Judges 6
1 Forsothe the sones of Israel diden yuel in the `siyt of the Lord, and he bitook hem in the hond of Madian seuene yeer.
The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years.
2 And thei weren oppressid of hem greetly; and `thei maden dichis, and dennes to hem silf in hillis, and strongeste places to fiyte ayen.
The power of Midian oppressed Israel. Because of Midian, the people of Israel made shelters for themselves from the dens in the hills, the caves, and the strongholds.
3 And whanne Israel hadde sowe, Madian stiede, and Amalech, and othere of the `naciouns of the eest;
It happened that any time the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people from the east would attack the Israelites.
4 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.
They would set up their army on the land and destroy the crops, all the way to Gaza. They would leave no food in Israel, and no sheep, nor cattle or donkeys.
5 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.
Whenever they and their livestock and tents came up, they would come as a swarm of locusts, and it was impossible to count either the people or their camels. They invaded the land in order to destroy it.
6 And Israel was `maad low greetli in the siyt of Madian.
Midian weakened the Israelites so severely that the people of Israel called out to Yahweh.
7 And Israel criede to the Lord, `and axyde help ayens Madianytis; and he sente to hem a man,
When the people of Israel called out to Yahweh because of Midian,
8 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,
Yahweh sent a prophet to the people of Israel. The prophet said to them, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought you up from Egypt; I brought you out of the house of slavery.
9 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;
I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all who were oppressing you. I drove them out before you, and I gave you their land.
10 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.
I said to you, “I am Yahweh your God; I commanded you not to worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.” But you have not obeyed my voice.'”
11 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,
Now the angel of Yahweh came and sat under the oak in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash (the Abiezrite), while Gideon, Joash's son, was separating out the wheat by beating it on the floor, in the winepress—to hide it from the Midianites.
12 that he schulde fle Madian, an aungel of the Lord apperide to hym, and seide, The Lord be with thee, thou strongeste of men.
The angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you strong warrior!”
13 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.
Gideon said to him, “Oh, my master, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers told us about, when they said, 'Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?' But now Yahweh has abandoned us and gave us into the hand of Midian.”
14 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.
Yahweh looked at him and said, “Go in the strength you already have. Deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”
15 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.
Gideon said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? See, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least important in my father's house.”
16 And the Lord seide to hym, Y schal be with thee, and thou schalt smyte Madian as o man.
Yahweh said to him, “I will be with you, and you will defeat the entire Midianite army as one man.”
17 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;
Gideon said to him, “If you are pleased with me, then give me a sign that it is you who is speaking to me.
18 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.
Please, do not leave here, until I come to you and bring out my gift and set it before you.” Yahweh said, “I will wait until you return.”
19 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.
Gideon went and prepared a young goat and from an ephah of flour he made unleavened bread. He put the meat in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot and brought them to him under the oak tree, and presented them.
20 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,
The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and put them on this rock, and pour out the broth over them.” That is what Gideon did.
21 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.
Then the angel of Yahweh reached out with the end of the staff in his hand. With it he touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; a fire went up out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of Yahweh went away and Gideon could no longer see him.
22 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.
Gideon understood that this was the angel of Yahweh. Gideon said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! For I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face!”
23 And the Lord seide to hym, Pees be with thee; drede thou not, thou schalt not die.
Yahweh said to him, “Peace to you! Do not be afraid, you will not die.”
24 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,
So Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh. He called it, “Yahweh is Peace.” To this day it still stands at Ophrah of the clan of Abiezer.
25 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;
That night Yahweh said to him, “Take your father's bull, and a second bull that is seven years old, and pull apart the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it.
26 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.
Build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this place of refuge, and construct it the correct way. Offer the second bull as a burnt offering, using the wood from the Asherah that you cut down.”
27 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.
So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as Yahweh had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father's household and the men of the town to do it during the day, he did it at night.
28 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.
In the morning when the men of the town got up, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the altar that had been built.
29 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.
The men of the city said to one another, “Who has done this?” When they talked with others and searched for answers, they said, “Gideon son of Joash has done this thing.”
30 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.
Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son so that he may be put to death, because he pulled apart the altar of Baal, and because he cut down the Asherah beside it.”
31 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.
Joash said to all who opposed him, “Will you plead the case for Baal? Will you save him? Whoever pleads the case for him, let him be put to death while it is still morning. If Baal is a god, let him defend himself when someone pulls his altar apart.”
32 Fro that dai Gedeon was clepid Gerobaal, for Joas hadde seid, Baal take veniaunce of hym that castide doun his auter.
Therefore on that day they called Gideon “Jerub Baal,” because he said, “Let Baal defend himself against him,” because Gideon broke down Baal's altar.
33 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.
Now all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the east gathered together. They crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34 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.
But the Spirit of Yahweh came over Gideon. Gideon blew a trumpet, calling out the clan of Abiezer, so they might follow him.
35 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.
He sent messengers all throughout Manasseh, and they too, were called out to follow him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet him.
36 And Gedeon seide to the Lord, If thou makist saaf Israel bi myn hond, as thou hast spoke,
Gideon said to God, “If you intend to use me to save Israel, as you have said—
37 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.
Look, I am putting a woolen fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that you will use me to save Israel, as you said.”
38 And it was don so. And he roos bi nyyt, and whanne the flees was wrongun out, he fillide a pot with deew;
This is what happened—Gideon rose early the next morning, he pressed the fleece together, and wrung out the dew from the fleece, enough to fill a bowl with water.
39 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.
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, I will speak one more time. Please allow me one more test using the fleece. This time make the fleece dry, and let there be dew on all the ground around it.”
40 And the Lord dide in that nyyt, as Gedeon axide; and drynesse was in the flees aloone, and deew was in al the erthe.
God did what he asked for that night. The fleece was dry, and there was dew on all the ground around it.
