Judges 6

1 And the sons of Israel do evil in the eyes of YHWH, and YHWH gives them into the hand of Midian [for] seven years,

Forsothe the sones of Israel diden yuel in the `siyt of the Lord, and he bitook hem in the hond of Madian seuene yeer.

2 and the hand of Midian is strong against Israel, [so] the sons of Israel have made for themselves the nooks which [are] in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds [to hide] from the presence of Midian.

And thei weren oppressid of hem greetly; and `thei maden dichis, and dennes to hem silf in hillis, and strongeste places to fiyte ayen.

3 And it has been, if Israel has sowed, that Midian has come up, and Amalek, and the sons of the east, indeed, they have come up against him,

And whanne Israel hadde sowe, Madian stiede, and Amalech, and othere of the `naciouns of the eest;

4 and encamp against them, and destroy the increase of the land until your entering Gaza; and they leave no sustenance in Israel, either sheep, or ox, or donkey;

and thei settiden tentis at the sones of Israel, and wastiden alle thingis `as tho weren in eerbis, ethir grene corn, `til to the entryng of Gaza, and outirli thei leften not in Israel ony thing perteynynge to lijf, not scheep, not oxun, not assis.

5 for they and their livestock come up, with their tents; they come in as the fullness of the locust for multitude, and of them and of their livestock there is no number, and they come into the land to destroy it.

For thei and alle her flockis camen with her tabernaclis, and at the licnesse of locustus thei filliden alle thingis, and a multitude of men and of camels was with out noumbre, and wastiden what euer thing thei touchiden.

6 And Israel is very weak from the presence of Midian, and the sons of Israel cry to YHWH.

And Israel was `maad low greetli in the siyt of Madian.

7 And it comes to pass, when the sons of Israel have cried to YHWH concerning Midian,

And Israel criede to the Lord, `and axyde help ayens Madianytis; and he sente to hem a man,

8 that YHWH sends a man, a prophet, to the sons of Israel, and he says to them, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: I have brought you up out of Egypt, and I bring you out from a house of servants,

a profete, and he spak, The Lord God of Israel seith these thingis, Y made you to stie fro Egipt, and Y ledde you out of the hows of seruage,

9 and I deliver you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all your oppressors, and I cast them out from your presence, and I give their land to you,

and Y delyueride you fro the hond of Egipcians, and of alle enemyes that turmentiden you; and Y castide hem out at youre entryng, and Y yaf to you `the lond of hem;

10 and I say to you, I [am] your God YHWH, you do not fear the gods of the Amorite in whose land you are dwelling—and you have not listened to My voice.”

and Y seide, Y am `youre Lord God; drede ye not the goddis of Ammorreis, in whose lond ye dwellen; and ye nolden here my vois.

11 And the Messenger of YHWH comes and sits under the oak which [is] in Ophrah, which [is] to Joash the Abi-Ezrite, and his son Gideon is beating out wheat in the winepress, to remove [it] from the presence of the Midianites;

Forsothe an aungel of the Lord cam, and sat undur an ook, that was in Effra, and perteynede to Joas, fadir of the meinee of Ezri. And whanne Gedeon, `his sone, threischide out, and purgide wheetis in a pressour,

12 and the Messenger of YHWH appears to him and says to him, “YHWH [is] with you, O mighty man of valor.”

that he schulde fle Madian, an aungel of the Lord apperide to hym, and seide, The Lord be with thee, thou strongeste of men.

13 And Gideon says to Him, “O my Lord, [if] YHWH is indeed with us, then why has all this found us? And where [are] all His wonders which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Has YHWH not brought us up out of Egypt? And now YHWH has left us, and gives us into the hand of Midian.”

And Gedeon seide to hym, My lord, Y biseche, if the Lord is with vs, whi therfor han alle these yuels take vs? Where ben the merueils of hym, whiche oure fadris telden, and seiden, The Lord ledde vs out of Egipt? `Now forsothe he hath forsake vs, and hath bitake vs in the hond of Madian.

14 And YHWH turns to him and says, “Go in this—your power; and you have saved Israel out of the hand of Midian—have I not sent you?”

And the Lord bihelde to hym, and seide, Go thou in this strengthe of thee, and thou schalt delyuere Israel fro the hond of Madian; wite thou, that Y sente thee.

15 And he says to Him, “O my Lord, with what do I save Israel? Behold, my chief [is] weak in Manasseh, and I [am] the least in the house of my father.”

Which Gedeon answeride, and seide, My lord, Y biseche, in what thing schal Y delyuere Israel? Lo! my meynee is the loweste in Manasses, and Y am the leeste in the hows of my fadir.

16 And YHWH says to him, “Because I am with you—you have struck the Midianites as one man.”

And the Lord seide to hym, Y schal be with thee, and thou schalt smyte Madian as o man.

17 And he says to Him, “Now if I have found grace in Your eyes, then You have done a sign for me that You are speaking with me.

And Gedeon seide, If Y haue foundun grace bifor thee, yyue to me a signe, that thou, that spekist to me, art sente of Goddis part;

18 Please do not move from here until my coming to You, and I have brought out my present, and put it before You”; and He says, “I abide until your return.”

go thou not `awei fro hennus, til Y turne ayen to thee, and brynge sacrifice, and offre to thee. Whiche answeride, Y schal abide thi comyng.

19 And Gideon has gone in, and prepares a kid of the goats, and an ephah of flour [worth] of unleavened things; he has put the flesh in a basket, and he has put the broth in a pot, and he brings [them] out to Him, to the place of the oak, and brings [them] near.

And so Gedeon entride, and sethide a kide, and took therf looues of a buyschel of mell, and fleischis in a panyere; and he sente the broth of fleischis in a pot, and bar alle thingis vndur an ook, and offride to hym.

20 And the Messenger of God says to him, “Take the flesh and the unleavened things, and place [them] on this rock—and pour out the broth”; and he does so.

To whom the aungel of the Lord seide, Take thou the fleischis, and therf looues, and putte on that stoon, and schede the broth aboue. And whanne he hadde do so,

21 And the Messenger of YHWH puts forth the end of the staff which [is] in His hand, and comes against the flesh, and against the unleavened things, and the fire goes up out of the rock and consumes the flesh and the unleavened things—and the Messenger of YHWH has gone from his eyes.

the aungel of the Lord helde forth the `ende of the yerde which he helde in the hond, and he touchide the fleischis, and the therf looues; and fier stiede fro the stoon, and wastide the fleischis, and therf looues. Forsothe the aungel of the Lord vanyschide fro hise iyen.

22 And Gideon sees that He [is] the Messenger of YHWH, and Gideon says, “Aah, Lord YHWH! For so I have looked on the Messenger of YHWH face to face!”

And Gedeon siy that he was `an aungel of the Lord, and seide, Lord God, alas to me, for Y siy the aungel of the Lord face to face.

23 And YHWH says to him, “Peace to you; do not fear; you do not die.”

And the Lord seide to hym, Pees be with thee; drede thou not, thou schalt not die.

24 And Gideon builds an altar to YHWH there, and calls it YHWH-Shalom, it [is] yet in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrites to this day.

Therfor Gedeon bildide there an auter to the Lord, and he clepide it the Pees of the Lord, `til in to present dai. And whanne he was yit in Effra, which is of the meynee of Ezri, the Lord seide to hym in that nyyt,

25 And it comes to pass, on that night, that YHWH says to him, “Take the young ox which your father has, and the second bullock of seven years, and you have thrown down the altar of Ba‘al which your father has, and cut down the Asherah which [is] by it,

Take thou `the bole of thy fadir, and anothir bole of seuene yeer, and thou schalt distrie the auter of Baal, which is thi fadris, and kitte thou doun the wode, which is aboute the auter;

26 and you have built an altar to your God YHWH on the top of this stronghold, by the arrangement, and have taken the second bullock, and caused a burnt-offering to ascend with the wood of the Asherah which you cut down.”

and thou schalt bilde an auter to thi Lord God in the hiynesse of this stoon, on which thou puttidist sacrifice bifore; and thou schalt take the secounde bole, and thou schalt offre brent sacrifice on the heep of trees, whiche thou kittidist doun of the wode.

27 And Gideon takes ten men of his servants, and does as YHWH has spoken to him, and it comes to pass, because he has been afraid of the house of his father, and the men of the city, to do [it] by day, that he does [it] by night.

Therfore Gedeon took ten men of hise seruauntis, and dide as the Lord comaundide to hym. Sotheli Gedeon dredde the hows of his fadir, and the men of that citee, and nolde do bi dai, but fillide alle thingis bi nyyt.

28 And the men of the city rise early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Ba‘al has been broken down, and the Asherah which is by it has been cut down, and the second bullock has been offered on the altar which is built.

And whanne men of that citee hadde rise eerly, thei sien the auter of Baal distried, and the wode kit doun, and the tothir bole put on the auter, that was bildid thanne.

29 And they say to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And they inquire and seek, and they say, “Gideon son of Joash has done this thing.”

And thei seiden togidere, Who hath do this? And whanne thei enqueriden the doer of the deed, it was seid, Gedeon, the sone of Joas, dide alle these thingis.

30 And the men of the city say to Joash, “Bring out your son, and he dies, because he has broken down the altar of Ba‘al, and because he has cut down the Asherah which [is] by it.”

And thei seiden to Joas, Brynge forth thi sone hidur, that he die, for he distriede the auter of Baal, and kittide doun the wode.

31 And Joash says to all who have stood against him, “You, do you plead for Ba‘al? You—do you save him? He who pleads for him is put to death during the morning; if he [is] a god he pleads against him himself, because he has broken down his altar.”

To whiche he answeride, Whether ye ben the venieris of Baal, that ye fiyte for hym? he that is aduersarie of hym, die, bifor that the `liyt of the morew dai come; if he is God, venge he hym silf of hym that castide doun his auter.

32 And he calls him, on that day, Jerubba‘al, saying, “The Ba‘al pleads against him, because he has broken down his altar.”

Fro that dai Gedeon was clepid Gerobaal, for Joas hadde seid, Baal take veniaunce of hym that castide doun his auter.

33 And all Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east have been gathered together, and pass over, and encamp in the Valley of Jezreel,

Therfor al Madian, and Amalech, and the puplis of the eest weren gadirid to gidere, and passiden Jordan, and settiden tentis in the valey of Jezrael.

34 and the Spirit of YHWH has clothed Gideon, and he blows with a horn, and Abi-Ezer is called after him;

Forsothe the spirit of the Lord clothide Gedeon; `and he sownede with a clarioun, and clepide to gidere the hows of Abiezer, that it schulde sue hym.

35 and he has sent messengers into all Manasseh, and it is also called after him; and he has sent messengers into Asher, and into Zebulun, and into Naphtali, and they come up to meet them.

And he sente messangeris in to al Manasses, and he suede Gedeon; and he sente othere messangeris in to Aser, and Zabulon, and Neptalym, whiche camen to hym.

36 And Gideon says to God, “If You are Savior of Israel by my hand, as You have spoken,

And Gedeon seide to the Lord, If thou makist saaf Israel bi myn hond, as thou hast spoke,

37 behold, I am placing the fleece of wool in the threshing-floor: if dew is only on the fleece, and dryness on all the earth—then I have known that You save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken”;

Y schal putte this flees of wolle in the corn floor; if dew is in the flees aloone, and drynesse is in al the erthe, Y schal wite, that thou schalt delyuere Israel bi myn hond, as thou hast spoke.

38 and it is so, and he rises early on the next day, and presses the fleece, and wrings dew out of the fleece—the fullness of the bowl of waters.

And it was don so. And he roos bi nyyt, and whanne the flees was wrongun out, he fillide a pot with deew;

39 And Gideon says to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me, and I only speak this time; please let me try only this time with the fleece—please let there be only dryness on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the earth.”

and he seide eft to the Lord, Thi strong veniaunce be not wrooth ayens me, if Y asaie, `that is, axe a signe, yit onys, and seke a signe in the flees; Y preye, that the flees aloone be drie, and al the erthe be moist with deew.

40 And God does so on that night, and there is only dryness on the fleece, and there has been dew on all the earth.

And the Lord dide in that nyyt, as Gedeon axide; and drynesse was in the flees aloone, and deew was in al the erthe.