Judges 8
1 Then the men of Ephraim asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to attack the Midianite?” They argued furiously with him.
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 “Now what have I achieved in comparison to you?” Gideon replied. “Even Ephraim's left-over grapes are better than Abiezer's whole grape harvest!
Quibus ille respondit: Quod enim tale facere potui, quale vos fecistis? nonne melior est racemus Ephraim, vindemiis Abiezer?
3 God handed over to you Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite commanders. What have I managed to achieve in comparison to you?” When he told them this their animosity towards him died down.
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 crossed the Jordan with his three hundred men. Even though they were exhausted they continued the chase.
Cumque venisset Gedeon ad Jordanem, transivit eum cum trecentis viris, qui secum erant: et præ lassitudine, fugientes persequi non poterant.
5 When they got to Succoth, Gideon asked the people there, “Please provide some bread to the men with me because they're worn out—I'm pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings.”
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 Succoth town leaders replied, “Why should we give your army bread when you haven't even captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet?”
Responderunt principes Soccoth: Forsitan palmæ manuum Zebee et Salmana in manu tua sunt, et idcirco postulas ut demus exercitui tuo panes.
7 “In that case, once the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I'll return and thrash you with thorns and briers from the desert!” Gideon replied.
Quibus ille ait: Cum ergo tradiderit Dominus Zebee et Salmana in manus meas, conteram carnes vestras cum spinis tribulisque deserti.
8 He left and went to Penuel and asked them the same thing, but the people of Penuel answered the same way as the people 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 he told them, “When I return victorious, I'll demolish this tower!”
Dixit itaque et eis: Cum reversus fuero victor in pace, destruam turrim hanc.
10 Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies of around fifteen thousand men. These were all who remained of the armies of the people of the East—one hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already been killed.
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 Gideon took the caravan route to the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, catching them offguard.
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 Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, but he chased after the two Midianite kings and captured them, defeating the whole of their terrified army.
Fugeruntque Zebee et Salmana, quos persequens Gedeon comprehendit, turbato omni exercitu eorum.
13 Then Gideon, son of Joash, returned from the battle through the Heres Pass.
Revertensque de bello ante solis ortum,
14 There he captured a young man from Succoth and questioned him. The 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 Gideon went and said to the Sukkoth town leaders, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, the ones you taunted me about when you said, ‘Why should we give your exhausted army bread when you haven't even captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet?’”
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 So he took the town elders of Succoth and taught them a lesson using thorns and briers from the desert.
Tulit ergo seniores civitatis et spinas deserti ac tribulos, et contrivit cum eis atque comminuit viros Soccoth.
17 He also demolished the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.
Turrim quoque Phanuel subvertit, occisis habitatoribus civitatis.
18 Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What were they like, the men you killed at Tabor?” “They looked like you,” they answered. “Each of them had the stature of a prince.”
Dixitque ad Zebee et Salmana: Quales fuerunt viri, quos occidistis in Thabor? Qui responderunt: Similes tui, et unus ex eis quasi filius regis.
19 “Those were my brothers, my mother's sons,” Gideon burst out. “As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I wouldn't kill you!”
Quibus ille respondit: Fratres mei fuerunt, filii matris meæ. Vivit Dominus, quia si servassetis eos, non vos occiderem.
20 He told Jether, his oldest son, “Go on, kill them!” But the boy refused to draw his sword, because he was young and afraid.
Dixitque Jether primogenito suo: Surge, et interfice eos. Qui non eduxit gladium: timebat enim, quia adhuc puer erat.
21 Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Come on, you do it! Show yourself a man and kill us!” So Gideon went over and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped 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, “You must become our ruler, you, your son, and your grandson; because you've saved us from the Midianites.”
Dixeruntque omnes viri Israël ad Gedeon: Dominare nostri tu, et filius tuus, et filius filii tui: quia liberasti nos de manu Madian.
23 “I won't be your ruler, and my son won't either,” Gideon replied. “The Lord will be your ruler.”
Quibus ille ait: Non dominabor vestri, nec dominabitur in vos filius meus, sed dominabitur vobis Dominus.
24 Then Gideon said, “I have a request to ask of you: that each of you give me an earring from your plunder.” (Their enemies were Ishmaelites and wore gold earrings.)
Dixitque ad eos: Unam petitionem postulo a vobis: date mihi inaures ex præda vestra. Inaures enim aureas Ismaëlitæ habere consueverant.
25 “We'll happily give them to you,” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each of them threw on it earrings from their plunder.
Qui responderunt: Libentissime dabimus. Expandentesque super terram pallium, projecerunt in eo inaures de præda:
26 The weight of the earrings he'd asked for was 1,700 shekels, not including the ornaments, the pendants, and the purple garments worn by the Midianite kings or the chains that were round their camels' necks.
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 the gold Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in his hometown of Ophrah. All Israel prostituted themselves there by worshiping it as an idol, and it became a trap to Gideon and his family.
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 This is how the Midianites was subjugated before the Israelites and did not gain power again. So the land was at peace for forty years during the lifetime of Gideon.
Humiliatus est autem Madian coram filiis Israël, nec potuerunt ultra cervices elevare: sed quievit terra per quadraginta annos, quibus Gedeon præfuit.
29 Jerub-baal, son of Joash, went home, living his own house.
Abiit itaque Jerobaal filius Joas, et habitavit in domo sua:
30 Gideon had seventy sons, all his own, because he had many wives.
habuitque septuaginta filios, qui egressi sunt de femore ejus: eo quod plures haberet uxores.
31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also had a son. He named him Abimelech.
Concubina autem illius, quam habebat in Sichem, genuit ei filium nomine Abimelech.
32 Gideon, son of Joash, died at a good 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 But as soon as Gideon died, the Israelites went back to prostituting themselves, worshiping before the Baals. They made Baal-berith 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 They forgot about the Lord their God, who had saved them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
nec recordati sunt Domini Dei sui, qui eruit eos de manibus inimicorum suorum omnium per circuitum:
35 They did not show any respect to the family of Jerub-baal (Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.
nec fecerunt misericordiam cum domo Jerobaal Gedeon, juxta omnia bona quæ fecerat Israëli.
