Judges 8
1 Then the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you done this to us? Why did you fail to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him violently.
Dixeruntque ad eum viri Ephraim: Quid est hoc quod facere voluisti, ut nos non vocares, cum ad pugnam pergeres contra Madian? jurgantes fortiter, et prope vim inferentes.
2 But Gideon answered them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?
Quibus ille respondit: Quod enim tale facere potui, quale vos fecistis? nonne melior est racemus Ephraim, vindemiis Abiezer?
3 God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian, into your hand. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he had said this, their anger against him subsided.
In manus vestras Dominus tradidit principes Madian, Oreb et Zeb: quid tale facere potui, quale vos fecistis? Quod cum locutus esset, requievit spiritus eorum, quo tumebant contra eum.
4 Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.
Cumque venisset Gedeon ad Jordanem, transivit eum cum trecentis viris, qui secum erant: et præ lassitudine, fugientes persequi non poterant.
5 So Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give my troops some bread, for they are exhausted, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
Dixitque ad viros Soccoth: Date, obsecro, panes populo qui mecum est, quia valde defecerunt: ut possimus persequi Zebee et Salmana reges Madian.
6 But the leaders of Succoth asked, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your army?”
Responderunt principes Soccoth: Forsitan palmæ manuum Zebee et Salmana in manu tua sunt, et idcirco postulas ut demus exercitui tuo panes.
7 “Very well,” Gideon replied, “when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness!”
Quibus ille ait: Cum ergo tradiderit Dominus Zebee et Salmana in manus meas, conteram carnes vestras cum spinis tribulisque deserti.
8 From there he went up to Penuel and asked the same from them, but the men of Penuel gave the same response as the men of Succoth.
Et inde conscendens, venit in Phanuel: locutusque est ad viros loci illius similia. Cui et illi responderunt, sicut responderant viri Soccoth.
9 So Gideon told the men of Penuel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower!”
Dixit itaque et eis: Cum reversus fuero victor in pace, destruam turrim hanc.
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already fallen.
Zebee autem et Salmana requiescebant cum omni exercitu suo. Quindecim enim millia viri remanserant ex omnibus turmis orientalium populorum, cæsis centum viginti millibus bellatorum educentium gladium.
11 And Gideon went up by way of the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, taking them by surprise.
Ascendensque Gedeon per viam eorum, qui in tabernaculis morabantur, ad orientalem partem Nobe et Jegbaa, percussit castra hostium, qui securi erant, et nihil adversi suspicabantur.
12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, Gideon pursued and captured these two kings of Midian, routing their entire army.
Fugeruntque Zebee et Salmana, quos persequens Gedeon comprehendit, turbato omni exercitu eorum.
13 After this, Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle along the Ascent of Heres.
Revertensque de bello ante solis ortum,
14 There he captured a young man of Succoth and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.
apprehendit puerum de viris Soccoth: interrogavitque eum nomina principum et seniorum Soccoth, et descripsit septuaginta septem viros.
15 And Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”
Venitque ad Soccoth, et dixit eis: En Zebee et Salmana, super quibus exprobrastis mihi, dicentes: Forsitan manus Zebee et Salmana in manibus tuis sunt, et idcirco postulas ut demus viris, qui lassi sunt et defecerunt, panes.
16 Then he took the elders of the city, and using the thorns and briers of the wilderness, he disciplined the men of Succoth.
Tulit ergo seniores civitatis et spinas deserti ac tribulos, et contrivit cum eis atque comminuit viros Soccoth.
17 He also pulled down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
Turrim quoque Phanuel subvertit, occisis habitatoribus civitatis.
18 Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.”
Dixitque ad Zebee et Salmana: Quales fuerunt viri, quos occidistis in Thabor? Qui responderunt: Similes tui, et unus ex eis quasi filius regis.
19 “They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
Quibus ille respondit: Fratres mei fuerunt, filii matris meæ. Vivit Dominus, quia si servassetis eos, non vos occiderem.
20 So he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword; he was fearful because he was still a youth.
Dixitque Jether primogenito suo: Surge, et interfice eos. Qui non eduxit gladium: timebat enim, quia adhuc puer erat.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments from the necks of their camels.
Dixeruntque Zebee et Salmana: Tu surge, et irrue in nos: quia juxta ætatem robur est hominis. Surrexit Gedeon, et interfecit Zebee et Salmana: et tulit ornamenta ac bullas quibus colla regalium camelorum decorari solent.
22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you and your son and grandson—for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”
Dixeruntque omnes viri Israël ad Gedeon: Dominare nostri tu, et filius tuus, et filius filii tui: quia liberasti nos de manu Madian.
23 But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD shall rule over you.”
Quibus ille ait: Non dominabor vestri, nec dominabitur in vos filius meus, sed dominabitur vobis Dominus.
24 Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)
Dixitque ad eos: Unam petitionem postulo a vobis: date mihi inaures ex præda vestra. Inaures enim aureas Ismaëlitæ habere consueverant.
25 “We will give them gladly,” they replied. So they spread out a garment, and each man threw an earring from his plunder onto it.
Qui responderunt: Libentissime dabimus. Expandentesque super terram pallium, projecerunt in eo inaures de præda:
26 The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.
et fuit pondus postulatarum inaurium, mille septingenti auri sicli, absque ornamentis, et monilibus, et veste purpurea, quibus reges Madian uti soliti erant, et præter torques aureas camelorum.
27 From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
Fecitque ex eo Gedeon ephod, et posuit illud in civitate sua Ephra. Fornicatusque est omnis Israël in eo, et factum est Gedeoni et omni domui ejus in ruinam.
28 In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon,
Humiliatus est autem Madian coram filiis Israël, nec potuerunt ultra cervices elevare: sed quievit terra per quadraginta annos, quibus Gedeon præfuit.
29 and he—Jerubbaal son of Joash—returned home and settled down.
Abiit itaque Jerobaal filius Joas, et habitavit in domo sua:
30 Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.
habuitque septuaginta filios, qui egressi sunt de femore ejus: eo quod plures haberet uxores.
31 His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
Concubina autem illius, quam habebat in Sichem, genuit ei filium nomine Abimelech.
32 Later, Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Mortuusque est Gedeon filius Joas in senectute bona, et sepultus est in sepulchro Joas patris sui in Ephra de familia Ezri.
33 And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.
Postquam autem mortuus est Gedeon, aversi sunt filii Israël, et fornicati sunt cum Baalim. Percusseruntque cum Baal fœdus, ut esset eis in deum:
34 The Israelites failed to remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.
nec recordati sunt Domini Dei sui, qui eruit eos de manibus inimicorum suorum omnium per circuitum:
35 They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for Israel.
nec fecerunt misericordiam cum domo Jerobaal Gedeon, juxta omnia bona quæ fecerat Israëli.
