Judges 6

1 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.

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 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.

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

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

4 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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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 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.’”

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 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.

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

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 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.”

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 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]!”

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 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!”

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 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!”

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

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

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 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.”

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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]!”

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

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

24 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.

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 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.

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 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.”

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 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.

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 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.

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 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].

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 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!”

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 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!”

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

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

33 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

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

37 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.”

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

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

39 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.”

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 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.

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