimih soah ngol pawn saeh,” a ti uh.
Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “You must become our ruler, you, your son, and your grandson; because you've saved us from the Midianites.”
23 Tedae amih taengah Gideon loh, “Nangmih soah kai ka ngol mahpawh, ka ca khaw nangmih soah ngol boel saeh, BOEIPA te nangmih soah ngol bitni,” a ti nah.
“I won't be your ruler, and my son won't either,” Gideon replied. “The Lord will be your ruler.”
24 Te vaengkah amih Ishmael rhoek kah hnaii te tah sui kak la a om dongah Israel rhoek te Gideon loh, “Hlang boeih loh a kutbuem la a khueh hnaii te kai taengah nan paek ham te ni nangmih taengah huithuinah neh kam bih,” a ti nah.
Then Gideon said, “I have a request to ask of you: that each of you give me an earring from your plunder.” (Their enemies were Ishmaelites and wore gold earrings.)
25 Tedae, “Pae rhoe pae sih,” a ti uh dongah himbai te a phaih uh tih hlang boeih loh a kutbuem hnaii pahoi a voeih uh.
“We'll happily give them to you,” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each of them threw on it earrings from their plunder.
26 Te vaengkah sui hnaii a bih te sui kak khiing la thawngkhat ya rhih om. Te lamloh Midian manghai pum dongkah kah oihnun, hnapha, daidi himbai khaw, te lamloh kalauk rhawn dongkah oi khaw om pueng.
The weight of the earrings he'd asked for was 1,700 shekels, not including the ornaments, the pendants, and the purple garments worn by the Midianite kings or the chains that were round their camels' necks.
27 Te te Gideon loh hnisui la a saii tih Ophrah kah amah kho ah a khueh hatah a taengah Israel boeih loh cukhalh uh. Te dongah Gideon ham neh a imkhui ham tah hlaeh la a om pah.
From the gold Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in his hometown of Ophrah. All Israel prostituted themselves there by worshiping it as an idol, and it became a trap to Gideon and his family.
28 Midian he Israel ca rhoek kah mikhmuh ah kunyun coeng tih a lu khaw dangrhoek ham khaw khoep uh voelpawh. Te dongah Gideon tue, kum likip khuiah tah khohmuen khaw mong.
This is how the Midianites was subjugated before the Israelites and did not gain power again. So the land was at peace for forty years during the lifetime of Gideon.
29 Te daengah Joash capa Jerubbaal khaw mael van tih amah im ah kho a sak.
Jerub-baal, son of Joash, went home, living his own house.
30 Gideon he a yuu muep a om dongah a pum lamkah aka thoeng rhoek mah ca tongpa sawmrhih lo uh.
Gideon had seventy sons, all his own, because he had many wives.
31 Tedae Shekhem kah a yula loh anih ham ca a cun van tih a ming te Abimelek a sui.
His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also had a son. He named him Abimelech.
32 Joash capa Gideon khaw sampok then la duek tih Abiezer Ophrah kah a napa Joash phuel ah a up uh.
Gideon, son of Joash, died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 Gideon a duek van nen tah Israel ca rhoek loh poehlip uh. Baal taengla cukhalh uh tih amamih ham Baalberith te pathen bangla a khueh uh.
But as soon as Gideon died, the Israelites went back to prostituting themselves, worshiping before the Baals. They made Baal-berith their god.
34 A kaepvai kah thunkha rhoek kut tom lamkah amih aka huul BOEIPA a Pathen te Israel ca rhoek loh poek uh pawh.
They forgot about the Lord their God, who had saved them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
35 Israel ham a saii a then boeih dongah khaw Jerubbaal Gideon imkhui taengah sitlohnah khaw tueng uh pawh.
They did not show any respect to the family of Jerub-baal (Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.
