Dommer 6

1 Men da Israelitterne gjorde, hvad der var ondt i HERRENS Øjne, gav han dem syv År i Midjans Hånd.

Again the Israelis did things that Yahweh said were very evil. So he allowed the people of Midian to conquer them and rule them for seven years.

2 Og Midjan fik Overtaget over Israel. For at værge sig mod Midjan indrettede Israelitterne sig de Smuthuller, som findes i Bjergene, Hulerne og Klippeborgene.

The people of Midian treated the Israelis so cruelly that the Israelis fled to the mountains. There they made places to live in caves and animal dens.

3 Hver Gang Israelitterne havde sået, kom Midjaniterne, Amalekiterne og Østens Stammer og drog op imod dem

Whenever the Israelis planted things in their fields, the people of Midian and Amalek and other groups from the east invaded Israel.

4 og lejrede sig imod dem, ødelagde Jordens Afgrøde lige til Egnen om Gaza og levnede intet at leve af i Israel, ej heller Småkvæg, Hornkvæg eller Æsler;

They set up tents in the area, and then destroyed the crops as far south as Gaza. They did not leave anything for the Israelis’ sheep or cattle or donkeys to eat.

5 thi de drog op med deres Hjorde og Telte og kom talrige som Græshopper, så hverken de selv eller deres Kameler kunde tælles, og de trængte ind i Landet for at hærge det.

They came into Israel with their tents and their livestock like a swarm of locusts. There were [so many of them that] arrived riding on their camels that no one could count them. They stayed and ruined the Israelis’ crops.

6 Således blev Israel rent forarmet ved Midjaniternes indfald, og Israelitterne råbte til HERREN.

The people of Midian took almost everything the Israelis owned. So finally the Israelis pleaded for Yahweh to help them.

7 Men da Israelitterne råbte til HERREN over Midjaniterne,

When the Israelis pleaded with Yahweh to help them because of [what] the people from Midian [were doing to them],

8 sendte han en Profet til dem, og denne sagde til dem: "Så siger HERREN, Israels Gud: Jeg førte eder op fra Ægypten, jeg førte eder ud af Trællehuset,

he sent to them a prophet, who said, “Yahweh, the God we Israelis worship, says this: ‘Your ancestors were slaves in Egypt.

9 jeg friede eder af Ægyptens Hånd og af deres Hånd, der trængte eder, og jeg drev dem bort foran eder og gav eder deres Land.

But I rescued them from the leaders of Egypt and from all the others who oppressed them. I expelled their enemies from this land, and gave it to your ancestors.

10 Og jeg sagde til eder: Jeg er HERREN eders Gud; frygt ikke Amoriternes Guder, i hvis Land I bor! Men I adlød ikke min Røst!"

I told you all, “I am Yahweh, your God. You are now in the land where the descendants of Amor live, but you must not worship the gods whom they worship.” But you did not pay attention to me.’”

11 Da kom HERRENs Engel og satte sig under Egen i Ofra, som tilhørte Abiezriten Joasj, medens hans Søn Gideon var ved at tærske Hvede i Vinpersen for at have den i Sikkerhed for Midjaniterne.

One day Yahweh appeared [in the form of] an angel and sat underneath a big oak tree at Ophrah [town]. That tree belonged to Joash, who was from the clan of Abiezer. Joash’s son Gideon was threshing wheat in the pit where they pressed [grapes to make] wine. He was threshing the grain there in order to hide it from the people of Midian.

12 HERRENs Engel viste sig for ham og sagde til ham: "HERREN er med dig, stærke Kriger!"

Yahweh [went over] to Gideon and said to him, “You mighty warrior, Yahweh is helping you!”

13 Men Gideon svarede ham: "Ak, Herre! Hvis HERREN er med os, hvorledes er da alt dette kommet over os? Og hvad er der blevet af alle hans Undergerninger, som vore Fædre fortalte os om, idet de sagde: Førte HERREN os ikke ud af Ægypten? Nu har HERREN forstødt os og givet os i Midjans Hånd!"

Gideon replied, “Sir, if Yahweh is helping us, why have all these [bad things] happened to us? We heard about [RHQ] all the miracles that Yahweh performed for our ancestors. We heard people tell us about how he rescued them from [being slaves in] Egypt. But now Yahweh has abandoned us, and we are ruled by the people from Midian.”

14 Da vendte HERREN sig til ham og sagde: "Drag hen i denne din Kraft, så skal du frelse Israel af Midjans Hånd; sandelig, jeg sender dig!"

Then Yahweh turned toward him and said, “I will give you strength to enable you to rescue the Israelis from the people of Midian. I am sending you [to do that]!”

15 Men han svarede ham: "Ak, Herre! Hvorledes skal jeg kunne frelse Israel? Se, min Slægt er den ringeste i Manasse og jeg den yngste i mit Fædrenehus!"

Gideon replied, “But Yahweh, how can I rescue the Israelis? My clan is the least significant in the whole tribe descended from Manasseh, and I am the least significant person in my whole family!”

16 Han svarede ham: "HERREN vil være med dig, og du skal hugge Midjaniterne ned alle som een!"

Yahweh said to him, “I will help you. So you will defeat the army of Midian [as easily] as if you were fighting only one man!”

17 Da sagde han til ham: "Hvis jeg har fundet Nåde for dine Øjne, så lad mig få et Tegn på, at det er dig, som taler med mig;

Gideon replied, “If you are truly pleased with me, do something which will prove that you who are speaking to me are really Yahweh.

18 gå ikke herfra, før jeg kommer tilbage til dig og bringer dig min Gave og stiller den frem for dig!" Han svarede: "Jeg skal blive, til du kommer tilbage!"

But do not go away until I go and bring back an offering to you.” Yahweh answered, “Okay, I will stay here until you return.”

19 Gideon gik da ind og tillavede et Gedekid og usyrede Brød af en Efa Mel; Kødet lagde han i en Kurv, og Suppen hældte han i en Krukke og bar det ud til ham under Egen. Da han kom hen til ham med det,

Gideon hurried to his home. He [killed] a young goat [and] cooked [it]. Then he took (a half a bushel/18 liters) of flour and baked some bread without yeast. Then he put the cooked meat in a basket, and put the broth [from the meat] in a pot, and took it to Yahweh, who was sitting under the tree.

20 sagde Guds Engel til ham: "Tag Kødet og det usyrede Brød. Læg det på Klippen der og hæld Suppen ud derover!" Og han gjorde det.

Then Yahweh said to him, “Put the meat and the bread on this rock. Then pour the broth on top of it.” So Gideon did that.

21 Da udrakte HERRENs Engel Spidsen af den Stav, han havde i Hånden, og rørte ved Kødet og Brødet. Og Ild slog op af Klippen og fortærede Kødet og Brødet; og HERRENs Engel forsvandt for hans Blik.

Then Yahweh touched the meat and bread with the walking stick that was in his hand. A fire flamed up from the rock and burned up everything that Gideon had brought! And then Yahweh disappeared.

22 Gideon skønnede nu, at det havde været HERRENs Engel; og han sagde: "Ve, Herre, HERRE, jeg har jo set HERRENs Engel Ansigt til Ansigt!"

When Gideon realized that it was really Yahweh [who had appeared in the form of an angel and talked with him], he exclaimed, “O, Yahweh, I have seen you face-to-face [when you had the form of] an angel! [So I will surely die]!”

23 Men HERREN sagde til ham: "Fred være med dig! Frygt ikke, du skal ikke dø!"

But Yahweh called to him and said, “Do not be afraid! You will not die [because of seeing me]!”

24 Da byggede Gideon HERREN et Alter der og kaldte det "HERREN er Fred"; det står endnu den Dag i Dag i Abiezriternes Ofra.

Then Gideon built an altar to [worship] Yahweh there. He named it ‘Yahweh gives us peace’. That altar is still there in Ophrah [town], in the land that belongs to the descendants of Abiezer.

25 Samme Nat sagde HERREN til ham: "Tag ti af dine Trælle og en syvårs Tyr; nedbryd din Faders Ba'alsalter og hug Asjerastøtten om, som står derved;

That night Yahweh said to Gideon, “Take the second-best/oldest bull from your father’s herd, the bull that is seven years old. [Kill it]. Then tear down the altar that your father built to [worship] the god Baal. Also cut down the pole for worshipping [the goddess] Astarte that is there beside it.

26 byg så af Stensætningen HERREN din Gud et Alter på Toppen af Klippen her og tag Tyren og brænd den som Brændoffer med Træet af den omhuggede Asjerastøtte!"

Then build a [stone] altar to worship me, your God Yahweh, here on this hill. Take the wood from the pole you cut down and make a fire [to cook the meat of the bull] as a burnt offering to me.”

27 Gideon tog da ti af sine Trælle og gjorde, som HERREN bød ham; men han gjorde det om Natten, thi af Frygt for sin Familie og sine Bysbørn turde han ikke gøre det om Dagen.

So Gideon and his servants did what Yahweh commanded. But they did it at night, because he was afraid what the other members of his family and the other men in town would do to him if they found out that he had done that.

28 Da Byens Folk næste Morgen tidlig så Ba'alsalteret nedbrudt, Asjerastøtten ved Siden af hugget om og Tyren ofret på det nybyggede Alter,

Early the next morning, as soon as the men got up, they saw that the altar to Baal had been torn down, and the pole for worshiping Astarte was gone. They saw that there was a new altar there, and on it was what remained from the bull they had sacrificed.

29 sagde de til hverandre: "Hvem mon der har gjort det?" Og da de spurgte sig for og foretog en Undersøgelse, blev der sagt, at det var Gideon, Joasjs Søn.

The people asked each other, “Who did this?” After they investigated, someone told them that it was Gideon, the son of Joash, [who had done it].

30 Og Byens Folk sagde til Joasj: "Udlever din Søn, for at han kan lide Døden, thi han har nedbrudt Ba'alsalteret og omhugget Asjerastøtten ved Siden af!"

They went to Joash and said to him, “Bring your son out here! (He must be executed/We must kill him), because he destroyed our god Baal’s altar and cut down the pole for our goddess Astarte!”

31 Men Joasj svarede alle dem, der stod omkring ham: "Vil I virkelig stride for Ba'al eller hjælpe ham? Den, der strider for ham, skal dø inden i Morgen! Er han Gud, så lad ham stride for sig selv, siden hans Alter er nedbrudt!"

But Joash replied, “Are you trying to defend Baal? Are you trying to argue his case? Anyone who tries to defend Baal should be executed by tomorrow morning! If Baal is truly a god, he ought to be able to defend himself, and to get rid of the person who tore down his altar!”

32 Ved den Lejlighed fik Gideon Navnet Jerubba'al, idet man sagde: "Lad Ba'al stride med ham, siden han har nedbrudt hans Alter!"

From that time, people called Gideon Jerub-Baal, which means ‘Baal should defend himself’, because he tore down Baal’s altar.

33 Alle Midjaniterne, Amalekiterne og Østens Stammer sluttede sig sammen, satte over Jordan og slog Lejr på Jizre'elsletten.

Soon after that, the armies of the people of Midian and of Amalek and the people from the east gathered together. They crossed the Jordan River [to attack the Israelis]. They set up their tents in Jezreel Valley.

34 Da iklædte HERRENs Ånd sig Gideon, og han stødte i Hornet; og Abiezriterne fylkede sig om ham.

Then Yahweh’s Spirit took control of Gideon. He blew a ram’s horn to summon the men to prepare to fight. So the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him.

35 Og da han sendte Bud ud i hele Manasse, fylkede de sig også om ham; og han sendte Bud ud i Aser, Zebulon og Naftali, og de drog op før at møde Fjenderne.

He also sent messengers throughout the tribes descended from [the four tribes of] Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali [to tell their soldiers to come], and all of them came.

36 Da sagde Gideon til Gud: "Hvis du vil frelse Israel ved min Hånd, som du har lovet,

Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to enable me to rescue the Israeli people as you promised,

37 så lægger jeg nu dette Fåreskind på Tærskepladsen, og falder der så Dug alene på Skindet, medens Jorden ellers bliver ved at være tør, da ved jeg, at du vil frelse Israel ved min Hånd, som du har lovet."

confirm it by doing this: Tonight I will put a dry wool fleece on the ground where I thresh the grain. Tomorrow morning, if the fleece is wet with dew but the ground is dry, then I will know that I am the one you will enable to rescue the people of Israel as you promised.”

38 Og det skete således. Da han næste Morgen vred Skindet, pressede han Dug af det, en hel Skålfuld Vand.

And that is what happened. When Gideon got up the next morning, he picked up the fleece, and squeezed out a whole bowlful of water!

39 Men Gideon sagde til Gud: "Vredes ikke på mig, når jeg endnu denne ene Gang taler til dig, lad mig blot denne Gang endnu prøve med Skindet: Lad Skindet alene være tørt, medens der falder Dug på Jorden rundt om!"

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me ask you to do one more thing. Tonight I will put the fleece out again. This time, let the fleece remain dry, while the ground is wet with the dew.”

40 Da gjorde Gud således om Natten: Skindet alene var ført, men der faldt Dug på Jorden rundt om.

So that night, God did what Gideon asked him to do. The next morning the fleece was dry, but the ground was covered with dew.