Judges 8
1 And the men of Effraym seiden to hym, What is this thing, which thou woldist do, that thou clepidist not vs, whanne thou yedist to batel ayens Madian? And thei chidden strongli, and almest diden violence.
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.
2 To whiche he answeride, `What sotheli siche thing myyte Y do, what maner thing ye diden? Whethir a reisyn of Effraym is not betere than the vindagis of Abiezer?
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.
3 And the Lord bitook in to youre hondis the princes of Madian, Oreb and Zeb. What sich thing myyte Y do, what maner thing ye diden? And whanne he hadde spoke this thing, the spirit of hem restide, bi which thei bolneden ayens hym.
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.
4 And whanne Gedeon hadde come to Jordan, he passide it with thre hundrid men, that weren with hym; and for weerynesse thei myyten not pursue hem that fledden.
Then Gideon and his 300 men [went east and] crossed the Jordan [River]. Although they were very tired, they continued to pursue their enemies.
5 And he seide to the men of Socoth, Y biseche, yyue ye looues to the puple, which is with me; for thei failiden greetli, that we moun pursue Zebee and Salmana, kyngis of Madian.
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.”
6 The princes of Socoth answeriden in scorne, In hap the pawmes of the hondis of Zebee and of Salmana ben in thin hond, and therfor thou axist, that we yyue looues to thin oost.
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].”
7 To whiche he seide, Therfor, whanne the Lord schal bitake Zebee and Salmana in to myn hondis, and whanne Y schal turne ayen ouercomere in pees, Y schal to-reende youre fleischis with the thornes and breris of deseert.
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!”
8 And he stiede fro thennus, and cam in to Phanuel; and he spak lijk thingis to men of that place, to whom also thei answeriden, as the men of Socoth hadden answerid.
From there, Gideon [and his 300 men] went to Peniel and asked for food there, but the people gave him the same answer.
9 And so he seide to hem, Whanne Y schal turne ayen ouercomere in pees, Y schal distrie this tour.
So he said to the men of Peniel, “After I defeat those kings, I will return and tear down this tower!”
10 Forsothe Zebee and Salmana restiden with al her oost; for fiftene thousynde men leften of alle the cumpenyes of the `puplis of the eest, whanne an hundrid and twenti thousynde of `fiyteris and of men drawynge out swerd weren slayn.
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.
11 And Gedeon stiede bi the weye of hem that dwelliden in tabernaclis at the eest coost of Nobe and of Lethoa, and smoot the `tentis of enemyes, that weren sikur, and supposiden not ony thing of aduersite.
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.
12 And Zebee and Salmana fledden, whiche Gedeon pursuede and took, whanne al `the oost of hem was disturblid.
Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but Gideon’s men pursued them and captured them and all their warriors.
13 And he turnede ayen fro batel bifor the `risyng of the sunne,
After that, Gideon and his men [took Zebah and Zalmunna with them and] started to return, going through Heres Pass.
14 and took a child of the men of Socoth; and he axide hym the names of the princes and eldere men of Socoth; and he descryuede seuene and seuenti men in noumbre.
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.
15 And he cam to Socoth, and seide to hem, Lo Zebee and Salmana! of whiche ye vpbreideden me, and seiden, In hap the hondis of Zebee and of Salmana ben in thin hondis, and therfor thou axist, that we yyue looues to men, that ben weeri and failiden.
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.’”
16 Therfor Gedeon took the eldere men of the citee, and thornes and breris of deseert, and he to-rente with tho, and al to-brak the men of Socoth; also he destriede the tour of Phanuel,
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].
17 whanne the dwelleris of the citee weren slayn.
Then [they went to] Peniel and tore down the tower, and killed all the men in the town.
18 And he seide to Zebee and Salmana, What maner men weren thei, whiche ye killiden in Thabor? Whiche answeriden, Thei weren lijk thee, and oon of hem was as the sone of a kyng.
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.”
19 To whiche he seide, Thei weren my britheren, the sones of my modir; the Lord lyueth, if ye hadden saued hem, Y `nolde sle you.
Gideon replied, “They were my brothers! Just as surely as Yahweh lives, I would not kill you if you had not killed them.”
20 And he seide to Jepther, his firste gendrid sone, Rise thou, and sle hem. Which drow not swerd; for he dredde, for he was yit a child.
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].
21 And Zebee and Salmana seiden, Ryse thou, and falle on vs; for thou art bi the age and strengthe of man. Gedeon roos, and killide Zebee and Salmana, and took the ournementis, and bellis, with whiche the neckis of kyngis camels ben wont to be maad fair.
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.
22 And alle the men of Israel seiden to Gedeon, Be thou lord of vs, thou, and thi sone, and the sone of thi sone; for thou deliueridist vs fro the hond of Madian.
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.”
23 To whiche he seide, Y schal not be lord of you, nethir my sone schal be lord on you, but the Lord schal be lord.
But Gideon replied, “No, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.”
24 And he seide to hem, Y axe oon axyng of you, yyue ye to me the eere ryngis of youre prey; for Ismaelitis weren wont to haue goldun eere ryngis.
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.]
25 Whiche answeriden, We schulen yyue moost gladli. And thei spredden forth a mentil on the erthe, and castiden forth therynne `eere ryngis of the prey;
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].
26 and the weiyte of `eere ryngis axid was a thousynde and seuene hundrid siclis of gold, with out ournementis and brochis and cloth of purpur, whiche the kyngis of Madian weren wont to vse, and outakun goldun bies of camels.
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.
27 And Gedeon made therof ephot, that is, a preestis cloth, `and propir cloth of the hiyeste preest, and he puttide it in his citee Ephra; and al Israel diden fornycacioun, `that is ydolatrye, ther ynne; and it was maad to Gedeon and to al his hows in to fallyng.
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].
28 Forsothe Madian was maad low bifor the sones of Israel, and thei myyten no more reise nollis; but the lond restide fourti yeer, in whiche Gedeon was souereyn.
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.
29 And so Jerobaal, sone of Joas, yede, and dwellide in his hows;
Gideon went back home to live there.
30 and he hadde seuenti sones, that yeden out of his thiy, for he hadde many wyues.
He had many wives, and they bore him seventy sons.
31 Forsothe a concubyn, `that is, secoundarie wijf, of hym, whom he hadde in Sichem, gendride to hym a sone, Abymelech bi name.
He also had a slave wife in Shechem [town], who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
32 And Gedeon, sone of Joas, diede in good elde, and was biried in the sepulcre of Joas, his fadir, in Ephra, of the meynee of Ezri.
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.
33 Forsothe aftir that Gedeon was deed, the sones of Israel turneden awey `fro Goddis religioun, and diden fornycacioun, `that is, idolatrie, with Baalym; and thei smytiden boond of pees with Baal, that he schulde be to hem in to God,
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.
34 nether thei hadden mynde of her Lord God, that delyuerede hem fro the hond of alle her enemyes `bi cumpas;
They forgot about Yahweh, the one who had rescued them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
35 nether thei diden merci with the hous of Gerobaal Gedeon, bi alle the goodis whiche he `hadde do to Israel.
And even though Gideon had done many good things for the Israelis, they were not kind to Gideon’s family.
