< Laitloekkung 8 >
1 Tedae anih te Ephraim 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 thamanah neh a ho uh.
Then the descendants of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you acted toward us like this? When you went out to fight against the people of Midian, why did you not summon us [to help you]?” They rebuked Gideon severely.
2 Te vaengah amih te Gideon loh, “Nangmih bangla balae ka saii coeng, Abiezer kah misurbit lakah Ephraim yoep he a then moenih a?
But Gideon replied, “I have done [RHQ] very little compared with what you have done! My small clan of descendants of Abiezer only started the battle, but [your very large group of] descendants of Ephraim [helped me to finish the task very well. It is like] the final grapes of the harvest being much better than the first grapes that are picked.
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 enabled you to defeat Oreb and Zeeb, the generals of the army from Midian. That is [RHQ] much more important than what I did!” After Gideon told them that, they no longer resented what he had done.
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 and his 300 men [went east and] crossed the Jordan [River]. Although they were very tired, they continued to pursue their enemies.
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 arrived at Succoth [town], Gideon said to the town leaders, “Please give my men some food! They are very tired. We are pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
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 leaders of Succoth replied, “You have not caught [RHQ] Zebah and Zalmunna yet. So why should we give food to your troops [now? Catch them first, and then we will give you food].”
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.
Gideon replied, “[Because you said that], after Yahweh enables us to defeat Zebah and Zalmunna, we will return. And then we will make whips from thorns from the desert, and with them we will rip the flesh off your bones!”
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.
From there, Gideon [and his 300 men] went to Peniel and asked for food there, but the people gave him the same answer.
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 said to the men of Peniel, “After I defeat those kings, I will return and tear down 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.
By that time, Zebah and Zalmunna had gone to Karkor [town] with 15,000 troops. They were all that were left of the armies that had come from the east. 120,000 of their men 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 [and his men] went east along the road on which caravans travel. They went past Nobah and Jogbehah [villages] and arrived at the enemy camp by surprise.
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 fled, but Gideon’s men pursued them and captured them and all their warriors.
13 Joash capa Gideon khaw caemtloek lamkah te Heres kham longah ha mael.
After that, Gideon and his men [took Zebah and Zalmunna with them and] started to return, going through 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 demanded that he write down the names of all of the leaders in the town. The young man wrote down seventy-seven names.
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.
Then Gideon and his men returned to Succoth and said to those leaders, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. When we were here before, you made fun of me and said ‘You have not [RHQ] caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet! After you catch them, we will give your exhausted men some food.’”
16 Te phoeiah khopuei kah a hamca rhoek neh Sukkoth hlang rhoek te a loh tih khosoek kah a hling, mutlohling neh a toel.
Then Gideon’s men took the town leaders and whipped them with whips made from briers from the desert, to teach them [that they deserved to be punished for not giving them any food].
17 Penuel rhaltoengim te khaw a phil tih khopuei hlang rhoek te khaw a ngawn.
Then [they went to] Peniel and tore down the tower, and killed all the men in the town.
18 Te phoeiah Zebah neh Zalmunna te, “Tabor ah na ngawn uh te mebang hlang rhoek lae,” a ti nah hatah, “Namah bangla om tih amih te manghai capa kah a suisak bangla rhip om uh,” a ti rhoi.
Then Gideon said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “The men you killed near Tabor [Mountain], what did they look like?” They replied, “They were like you; they all looked like they were sons of a king.”
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.
Gideon replied, “They were my brothers! Just as surely as Yahweh lives, I would not kill you if you had not killed them.”
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.
Then he turned to his oldest son, Jether. He said to him, “Kill them!” But Jether was only a boy, and he was afraid, so he did not pull out his dagger [to kill them].
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.
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Do not ask a young boy to do the work that a man should do!” So Gideon killed both of them. Then he took the gold 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 a group of Israeli men [came to] Gideon and said to him, “You be our ruler! [We want] you and your son and your grandsons [to] be our rulers, because you rescued us from the Midian army.”
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.
But Gideon replied, “No, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.”
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 he said, “I request only one thing. I request that each of you give me one earring from the things you captured after the battle.” [All the men descended from Ishmael 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.
They replied, “We will be glad to give earrings to you!” So they spread a cloth [on the ground], and each man threw on it one gold earring that he had taken [from a man he had killed in the battle].
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 all the earrings was (43 pounds/19.4 kg.). That did not include other things [that they gave to Gideon]—the other ornaments or the pendants or the clothes that the kings of Midian wore or the gold chains that were on the necks of their camels.
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.
Gideon made/decorated a sacred vest from the gold, and later he put it in his hometown, Ophrah. But soon the Israeli people started to worship the vest. So it became like a trap [MET] for the people, [causing them to worship it instead of worshiping only God].
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.
That is how the Israelis defeated the people from Midian. The people of Midian did not become strong enough to attack Israel again. So while Gideon was alive, there was peace in the land for 40 years.
29 Te daengah Joash capa Jerubbaal khaw mael van tih amah im ah kho a sak.
Gideon went back home to live there.
30 Gideon he a yuu muep a om dongah a pum lamkah aka thoeng rhoek mah ca tongpa sawmrhih lo uh.
He had many wives, and they bore him seventy sons.
31 Tedae Shekhem kah a yula loh anih ham ca a cun van tih a ming te Abimelek a sui.
He also had a slave wife in Shechem [town], who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
32 Joash capa Gideon khaw sampok then la duek tih Abiezer Ophrah kah a napa Joash phuel ah a up uh.
Gideon died when he was very old. They buried his body in the grave where his father Joash was buried, at Ophrah, in the land belonging to the descendants of Abiether.
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 Israelis [stopped worshiping God and started worshiping the images of the god Baal, like] [MET] adultresses [leave their husbands and go to sleep with other men]. They made a [statue of a] new god called Baal-Berith.
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 Yahweh, the one who had rescued 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.
And even though Gideon had done many good things for the Israelis, they were not kind to Gideon’s family.