Suci 8
1 Tada Efrajimovi ljudi rekoše Gideonu: “Kako si postupio prema nama: nisi nas pozvao kada si pošao u boj protiv Midjanaca?” I žestoko mu prigovoriše.
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 On im odgovori: “Pa što sam ja učinio kad se usporedim s vama? Nije li Efrajimovo pabirčenje bolje od Abiezerove berbe?
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 U vaše je ruke Jahve predao knezove midjanske, Oreba i Zeeba. Može li se usporediti moje djelo s onim što ste vi učinili?” Na te riječi utiša se njihova srdžba prema njemu.
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 Kad je Gideon došao do Jordana, prijeđe ga, ali i on i tri stotine ljudi s njim bijahu iznemogli i gladni.
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 Stoga reče ljudima iz Sukota: “Dajte kruha ljudima koji idu za mnom, iznemogli su. Ja gonim Zebaha i Salmunu, kraljeve midjanske.”
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 Ali mu sukotski glavari odgovoriše: “Zar je Zebahova i Salmunina šaka već u tvojoj ruci da dademo kruha tvojoj vojsci?”
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 im reče: “Dobro! Kad mi Jahve preda u ruke Zebaha i Salmunu, iskidat ću vam meso trnjem i dračem pustinjskim.”
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 Odatle ode u Penuel i zatraži isto od Penuelaca, a oni mu odgovore kao što su mu odgovorili i Sukoćani.
From there, Gideon [and his 300 men] went to Peniel and asked for food there, but the people gave him the same answer.
9 On zaprijeti i Penuelcima: “Kad se vratim kao pobjednik, porušit ću ovu kulu.”
So he said to the men of Peniel, “After I defeat those kings, I will return and tear down this tower!”
10 Zebah i Salmuna bijahu u Karkoru i vojska njihova s njima, oko petnaest tisuća ljudi, što ih god osta od vojske sinova Istoka; sto dvadeset tisuća ratnika bijaše palo.
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 pođe putem kojim prolaze oni što žive pod šatorima, istočno od Nobaha i Jogbohe, te potuče vojsku kad stajaše bezbrižna.
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 i Salmuna pobjegoše. On ih pogna i uhvati dva kralja midjanska, Zebaha i Salmunu. A vojsku im svu uništi.
Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but Gideon’s men pursued them and captured them and all their warriors.
13 Poslije bitke Gideon, sin Joašev, vrati se preko Hareške uzvisine.
After that, Gideon and his men [took Zebah and Zalmunna with them and] started to return, going through Heres Pass.
14 I uhvati nekog momka iz Sukota te ga uze ispitivati; a on mu popisa imena sukotskih knezova i starješina, sedamdeset i sedam ljudi.
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 Potom Gideon ode Sukoćanima i reče: “Evo Zebaha i Salmune zbog kojih ste mi se rugali govoreći: 'Je li Zebahova i Salmunina šaka već u tvojoj ruci pa da dademo kruha tvojim iznemoglim ljudima?'”
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 I uhvati starješine gradske, nabra pustinjskog trnja i drača da ih oćute leđa Sukoćana.
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 Poruši Penuelsku kulu i pobi građane.
Then [they went to] Peniel and tore down the tower, and killed all the men in the town.
18 Onda reče Zebahu i Salmuni: “Kakvi bijahu ljudi koje pobiste na Taboru?” “Bili su nalik na te”, odgovoriše. “Svaki bijaše kao kraljev sin.”
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 “To su bila moja braća, sinovi moje matere”, reče Gideon. “Tako mi Jahve, da ste ih ostavili na životu, ne bih vas ubio.”
Gideon replied, “They were my brothers! Just as surely as Yahweh lives, I would not kill you if you had not killed them.”
20 Potom zapovjedi svom prvencu Jeteru: “Ustani, pogubi ih!” Ali dječak ne izvuče mača: bojao se, bijaše još mlad.
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 Tada rekoše Zebah i Salmuna: “Ustani ti i navali na nas, jer kakav je čovjek, onakva mu i snaga.” I ustavši, Gideon pogubi Zebaha i Salmunu i uze mjesečiće što su visjeli o vratu njihovih deva.
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 Izraelci rekoše Gideonu: “Vladaj nad nama, ti, sin tvoj i unuk tvoj, jer si nas ti izbavio iz ruku Midjanaca.”
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 Ali im Gideon odgovori: “Ne, neću ja vladati nad vama, a ni moj sin; Jahve će biti vaš vladar.”
But Gideon replied, “No, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.”
24 Još im reče Gideon: “Jedno samo od vas tražim: da mi svaki dade prsten od svog plijena.” Pobijeđeni su nosili zlatne prstenove jer bijahu Jišmaelci.
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 “Vrlo rado”, odgovore oni. On nato razastrije svoj plašt, a svaki od njih baci od svog plijena po prsten.
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 Težina zlatnih prestenova što ih je zaiskao iznosila je tisuću i sedam stotina zlatnih šekela, osim mjesečića, naušnica i skrletnih haljina koje su nosili midjanski kraljevi i osim lančića što bijahu oko vrata njihovih deva.
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 načini od toga efod i postavi ga u svome gradu Ofri. I sav Izrael udari za njim u nevjeru i bijaše to zamka Gideonu i njegovu domu.
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 Tako su Midjanci bili poniženi pred Izraelcima. Više ne dizahu glave i zemlja bi mirna četrdeset godina, koliko još potraja vijek Gideonov.
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 Jerubaal, sin Joašev, otišao je i živio u svojoj kući.
Gideon went back home to live there.
30 Gideon je imao sedamdeset sinova koji su potekli od njega jer je imao mnogo žena.
He had many wives, and they bore him seventy sons.
31 Njegova inoča koja je živjela u Šekemu rodi mu sina komu nadjenu ime Abimelek.
He also had a slave wife in Shechem [town], who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
32 Gideon, sin Joašev, umrije u dubokoj starosti; sahraniše ga u grobu njegova oca Joaša u Abiezerovoj Ofri.
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 Po Gideonovoj smrti Izraelci okrenuše u preljub s baalima te postaviše sebi za boga Baal-Berita.
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 Izraelci se nisu više sjećali Jahve, svoga Boga, koji ih je izbavio iz ruku svih njihovih neprijatelja unaokolo.
They forgot about Yahweh, the one who had rescued them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
35 I nisu iskazivali zahvalnost domu Jerubaala Gideona za dobro što ga je učinio Izraelu.
And even though Gideon had done many good things for the Israelis, they were not kind to Gideon’s family.
