< Judges 8 >

1 Then the descendants of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you acted toward us like this? When you went out to fight against the people of Midian, why did you not summon us [to help you]?” They rebuked Gideon severely.
Então os homens de Ephraim lhes disseram: Que é isto que nos fizeste, que não nos chamas te, quando foste pelejar contra os midianitas? E contenderam com ele fortemente.
2 But Gideon replied, “I have done [RHQ] very little compared with what you have done! My small clan of descendants of Abiezer only started the battle, but [your very large group of] descendants of Ephraim [helped me to finish the task very well. It is like] the final grapes of the harvest being much better than the first grapes that are picked.
Porém ele lhes disse: Que mais fiz eu agora do que vós? não são porventura os rabiscos de Ephraim melhores do que a vindima de Abiezer?
3 God enabled you to defeat Oreb and Zeeb, the generals of the army from Midian. That is [RHQ] much more important than what I did!” After Gideon told them that, they no longer resented what he had done.
Deus vos deu na vossa mão aos príncipes dos midianitas, Oreb e Zeeb; que mais pude eu logo fazer do que vós? então a sua ira se abrandou para com ele, quando falou esta palavra.
4 Then Gideon and his 300 men [went east and] crossed the Jordan [River]. Although they were very tired, they continued to pursue their enemies.
E, como Gideon veio ao Jordão, passou com os trezentos homens que com ele estavam, já cançados, mas ainda perseguindo.
5 When they arrived at Succoth [town], Gideon said to the town leaders, “Please give my men some food! They are very tired. We are pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
E disse aos homens de Succoth: dai, peço-vos, alguns pedaços de pão ao povo, que segue as minhas pisadas: porque estão cançados, e eu vou em alcance de Zebah e Salmuna, reis dos midianitas.
6 But the leaders of Succoth replied, “You have not caught [RHQ] Zebah and Zalmunna yet. So why should we give food to your troops [now? Catch them first, and then we will give you food].”
Porém os príncipes de Succoth disseram: Está já a palma da mão de Zebah e Salmuna na tua mão, para que demos pão ao teu exército?
7 Gideon replied, “[Because you said that], after Yahweh enables us to defeat Zebah and Zalmunna, we will return. And then we will make whips from thorns from the desert, and with them we will rip the flesh off your bones!”
Então disse Gideon: Pois quando o Senhor der na minha mão a Zebah e a Salmuna, trilharei a vossa carne com os espinhos do deserto, e com os abrolhos.
8 From there, Gideon [and his 300 men] went to Peniel and asked for food there, but the people gave him the same answer.
E dali subiu a Penuel, e falou-lhes da mesma maneira: e os homens de Penuel lhe responderam como os homens de Succoth lhe haviam respondido.
9 So he said to the men of Peniel, “After I defeat those kings, I will return and tear down this tower!”
Pelo que também falou aos homens de Penuel, dizendo: Quando eu voltar em paz, derribarei esta torre.
10 By that time, Zebah and Zalmunna had gone to Karkor [town] with 15,000 troops. They were all that were left of the armies that had come from the east. 120,000 of their men had already been killed.
Estavam pois Zebah e Salmuna em Carcor, e os seus exércitos com eles, uns quinze mil homens, todos os que ficavam do exército dos filhos do oriente: e os que cairam foram cento e vinte mil homens, que arrancavam a espada.
11 Gideon [and his men] went east along the road on which caravans travel. They went past Nobah and Jogbehah [villages] and arrived at the enemy camp by surprise.
E subiu Gideon pelo caminho dos que habitavam em tendas, para o oriente de Nobah e Jogbehah: e feriu aquele exército, porquanto o exército estava descuidado.
12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but Gideon’s men pursued them and captured them and all their warriors.
E fugiram Zebah e Salmuna; porém ele os perseguiu, e tomou presos a ambos os reis dos midianitas a Zebah e a Salmuna, e afugentou a todo o exército.
13 After that, Gideon and his men [took Zebah and Zalmunna with them and] started to return, going through Heres Pass.
Voltando pois Gideon, filho de Joás, da peleja, antes do nascer do sol,
14 There he captured a young man from Succoth, and demanded that he write down the names of all of the leaders in the town. The young man wrote down seventy-seven names.
Tomou preso a um moço dos homens de Succoth, e lhe fez perguntas: o qual descreveu os príncipes de Succoth, e os seus anciãos, setenta e sete homens.
15 Then Gideon and his men returned to Succoth and said to those leaders, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. When we were here before, you made fun of me and said ‘You have not [RHQ] caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet! After you catch them, we will give your exhausted men some food.’”
Então veio aos homens de Succoth, e disse: Vedes aqui a Zebah e a Salmuna, dos quais desprezivelmente me deitastes em rosto, dizendo: Está já a palma da mão de Zebah e Salmuna na tua mão, para que demos pão aos teus homens, já cançados?
16 Then Gideon’s men took the town leaders and whipped them with whips made from briers from the desert, to teach them [that they deserved to be punished for not giving them any food].
E tomou os anciãos daquela cidade, e os espinhos do deserto, e os abrolhos: e com eles ensinou aos homens de Succoth.
17 Then [they went to] Peniel and tore down the tower, and killed all the men in the town.
E derribou a torre de Penuel, e matou os homens da cidade.
18 Then Gideon said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “The men you killed near Tabor [Mountain], what did they look like?” They replied, “They were like you; they all looked like they were sons of a king.”
Depois disse a Zebah e a Salmuna: Que homens eram os que matastes em Tabor? E disseram: Qual tu, tais eram eles; cada um ao parecer, como filhos dum rei.
19 Gideon replied, “They were my brothers! Just as surely as Yahweh lives, I would not kill you if you had not killed them.”
Então disse ele: Meus irmãos eram, filhos de minha mãe: vive o Senhor, que, se os tivesseis deixado em vida, eu não vos mataria a vós
20 Then he turned to his oldest son, Jether. He said to him, “Kill them!” But Jether was only a boy, and he was afraid, so he did not pull out his dagger [to kill them].
E disse a Jether, seu primogênito: Levanta-te, mata-os. Porém o mancebo não arrancou da sua espada, porque temia; porquanto ainda era mancebo.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Do not ask a young boy to do the work that a man should do!” So Gideon killed both of them. Then he took the gold ornaments from the necks of their camels.
Então disseram Zebah e Salmuna: Levanta-te tu, e acomete-nos; porque, qual o homem, tal a sua valentia. Levantou-se pois Gideon, e matou a Zebah e a Salmuna, e tomou as lunetas, que estavam aos pescoços dos seus camelos.
22 Then a group of Israeli men [came to] Gideon and said to him, “You be our ruler! [We want] you and your son and your grandsons [to] be our rulers, because you rescued us from the Midian army.”
Então os homens de Israel disseram a Gideon: Domina sobre nós, tanto tu, como teu filho e o filho de teu filho: porquanto nos livraste da mão dos midianitas.
23 But Gideon replied, “No, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.”
Porém Gideon lhes disse: Sobre vós eu não dominarei, nem tão pouco meu filho sobre vós dominará: o Senhor sobre vós dominará.
24 Then he said, “I request only one thing. I request that each of you give me one earring from the things you captured after the battle.” [All the men descended from Ishmael wore gold earrings.]
E disse-lhes mais Gideon: Uma petição vos farei: dai-me cada um de vós os pendentes do seu despojo (porque tinham pendentes de ouro, porquanto eram ishmaelitas).
25 They replied, “We will be glad to give earrings to you!” So they spread a cloth [on the ground], and each man threw on it one gold earring that he had taken [from a man he had killed in the battle].
E disseram eles: De boamente os daremos. E estenderam uma capa, e cada um deles deitou ali um pendente do seu despojo.
26 The weight of all the earrings was (43 pounds/19.4 kg.). That did not include other things [that they gave to Gideon]—the other ornaments or the pendants or the clothes that the kings of Midian wore or the gold chains that were on the necks of their camels.
E foi o peso dos pendentes de ouro, que pediu, mil e setecentos siclos de ouro, a fora as lunetas, e as cadeias, e os vestidos de púrpura, que traziam os reis dos midianitas, e a fora as coleiras que os camelos traziam ao pescoço.
27 Gideon made/decorated a sacred vest from the gold, and later he put it in his hometown, Ophrah. But soon the Israeli people started to worship the vest. So it became like a trap [MET] for the people, [causing them to worship it instead of worshiping only God].
E fez Gideon dele um éfode, e pô-lo na sua cidade, em Ophra; e todo o Israel fornicou ali após dele: e foi por tropeço a Gideon e à sua casa.
28 That is how the Israelis defeated the people from Midian. The people of Midian did not become strong enough to attack Israel again. So while Gideon was alive, there was peace in the land for 40 years.
Assim foram abatidos os midianitas diante dos filhos de Israel, e nunca mais levantaram a sua cabeça: e sossegou a terra quarenta anos nos dias de Gideon.
29 Gideon went back home to live there.
E foi-se Jerubbaal, filho de Joás, e habitou em sua casa.
30 He had many wives, and they bore him seventy sons.
E teve Gideon setenta filhos, que procederam da sua coxa: porque tinha muitas mulheres.
31 He also had a slave wife in Shechem [town], who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
E sua concubina, que estava em Sichem, lhe pariu também um filho: e pôs-lhe por nome Abimelech.
32 Gideon died when he was very old. They buried his body in the grave where his father Joash was buried, at Ophrah, in the land belonging to the descendants of Abiether.
E faleceu Gideon, filho de Joás, numa boa velhice: e foi sepultado no sepulcro de seu pai Joás, em Ophra dos abi-ezritas.
33 But as soon as Gideon died, the Israelis [stopped worshiping God and started worshiping the images of the god Baal, like] [MET] adultresses [leave their husbands and go to sleep with other men]. They made a [statue of a] new god called Baal-Berith.
E sucedeu que, como Gideon faleceu, os filhos de Israel se tornaram, e fornicaram após dos baalins: e puseram a Baal-berith por deus.
34 They forgot about Yahweh, the one who had rescued them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
E os filhos de Israel se não lembraram do Senhor seu Deus, que os livrara da mão de todos os seus inimigos em redor.
35 And even though Gideon had done many good things for the Israelis, they were not kind to Gideon’s family.
Nem usaram de beneficência com a casa de Jerubbaal, a saber, de Gideon, conforme a todo o bem que ele usara com Israel.

< Judges 8 >