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.
Afei, Efraimfoɔ no bisaa Gideon sɛ, “Adɛn enti na woyɛ yɛn saa? Adɛn enti na worekɔko atia Midian kane no, woamfrɛ yɛn?” Na wɔne Gideon kasaa anibereɛ so.
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.
Na Gideon buaa wɔn sɛ, “Ɛdeɛn na mayɛ a mede bɛtoto mo ho? Na Efraim bobe aba a ɛka wɔ twaberɛ akyi no nyɛ nsene Abieser bobe a wɔnteeɛ nyinaa?
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.
Onyankopɔn ma modii Oreb ne Seeb a na wɔyɛ Midian asahene no so. Ɛdeɛn na matumi ayɛ a ɛsɛ yei?” Efraim mmarima no tee Gideon mmuaeɛ no, wɔn bo tɔɔ wɔn yam.
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.
Gideon ne ne mmarima ahasa no twaa Asubɔnten Yordan, ɛwom sɛ na wɔabrɛ deɛ, nanso wɔtoaa so taa atamfoɔ no.
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.”
Wɔduruu Sukot no, Gideon ka kyerɛɛ ntuanofoɔ a wɔwɔ hɔ no sɛ, “Momma mʼakofoɔ no aduane nni na wɔabrɛ. Meretaa Midian ahemfo Seba ne Salmuna.”
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].”
Na Sukot ntuanofoɔ no buaa sɛ, “Kyere Seba ne Salmuna ansa na yɛama wʼakofoɔ no aduane adi.”
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!”
Gideon buaa sɛ, “Sɛ Awurade ma medi Seba ne Salmuna so nkonim a, mɛsane aba de ɛserɛ so nkasɛɛ ne akraateɛ abɛsunsuane mo honam ani.”
8 From there, Gideon [and his 300 men] went to Peniel and asked for food there, but the people gave him the same answer.
Na Gideon firii hɔ kɔɔ Penuel kɔsrɛɛ aduane bio, na ɔnyaa mmuaeɛ korɔ no ara.
9 So he said to the men of Peniel, “After I defeat those kings, I will return and tear down this tower!”
Na ɔka kyerɛɛ Penuelfoɔ no sɛ, “Sɛ mefiri nkonimdie mu ba a, mɛbubu saa abantenten yi.”
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.
Saa ɛberɛ yi na Seba ne Salmuna ne akofoɔ mpem dunum wɔ Karkor, aboafoɔ a wɔfiri apueeɛ fam a na emu ɔpeha aduonu atotɔ dada no nkaeɛfoɔ.
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.
Gideon faa atutenafoɔ ɛkwan a ɛda Noba ne Yogbeha apueeɛ fam no ho hyiaeɛ, na wɔto hyɛɛ Midian akodɔm a na wɔn ani nna wɔn ho soɔ no so.
12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but Gideon’s men pursued them and captured them and all their warriors.
Midian ahemfo baanu a wɔn din de Seba ne Salmuna no dwaneeɛ, nanso Gideon taa wɔn faa wɔn akofoɔ nyinaa nnommum.
13 After that, Gideon and his men [took Zebah and Zalmunna with them and] started to return, going through Heres Pass.
Yei akyi no, Yoas ba Gideon faa Heres kwantempɔn so saneeɛ.
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.
Ɛhɔ na ɔkyeree aberanteɛ bi a ɔfiri Sukot. Ɔhyɛɛ no sɛ ɔntwerɛ nnipa aduɔson nson a wɔyɛ sodifoɔ ne ntuanofoɔ a wɔwɔ kuro no mu no din mma no.
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.’”
Afei, Gideon sane kɔɔ Sukot kɔka kyerɛɛ ɛhɔ ntuanofoɔ no sɛ, “Seba ne Salmuna nie. Yɛbaa ha no modii me ho fɛ, kaa sɛ, ‘Kyere Seba ne Salmuna ansa na yɛama wʼakofoɔ a wɔabrɛ no aduane adi.’”
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].
Afei Gideon faa kuro no mu ntuanofoɔ kyerɛɛ wɔn nyansa. Ɔde ɛserɛ so nkasɛɛ ne akraateɛ twee wɔn aso.
17 Then [they went to] Peniel and tore down the tower, and killed all the men in the town.
Ɔsane dwirii Penuel abantenten no guu fam, kunkumm kuro no mu mmarima nyinaa.
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.”
Afei, ɔbisaa Seba ne Salmuna sɛ, “Mmarima a mokumm wɔn wɔ Tabor no, na wɔte sɛn?” Wɔbuaa sɛ, “Mmarima no te sɛ wo. Na wɔn mu biara te sɛ ɔheneba.”
19 Gideon replied, “They were my brothers! Just as surely as Yahweh lives, I would not kill you if you had not killed them.”
Gideon ka kyerɛɛ wɔn sɛ, “Na wɔyɛ me nuanom. Sɛ Awurade te ase yi, sɛ moankum wɔn a, anka me nso merenkum mo.”
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].
Ɔdanee nʼani kyerɛɛ ne babarima panin Yeter sɛ, “Ku wɔn.” Nanso Yeter antwe nʼakofena, ɛfiri sɛ, na ɔyɛ abarimaa enti na ɔsuro.
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.
Seba ne Salmuna ka kyerɛɛ Gideon sɛ, “Mma abarimaa nyɛ ɔpanin adwuma! Wo ankasa yɛ!” Enti, Gideon kumm wɔn baanu, faa adehyeɛ agudeɛ a ɛsensɛn wɔn yoma kɔn mu no.
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.”
Na Israelfoɔ no ka kyerɛɛ Gideon sɛ, “Di yɛn so ɔhene. Wo ne wo babarima ne wo nana bɛyɛ yɛn ahemfo, ɛfiri sɛ, woagye yɛn afiri Midianfoɔ nsam.”
23 But Gideon replied, “No, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.”
Nanso, Gideon buaa sɛ, “Merenni mo so ɔhene na me babarima nso renni mo so ɔhene. Awurade na ɔbɛdi mo so.”
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.]
Mmom Gideon ka kyerɛɛ wɔn sɛ, mewɔ adebisa baako. “Mo mu biara mma me asomuadeɛ baako a mofa firii asadeɛ a monya firii mo atamfoɔ a modii wɔn so no nkyɛn.” (Atamfoɔ a na wɔyɛ Ismaelfoɔ no na obiara hyɛ sikakɔkɔɔ asomuadeɛ).
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].
Wɔbuaa sɛ, “Yɛpene so dodo.” Wɔde akatasoɔ sɛɛ fam. Na obiara de ne sikakɔkɔɔ asomuadeɛ a ɔnyaeɛ bɛguu so.
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.
Na sikakɔkɔɔ asomuadeɛ dodoɔ a wɔnyaeɛ no karii kilogram aduonu a asrane nketewa ne kɔnmuadeɛ, Midian ahemfo adehyeɛ ahyehyɛdeɛ ne nkɔnsɔnkɔnsɔn a ɛgu wɔn yoma kɔn mu nka ho.
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].
Gideon de yɛɛ asɔfotadeɛ kronkron na ɔde sii kuro Ofra, ne kurom, mu. Nanso, ankyɛre na Israelfoɔ no kɔsom no de guu wɔn ho fi na ɛdanee afidie maa Gideon ne ne fiefoɔ.
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.
Yei ne abasɛm a ɛkyerɛ sɛdeɛ Israelfoɔ dii Midianfoɔ so nkonim a wantumi ansɔre bio. Gideon nna a ɛtwa toɔ bɛyɛ mfeɛ aduanan mu no, na asomdwoeɛ wɔ asase no so.
29 Gideon went back home to live there.
Afei, Yoas babarima Yerub-Baal sane kɔɔ ne kurom.
30 He had many wives, and they bore him seventy sons.
Na ɔwɔ yerenom bebree enti ɔwoo mmammarima aduɔson.
31 He also had a slave wife in Shechem [town], who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
Na ɔwɔ mpena nso wɔ Sekem a ɔne no woo ɔbabarima, too ne din Abimelek.
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.
Gideon wuiɛ no na wanyini yie. Na wɔsiee no wɔ nʼagya Yoas damena mu wɔ Ofra wɔ Abieserfoɔ abusuasase so.
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.
Gideon wuiɛ ara pɛ, Israelfoɔ no kɔsom Baal ahoni, de bɔɔ wɔn ho ahohwi. Wɔnam so yɛɛ Baal-Berit wɔn nyame.
34 They forgot about Yahweh, the one who had rescued them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
Wɔn werɛ firii Awurade, wɔn Onyankopɔn a ɔgyee wɔn firii wɔn atamfoɔ a wɔatwa wɔn ho ahyia no nsam no.
35 And even though Gideon had done many good things for the Israelis, they were not kind to Gideon’s family.
Na mpo, wɔanni nokorɛ ankyerɛ Yerub-Baal (a ɔne Gideon) fiefoɔ wɔ nneɛma pa a ɔyɛ maa Israelfoɔ no ho.
