Judges 7
1 The next morning, Gideon and his men got up early and went as far as Harod Spring. The army of Midian was camped north of them, in the valley near Moreh Hill.
Igitur Jerobaal qui et Gedeon, de nocte consurgens, et omnis populus cum eo, venit ad fontem qui vocatur Harad. Erant autem castra Madian in valle ad septentrionalem plagam collis excelsi.
2 Yahweh said to Gideon, “You have too many soldiers with you. If I allow all of you to fight the army of Midian, [if your army defeats them], they will boast to me that they defeated their enemies by themselves, [without my help].
Dixitque Dominus ad Gedeon: Multus tecum est populus, nec tradetur Madian in manus ejus: ne glorietur contra me Israël, et dicat: Meis viribus liberatus sum.
3 So tell the men, ‘Whoever among you is timid or afraid may leave us and go home.’” So [after Gideon told that to them], 22,000 of them went home. Only 10,000 men were left there.
Loquere ad populum, et cunctis audientibus prædica: Qui formidolosus et timidus est, revertatur. Recesseruntque de monte Galaad, et reversi sunt de populo viginti duo millia virorum, et tantum decem millia remanserunt.
4 But Yahweh told Gideon, “There are still too many men! Take them down to the spring, and there I will choose from among them, which ones will go with you and which ones will not go.”.
Dixitque Dominus ad Gedeon: Adhuc populus multus est: duc eos ad aquas et ibi probabo illos: et de quo dixero tibi ut tecum vadat, ipse pergat; quem ire prohibuero, revertatur.
5 When Gideon took the men down to the spring, Yahweh told him, “When they drink, put into one group the ones who scoop the water into their hands, and then lap it up like dogs do. Put into another group the ones who kneel down [and bend over] and drink with their mouths in the water.”
Cumque descendisset populus ad aquas, dixit Dominus ad Gedeon: Qui lingua lambuerint aquas, sicut solent canes lambere, separabis eos seorsum: qui autem curvatis genibus biberint, in altera parte erunt.
6 So when they drank, only 300 men drank from their hands. All the others drank with their mouths down in the water.
Fuit itaque numerus eorum qui manu ad os projiciente lambuerunt aquas, trecenti viri: omnis autem reliqua multitudo flexo poplite biberat.
7 Then Yahweh told Gideon, “The 300 men who lapped the water from their hands will be your army! I will enable them to defeat the Midian army. Let all the others go home!”
Et ait Dominus ad Gedeon: In trecentis viris qui lambuerunt aquas, liberabo vos, et tradam in manu tua Madian: omnis autem reliqua multitudo revertatur in locum suum.
8 So Gideon’s 300 men collected the food and rams’ horns from all the other men, and then he sent them home. The men of Midian were camping in the valley below Gideon.
Sumptis itaque pro numero cibariis et tubis, omnem reliquam multitudinem abire præcepit ad tabernacula sua: et ipse cum trecentis viris se certamini dedit. Castra autem Madian erant subter in valle.
9 That night, Yahweh said to Gideon, “Get up and go down to their camp, [and you will hear something that will convince you that] I will enable your men to defeat them.
Eadem nocte dixit Dominus ad eum: Surge, et descende in castra: quia tradidi eos in manu tua.
10 But if you are afraid to attack them by yourself, take your servant Purah with you.
Sin autem solus ire formidas, descendat tecum Phara puer tuus.
11 Go down and listen to what some of the Midian soldiers are saying. Then you will be very encouraged, and you will be ready to attack their camp.” So Gideon took Purah with him, and they went down to the edge of the enemy camp.
Et cum audieris quid loquantur, tunc confortabuntur manus tuæ, et securior ad hostium castra descendes. Descendit ergo ipse et Phara puer ejus in partem castrorum, ubi erant armatorum vigiliæ.
12 The armies of the people of Midian and Amalek and from the east had set up their tents and looked like a swarm of locusts. It seemed that their camels were as impossible to count as the grains of sand on the seashore.
Madian autem et Amalec, et omnes orientales populi, fusi jacebant in valle, ut locustarum multitudo: cameli quoque innumerabiles erant, sicut arena quæ jacet in littore maris.
13 Gideon crept closer and heard one man telling a friend about a dream. He said, “I just had a dream, and in the dream I saw a round loaf of barley bread tumble down into our Midian camp. It struck a tent so hard that the tent turned upside down and collapsed!”
Cumque venisset Gedeon, narrabat aliquis somnium proximo suo: et in hunc modum referebat quod viderat: Vidi somnium, et videbatur mihi quasi subcinericius panis ex hordeo volvi, et in castra Madian descendere: cumque pervenisset ad tabernaculum, percussit illud, atque subvertit, et terræ funditus coæquavit.
14 His friend said, “Your dream can mean only one thing. It means that God will enable Gideon, the man of Israel, to defeat all of the armies that are here with us men from Midian.”
Respondit is, cui loquebatur: Non est hoc aliud, nisi gladius Gedeonis filii Joas viri Israëlitæ: tradidit enim Dominus in manus ejus Madian, et omnia castra ejus.
15 When Gideon heard the [man tell about his] dream and the meaning of that dream, he thanked God. Then he [and Purah] returned to the Israeli camp, and he shouted to the men, “Get up! Because God is enabling you to defeat the men from Midian!”
Cumque audisset Gedeon somnium, et interpretationem ejus, adoravit: et reversus est ad castra Israël, et ait: Surgite, tradidit enim Dominus in manus nostras castra Madian.
16 He divided his men into three groups. He gave each man a ram’s horn and an empty clay jar. He also gave each of them a torch [that they lit].
Divisitque trecentos viros in tres partes, et dedit tubas in manibus eorum, lagenasque vacuas, ac lampades in medio lagenarum.
17 Then he said to them, “Watch me. When we come close to the enemy camp, [spread out to surround the camp]. Then do exactly what I do.
Et dixit ad eos: Quod me facere videritis, hoc facite: ingrediar partem castrorum, et quod fecero, sectamini.
18 As soon as I and the men with me blow our ram’s horns, you men in the other two groups surrounding the camp blow your horns and shout, ‘[We are doing this] for Yahweh and for Gideon!’”
Quando personuerit tuba in manu mea, vos quoque per castrorum circuitum clangite, et conclamate: Domino et Gedeoni.
19 A while before midnight, just after a new group of Israeli guards took the places of the previous group, Gideon and the 100 men with him arrived at the edge of the Midian camp. Suddenly they all blew their horns, and broke their jars.
Ingressusque est Gedeon, et trecenti viri qui erant cum eo, in partem castrorum, incipientibus vigiliis noctis mediæ: et custodibus suscitatis, cœperunt buccinis clangere, et complodere inter se lagenas.
20 Then the men in all three groups blew their horns and smashed their jars. They held the torches high with their left hands, and held up the horns with their right hands and alternatively blew them and shouted, “[We have] swords [to fight] for Yahweh and for Gideon!”
Cumque per gyrum castrorum in tribus personarent locis, et hydrias confregissent, tenuerunt sinistris manibus lampades, et dextris sonantes tubas, clamaveruntque: Gladius Domini et Gedeonis:
21 Each of Gideon’s men stood in his position around the enemy camp. As they watched, all the Midian men started running around and shouting in a panic.
stantes singuli in loco suo per circuitum castrorum hostilium. Omnia itaque castra turbata sunt, et vociferantes ululantesque fugerunt:
22 While the 300 Israeli men kept blowing their horns, Yahweh caused their enemies to start fighting each other with their swords/daggers. Some of them killed each other. The rest fled. Some fled south to Beth-Shittah. Some fled to Zerarah [village], near Tabbath.
et nihilominus insistebant trecenti viri buccinis personantes. Immisitque Dominus gladium omnibus castris, et mutua se cæde truncabant,
23 Then Gideon sent messages to the soldiers in the areas where the descendants of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh lived, to tell them to come and pursue the army of Midian.
fugientes usque ad Bethsetta, et crepidinem Abelmehula in Tebbath. Conclamantes autem viri Israël de Nephthali, et Aser, et omni Manasse, persequebantur Madian.
24 He also sent messengers throughout the hilly area where the descendants of Ephraim lived, saying, “Come down to attack the army of Midian. Come down to the Jordan River, to the place where people can wade across, to prevent enemy troops from crossing it! Station men as far south as Beth-Barah.” So the men of Ephraim did what Gideon told them to do.
Misitque Gedeon nuntios in omnem montem Ephraim, dicens: Descendite in occursum Madian, et occupate aquas usque Bethbera atque Jordanem. Clamavitque omnis Ephraim, et præoccupavit aquas atque Jordanem usque Bethbera.
25 They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two generals of the Midian army. They killed Oreb at [the big rock which is now called] the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at [the place where people crush grapes that is now called] the winepress of Zeeb. Afterwards, the Israelis cut off the heads of Oreb and Zeeb and brought them to Gideon, while he was near the Jordan River.
Apprehensosque duos viros Madian, Oreb et Zeb, interfecit Oreb in petra Oreb, Zeb vero in torculari Zeb. Et persecuti sunt Madian, capita Oreb et Zeb portantes ad Gedeon trans fluenta Jordanis.
