Lawkcengkung 8
1 Ephraim ni nang ni Midiannaw na tuk navah, Bangkongmaw kaimanaw hai na kaw awh hoeh vaw. Kaimouh bangmaw ka sak telah thouk a kâoun awh.
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 Gideon ni nangmouh ni na sak e patetlah kai ni bangmaw ka sak. Abiezer misur khi e hlakvah Ephraim misur pâkhueng e ahawihnawn.
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 Cathut ni Midiannaw e ransabawi Oreb hoi Zeeb teh nangmae kut dawk na poe toung nahoehmaw. Nangmouh ni na sak awh e patetlah kai ni bangmaw ka sak tie lawk bout a dei pouh e lawk ahnimouh ni a thai torei teh a lungupti awh.
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 ni Jordan tui koe a pha awh torei teh, ama koe kaawm e tami 300 touh ni pueng hoi tawn nalaihoi a pâlei teh Jordan a raka awh.
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 Sukkoth khonaw hanelah kai ka hnukkâbangnaw hah vaiyei poe haw. Ahnimouh teh nget a tawn awh toe, Midian siangpahrang Zebah hoi Zalmunna hah atu ka pâlei awh atipouh.
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 Sukkoth bawinaw ni Zebah hoi Zalmunna hah na kut dawk kaawm tangcoung e patetlah maw ransanaw hah vaiyei ka poe han vaw telah ati awh.
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 Gideon ni hete hno kecu dawk BAWIPA ni Zebah hoi Zalmunna ka kut dawk na poe toteh kahrawng kawthaknaw hoi na tak dawk kâpawnrayak lah na hem han telah atipouh.
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 Hahoi Penuel kho lah a cei teh, hot patetvanlah, ahnimouh koe a dei pouh eiteh, Penuelnaw ni hai Sukkoth khonaw ni a dei e patetlah a dei pouh awh.
From there, Gideon [and his 300 men] went to Peniel and asked for food there, but the people gave him the same answer.
9 Gideon ni kai karoum lahoi bout ka tho toteh, hete imrasang heh he ka raphoe han atipouh.
So he said to the men of Peniel, “After I defeat those kings, I will return and tear down this tower!”
10 Hahoi tahloi ka patuem e tami 120000 a due awh toe. Kanîtholae ransanaw thung dawk e ka cawi rae 15000 tabang a hrawi teh Zebah hoi Zalmunna teh Kakor kho ao awh.
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 ni Nobah kho hoi Jobehah kanîtholah im dawk kho ka sak e naw a cei teh a roenae rim hah ring laipalah onae tueng dawk ransanaw hah a tuk awh.
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 hoi Zalmunna a yawng roi toteh Gideon ni a pâlei teh rim a raphoe pouh. Midian siangpahrang kahni touh Zebah hoi Zalmunna a man awh teh, ransanaw pueng teh koung a kayei awh.
Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but Gideon’s men pursued them and captured them and all their warriors.
13 Hahoi, Joash capa Gideon teh kanîtho hoehnahlan tarantuknae koehoi bout a ban teh,
After that, Gideon and his men [took Zebah and Zalmunna with them and] started to return, going through Heres Pass.
14 Sukkoth kho e thoundoun buet touh a man awh teh lawk a pacei. Ahni niyah Sukkoth kho e kaawm bawinaw a lungkahanaw e tami min 77 touh a dei pouh.
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 Gideon ni Sukkoth khonaw koe a cei teh, Zebah hoi Zalmunna teh khenhaw! hete taminaw ni maw Zebah Zalmunna teh na kut dawk kaawm e patetlah a tha a tawn nah vaiyei na poe han maw na ka tet ni teh, na ka pacekpahlek e khe atipouh.
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 Hahoi kho dawk e a lungkahanaw a kaw teh, kahrawngum e kawthak hoi Sukkoth kho e taminaw hah a hem.
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 kho imrasang hai a raphoe pouh awh teh, khocanaw hai be a thei awh.
Then [they went to] Peniel and tore down the tower, and killed all the men in the town.
18 Zebah hoi Zalmunna koevah Tabor kho dawk e na thei e naw tami nâyittouh maw ka phat telah ati. Ahnimouh ni nang nama patet doeh. Siangpahrang capa hoi koung a kâvan awh atipouh.
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 Ahnimouh ni ka hmaunawngha anu e capa doeh, BAWIPA a hring e patetlah ahnimouh teh pâhlung awh pawiteh kai ni na thet awh mahoeh ei atipouh.
Gideon replied, “They were my brothers! Just as surely as Yahweh lives, I would not kill you if you had not killed them.”
20 Hahoi a camin Jether koevah, thaw nateh thet haw atipouh. Hatei ahni ni a tahloi rayu hoeh. Bangkongtetpawiteh, a naw rah ni teh a taki.
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 Hathnukkhu hoi Zebah hoi Zalmunna ni nang nama thaw nateh na thet leih. Bangkongtetpawiteh tongpa na tho e patetlah na thayung hai te lah doeh ao rah atipouh. Hahoi Gideon ni a thaw teh, Zebah hoi Zalmunna teh a thei teh, ahnimae kalauk lahuen dawk awi sak e dingyin hah a rading pouh.
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 Hot patetlah Isarelnaw niyah Gideon koe nang nama ni na uk awh leih, na capa hoi na ca catoun ditouh. Bangkongtetpawiteh, Midiannaw e kut dawk hoi na rungngang toe atipouh awh.
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 Hateiteh, Gideon ni kai ni na uk awh mahoeh. Ka capa ni hai na uk awh mahoeh. BAWIPA ni na uk awh han atipouh.
But Gideon replied, “No, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.”
24 Gideon ni nangmouh koe hno buet touh hei han ka ngai. Tami pueng ni na tarannaw kut dawk e na lae hnâpacapnaw hah be na poe haw atipouh. Bangkongtetpawiteh, tarannaw teh Ishmael miphun lah ao awh dawkvah sui hnâpacap koung a tawn awh.
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 Ahnimouh ni lungthocalah hoi na poe han atipouh awh. Hahoi hni a phai pouh awh teh taminaw pueng ni amamouh ni a la awh e hnâpacapnaw hah a poe awh.
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 Sui hnâpacap a hei e naw teh Shekel 17000 touh a pha. Dingyin hoi laikaw, Midian siangpahrangnaw ni a kâkhu awh e hni paling hoi kalauk ni a lahuen dawk awi e naw hai bout a hmu sin.
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 Gideon ni a poe awh e sui hoi Ephod a sak teh a onae Ophrah kho vah a ta. Hote hmuen koe Isarelnaw pueng ni a yon awh. Gideon hoi imthungkhunaw hanelah hai karap lah ao.
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 Hot patetlah Midiannaw teh Isarel catounnaw koe a sung awh teh kâroe thai awh hoeh toe. Hahoi Gideon a hring na thung hote ram teh kum 40 touh thung karoumcalah ao.
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 Joash capa Jerubbaal teh a cei teh ama im vah ao.
Gideon went back home to live there.
30 Gideon ni a ma thung hoi ka tâcawt e capa 70 touh a tawn. Bangkongtetpawiteh, a yu moi a pap dawkvah.
He had many wives, and they bore him seventy sons.
31 Shekhem kho kaawm e ado ni hai capa a khe teh a min lah Abimelek a phung.
He also had a slave wife in Shechem [town], who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
32 Joash capa Gideon a matawng toteh a due teh, Abiezrit tami Ophrah kho e Joash tangkom dawk a pakawp awh.
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 Joash capa Gideon a due tahma hoi Isarel catounnaw Baal cathut koe a kâyo awh dawkvah, Baalberith hah a cathut lah a ta awh.
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 tengpam e tarannaw kut dawk hoi ka rasat e amamae BAWIPA Cathut hah a pahnim awh.
They forgot about Yahweh, the one who had rescued them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
35 Isarelnaw lathueng vah hawinae ka sak e Jerubbaal (Gideon) imthungkhu koe boehai pahrennae kamnuek sak ngai awh hoeh.
And even though Gideon had done many good things for the Israelis, they were not kind to Gideon’s family.
