Κριταί 7
1 καὶ ὤρθρισεν Ιαρβαλ αὐτός ἐστιν Γεδεων καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς μετ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ παρενέβαλον ἐπὶ πηγὴν Αραδ καὶ παρεμβολὴ Μαδιαμ ἦν αὐτῷ ἀπὸ βορρᾶ ἀπὸ Γαβααθ Αμωρα ἐν κοιλάδι
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.
2 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Γεδεων πολὺς ὁ λαὸς ὁ μετὰ σοῦ ὥστε μὴ παραδοῦναί με τὴν Μαδιαμ ἐν χειρὶ αὐτῶν μήποτε καυχήσηται Ισραηλ ἐπ’ ἐμὲ λέγων ἡ χείρ μου ἔσωσέν με
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].
3 καὶ νῦν λάλησον δὴ ἐν ὠσὶν τοῦ λαοῦ λέγων τίς ὁ φοβούμενος καὶ δειλός ἐπιστρεφέτω καὶ ἐκχωρείτω ἀπὸ ὄρους Γαλααδ καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ εἴκοσι καὶ δύο χιλιάδες καὶ δέκα χιλιάδες ὑπελείφθησαν
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.
4 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Γεδεων ἔτι ὁ λαὸς πολύς κατένεγκον αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ἐκκαθαρῶ σοι αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ καὶ ἔσται ὃν ἐὰν εἴπω πρὸς σέ οὗτος πορεύσεται σὺν σοί αὐτὸς πορεύσεται σὺν σοί καὶ πᾶν ὃν ἐὰν εἴπω πρὸς σέ οὗτος οὐ πορεύσεται μετὰ σοῦ αὐτὸς οὐ πορεύσεται μετὰ σοῦ
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.”.
5 καὶ κατήνεγκεν τὸν λαὸν πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Γεδεων πᾶς ὃς ἂν λάψῃ τῇ γλώσσῃ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος ὡς ἐὰν λάψῃ ὁ κύων στήσεις αὐτὸν κατὰ μόνας καὶ πᾶς ὃς ἐὰν κλίνῃ ἐπὶ τὰ γόνατα αὐτοῦ πιεῖν
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.”
6 καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν λαψάντων ἐν χειρὶ αὐτῶν πρὸς τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν τριακόσιοι ἄνδρες καὶ πᾶν τὸ κατάλοιπον τοῦ λαοῦ ἔκλιναν ἐπὶ τὰ γόνατα αὐτῶν πιεῖν ὕδωρ
So when they drank, only 300 men drank from their hands. All the others drank with their mouths down in the water.
7 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Γεδεων ἐν τοῖς τριακοσίοις ἀνδράσιν τοῖς λάψασιν σώσω ὑμᾶς καὶ δώσω τὴν Μαδιαμ ἐν χειρί σου καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς πορεύσονται ἀνὴρ εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ
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!”
8 καὶ ἔλαβον τὸν ἐπισιτισμὸν τοῦ λαοῦ ἐν χειρὶ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς κερατίνας αὐτῶν καὶ τὸν πάντα ἄνδρα Ισραηλ ἐξαπέστειλεν ἄνδρα εἰς σκηνὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς τριακοσίους ἄνδρας κατίσχυσεν καὶ ἡ παρεμβολὴ Μαδιαμ ἦσαν αὐτοῦ ὑποκάτω ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι
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.
9 καὶ ἐγενήθη ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ ἐκείνῃ καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτὸν κύριος ἀναστὰς κατάβηθι ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ ὅτι παρέδωκα αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ χειρί σου
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.
10 καὶ εἰ φοβῇ σὺ καταβῆναι κατάβηθι σὺ καὶ Φαρα τὸ παιδάριόν σου εἰς τὴν παρεμβολὴν
But if you are afraid to attack them by yourself, take your servant Purah with you.
11 καὶ ἀκούσῃ τί λαλήσουσιν καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἰσχύσουσιν αἱ χεῖρές σου καὶ καταβήσῃ ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ καὶ κατέβη αὐτὸς καὶ Φαρα τὸ παιδάριον αὐτοῦ πρὸς ἀρχὴν τῶν πεντήκοντα οἳ ἦσαν ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ
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.
12 καὶ Μαδιαμ καὶ Αμαληκ καὶ πάντες υἱοὶ ἀνατολῶν βεβλημένοι ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι ὡσεὶ ἀκρὶς εἰς πλῆθος καὶ ταῖς καμήλοις αὐτῶν οὐκ ἦν ἀριθμός ἀλλὰ ἦσαν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος ἡ ἐπὶ χείλους τῆς θαλάσσης εἰς πλῆθος
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.
13 καὶ ἦλθεν Γεδεων καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ ἐξηγούμενος τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἐνύπνιον καὶ εἶπεν ἐνύπνιον ἰδοὺ ἐνυπνιασάμην καὶ ἰδοὺ μαγὶς ἄρτου κριθίνου στρεφομένη ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ Μαδιαμ καὶ ἦλθεν ἕως τῆς σκηνῆς καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτήν καὶ ἔπεσεν καὶ ἀνέστρεψεν αὐτὴν ἄνω καὶ ἔπεσεν ἡ σκηνή
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!”
14 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ πλησίον αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν οὐκ ἔστιν αὕτη εἰ μὴ ῥομφαία Γεδεων υἱοῦ Ιωας ἀνδρὸς Ισραηλ παρέδωκεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τὴν Μαδιαμ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν παρεμβολήν
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.”
15 καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἤκουσεν Γεδεων τὴν ἐξήγησιν τοῦ ἐνυπνίου καὶ τὴν σύγκρισιν αὐτοῦ καὶ προσεκύνησεν κυρίῳ καὶ ὑπέστρεψεν εἰς τὴν παρεμβολὴν Ισραηλ καὶ εἶπεν ἀνάστητε ὅτι παρέδωκεν κύριος ἐν χειρὶ ἡμῶν τὴν παρεμβολὴν Μαδιαμ
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!”
16 καὶ διεῖλεν τοὺς τριακοσίους ἄνδρας εἰς τρεῖς ἀρχὰς καὶ ἔδωκεν κερατίνας ἐν χειρὶ πάντων καὶ ὑδρίας κενὰς καὶ λαμπάδας ἐν ταῖς ὑδρίαις
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].
17 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ ὄψεσθε καὶ οὕτως ποιήσετε καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ εἰσπορεύομαι ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς παρεμβολῆς καὶ ἔσται καθὼς ἂν ποιήσω οὕτως ποιήσετε
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.
18 καὶ σαλπιῶ ἐν τῇ κερατίνῃ ἐγώ καὶ πάντες μετ’ ἐμοῦ σαλπιεῖτε ἐν ταῖς κερατίναις κύκλῳ ὅλης τῆς παρεμβολῆς καὶ ἐρεῖτε τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ τῷ Γεδεων
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!’”
19 καὶ εἰσῆλθεν Γεδεων καὶ οἱ ἑκατὸν ἄνδρες οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς παρεμβολῆς ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς φυλακῆς μέσης καὶ ἐγείροντες ἤγειραν τοὺς φυλάσσοντας καὶ ἐσάλπισαν ἐν ταῖς κερατίναις καὶ ἐξετίναξαν τὰς ὑδρίας τὰς ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν
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.
20 καὶ ἐσάλπισαν αἱ τρεῖς ἀρχαὶ ἐν ταῖς κερατίναις καὶ συνέτριψαν τὰς ὑδρίας καὶ ἐκράτησαν ἐν χερσὶν ἀριστεραῖς αὐτῶν τὰς λαμπάδας καὶ ἐν χερσὶν δεξιαῖς αὐτῶν τὰς κερατίνας τοῦ σαλπίζειν καὶ ἀνέκραξαν ῥομφαία τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ τῷ Γεδεων
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!”
21 καὶ ἔστησαν ἀνὴρ ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ κύκλῳ τῆς παρεμβολῆς καὶ ἔδραμεν πᾶσα ἡ παρεμβολὴ καὶ ἐσήμαναν καὶ ἔφυγαν
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.
22 καὶ ἐσάλπισαν ἐν ταῖς τριακοσίαις κερατίναις καὶ ἔθηκεν κύριος τὴν ῥομφαίαν ἀνδρὸς ἐν τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ τῇ παρεμβολῇ καὶ ἔφυγεν ἡ παρεμβολὴ ἕως Βηθσεεδτα Γαραγαθα ἕως χείλους Αβωμεουλα ἐπὶ Ταβαθ
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.
23 καὶ ἐβόησαν ἀνὴρ Ισραηλ ἀπὸ Νεφθαλι καὶ ἀπὸ Ασηρ καὶ ἀπὸ παντὸς Μανασση καὶ ἐδίωξαν ὀπίσω Μαδιαμ
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.
24 καὶ ἀγγέλους ἀπέστειλεν Γεδεων ἐν παντὶ ὄρει Εφραιμ λέγων κατάβητε εἰς συνάντησιν Μαδιαμ καὶ καταλάβετε ἑαυτοῖς τὸ ὕδωρ ἕως Βαιθηρα καὶ τὸν Ιορδάνην καὶ ἐβόησεν πᾶς ἀνὴρ Εφραιμ καὶ προκατελάβοντο τὸ ὕδωρ ἕως Βαιθηρα καὶ τὸν Ιορδάνην
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.
25 καὶ συνέλαβον τοὺς ἄρχοντας Μαδιαμ καὶ τὸν Ωρηβ καὶ τὸν Ζηβ καὶ ἀπέκτειναν τὸν Ωρηβ ἐν Σουρ καὶ τὸν Ζηβ ἀπέκτειναν ἐν Ιακεφζηφ καὶ κατεδίωξαν Μαδιαμ καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Ωρηβ καὶ Ζηβ ἤνεγκαν πρὸς Γεδεων ἀπὸ πέραν τοῦ Ιορδάνου
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.
