Iudicum 6

VULGATA	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Fecerunt autem filii Israël malum in conspectu Domini : qui tradidit illos in manu Madian septem annis,	1 Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, who delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years.
2 et oppressi sunt valde ab eis. Feceruntque sibi antra et speluncas in montibus, et munitissima ad repugnandum loca.	2 And they were greatly oppressed by them. And they made for themselves hollows and caves in the mountains, and very fortified places for defense.
3 Cumque sevisset Israël, ascendebat Madian et Amalec, ceterique orientalium nationum :	3 And when Israel had planted, Midian and Amalek, and the rest of the eastern nations ascended,
4 et apud eos figentes tentoria, sicut erant in herbis cuncta vastabant usque ad introitum Gazæ : nihilque omnino ad vitam pertinens relinquebant in Israël, non oves, non boves, non asinos.	4 and pitching their tents among them, they laid waste to all that was planted, as far as the entrance to Gaza. And they left behind nothing at all to sustain life in Israel, neither sheep, nor oxen, nor donkeys.
5 Ipsi enim et universi greges eorum veniebant cum tabernaculis suis, et instar locustarum universa complebant, innumera multitudo hominum et camelorum, quidquid tetigerant devastantes.	5 For they and all their flocks arrived with their tents, and they filled all places like locusts, an innumerable multitude of men and camels, devastating whatever they touched.
6 Humiliatusque est Israël valde in conspectu Madian.	6 And Israel was humbled greatly in the sight of Midian.
7 Et clamavit ad Dominum postulans auxilium contra Madianitas.	7 And he cried out to the Lord, requesting assistance against the Midianites.
8 Qui misit ad eos virum prophetam, et locutus est : Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël : Ego vos feci conscendere de Ægypto, et eduxi vos de domo servitutis,	8 And he sent to them a man who was a prophet, and he said: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I caused you to ascend from Egypt, and I led you away from the house of servitude.
9 et liberavi de manu Ægyptiorum, et omnium inimicorum qui affligebant vos : ejecique eos ad introitum vestrum, et tradidi vobis terram eorum.	9 And I freed you from the hand of the Egyptians and from all of the enemies who were afflicting you. And I cast them out at your arrival, and I delivered their land to you.
10 Et dixi : Ego Dominus Deus vester : ne timeatis deos Amorrhæorum, in quorum terra habitatis. Et noluistis audire vocem meam.	10 And I said: I am the Lord your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live. But you were not willing to listen to my voice.’ ”
11 Venit autem angelus Domini, et sedit sub quercu, quæ erat in Ephra, et pertinebat ad Joas patrem familiæ Ezri. Cumque Gedeon filius ejus excuteret atque purgaret frumenta in torculari, ut fugeret Madian,	11 Then an Angel of the Lord arrived, and he sat under an oak tree, which was at Ophrah, and which belonged to Joash, the father of the family of Ezri. And while his son Gideon was threshing and cleaning the grain at the winepress, so that he might flee from Midian,
12 apparuit ei angelus Domini, et ait : Dominus tecum, virorum fortissime.	12 the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and he said: “The Lord is with you, most valiant of men.”
13 Dixitque ei Gedeon : Obsecro, mi domine, si Dominus nobiscum est, cur apprehenderunt nos hæc omnia ? ubi sunt mirabilia ejus, quæ narraverunt patres nostri, atque dixerunt : De Ægypto eduxit nos Dominus ? nunc autem dereliquit nos Dominus, et tradidit in manu Madian.	13 And Gideon said to him: “I beg you, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why have these things happened to us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers described when they said, ‘The Lord led us away from Egypt.’ But now the Lord has forsaken us, and he has delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
14 Respexitque ad eum Dominus, et ait : Vade in hac fortitudine tua, et liberabis Israël de manu Madian : scito quod miserim te.	14 And the Lord looked down upon him, and he said: “Go forth with this, your strength, and you shall free Israel from the hand of Midian. Know that I have sent you.”
15 Qui respondens ait : Obsecro, mi domine, in quo liberabo Israël ? ecce familia mea infima est in Manasse, et ego minimus in domo patris mei.	15 And responding, he said: “I beg you, my lord, with what shall I free Israel? Behold, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in the house of my father.”
16 Dixitque ei Dominus : Ego ero tecum : et percuties Madian quasi unum virum.	16 And the Lord said to him: “I will be with you. And so, you shall cut down Midian as if one man.”
17 Et ille : Si inveni, inquit, gratiam coram te, da mihi signum quod tu sis qui loqueris ad me :	17 And he said: “If I have found grace before you, give me a sign that it is you who is speaking to me.
18 nec recedas hinc, donec revertar ad te, portans sacrificium, et offerens tibi. Qui respondit : Ego præstolabor adventum tuum.	18 And may you not withdraw from here, until I return to you, carrying a sacrifice and offering it to you.” And he responded, “I will wait for your return.”
19 Ingressus est itaque Gedeon, et coxit hædum, et de farinæ modio azymos panes : carnesque ponens in canistro, et jus carnium mittens in ollam, tulit omnia sub quercu, et obtulit ei.	19 And so Gideon entered, and he boiled a goat, and he made unleavened bread from a measure of flour. And setting the flesh in a basket, and putting the broth of the flesh in a pot, he took it all under the oak tree, and he offered it to him.
20 Cui dixit angelus Domini : Tolle carnes et azymos panes, et pone supra petram illam, et jus desuper funde. Cumque fecisset ita,	20 And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Take the flesh and the unleavened bread, and place them on that rock, and pour out the broth upon it.” And when he had done so,
21 extendit angelus Domini summitatem virgæ, quam tenebat in manu, et tetigit carnes et panes azymos : ascenditque ignis de petra, et carnes azymosque panes consumpsit : angelus autem Domini evanuit ex oculis ejus.	21 the Angel of the Lord extended the end of a staff, which he was holding in his hand, and he touched the flesh and the unleavened loaves. And a fire ascended from the rock, and it consumed the flesh and the unleavened loaves. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22 Vidensque Gedeon quod esset angelus Domini, ait : Heu mi Domine Deus : quia vidi angelum Domini facie ad faciem.	22 And Gideon, realizing that it had been the Angel of the Lord, said: “Alas, my Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.”
23 Dixitque ei Dominus : Pax tecum : ne timeas, non morieris.	23 And the Lord said to him: “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid; you shall not die.”
24 Ædificavit ergo ibi Gedeon altare Domino, vocavitque illud, Domini pax, usque in præsentem diem. Cumque adhuc esset in Ephra, quæ est familiæ Ezri,	24 Therefore, Gideon built an altar to the Lord there, and he called it, the Peace of the Lord, even to the present day. And while he was still at Ophrah, which is of the family of Ezri,
25 nocte illa dixit Dominus ad eum : Tolle taurum patris tui, et alterum taurum annorum septem, destruesque aram Baal, quæ est patris tui, et nemus, quod circa aram est, succide.	25 that night, the Lord said to him: “Take a bull of your father’s, and another bull of seven years, and you shall destroy the altar of Baal, which is your father’s. And you shall cut down the sacred grove which is around the altar.
26 Et ædificabis altare Domino Deo tuo in summitate petræ hujus, super quam ante sacrificium posuisti : tollesque taurum secundum, et offeres holocaustum super struem lignorum, quæ de nemore succideris.	26 And you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, at the summit of this rock, on which you placed the sacrifice before. And you shall take the second bull, and you shall offer a holocaust upon a pile of the wood, which you shall cut down from the grove.”
27 Assumptis ergo Gedeon decem viris de servis suis, fecit sicut præceperat ei Dominus. Timens autem domum patris sui, et homines illius civitatis, per diem noluit id facere, sed omnia nocte complevit.	27 Therefore, Gideon, taking ten men from his servants, did just as the Lord had instructed him. But fearing his father’s household, and the men of that city, he was not willing to do it by day. Instead, he completed everything by night.
28 Cumque surrexissent viri oppidi ejus mane, viderunt destructam aram Baal, lucumque succisum, et taurum alterum impositum super altare, quod tunc ædificatum erat.	28 And when the men of that town had risen up in the morning, they saw the altar of Baal destroyed, and the sacred grove cut down, and the second bull set upon the altar, which then had been built.
29 Dixeruntque ad invicem : Quis hoc fecit ? Cumque perquirerent auctorem facti, dictum est : Gedeon filius Joas fecit hæc omnia.	29 And they said one to another, “Who has done this?” And when they inquired everywhere as to the author of the deed, it was said, “Gideon, the son of Joash, did all these things.”
30 Et dixerunt ad Joas : Produc filium tuum huc, ut moriatur : quia destruxit aram Baal, et succidit nemus.	30 And they said to Joash: “Bring forward your son here, so that he may die. For he has destroyed the altar of Baal, and he has cut down the sacred grove.”
31 Quibus ille respondit : Numquid ultores estis Baal, ut pugnetis pro eo ? qui adversarius est ejus, moriatur antequam lux crastina veniat : si deus est, vindicet se de eo, qui suffodit aram ejus.	31 But he responded to them: “Could you be the avengers of Baal, so that you fight on his behalf? Whoever is his adversary, let him die before the light arrives tomorrow; if he is a god, let him vindicate himself against him who has overturned his altar.”
32 Ex illo die vocatus est Gedeon Jerobaal, eo quod dixisset Joas : Ulciscatur se de eo Baal, qui suffodit aram ejus.	32 From that day, Gideon was called Jerubbaal, because Joash had said, “Let Baal avenge himself against him who has overturned his altar.”
33 Igitur omnis Madian, et Amalec, et orientales populi, congregati sunt simul : et transeuntes Jordanem, castrametati sunt in valle Jezraël.	33 And so, all of Midian, and Amalek, and the eastern peoples were gathered together. And crossing the Jordan, they encamped in the valley of Jezreel.
34 Spiritus autem Domini induit Gedeon, qui clangens buccina convocavit domum Abiezer, ut sequeretur se.	34 But the Spirit of the Lord entered Gideon, who, sounding the trumpet, summoned the house of Abiezer so that he might follow him.
35 Misitque nuntios in universum Manassen, qui et ipse secutus est eum : et alios nuntios in Aser et Zabulon et Nephthali, qui occurrerunt ei.	35 And he sent messengers into all of Manasseh, who also followed him, and other messengers into Asher, and Zebulun, and Naphtali, who went to meet him.
36 Dixitque Gedeon ad Deum : Si salvum facis per manum meam Israël, sicut locutus es,	36 And Gideon said to God: “If you will save Israel by my hand, just as you have said:
37 ponam hoc vellus lanæ in area : si ros in solo vellere fuerit, et in omni terra siccitas, sciam quod per manum meam, sicut locutus es, liberabis Israël.	37 I will set this wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there will be dew only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that by my hand, as you have said, you will free Israel.”
38 Factumque est ita. Et de nocte consurgens expresso vellere, concham rore implevit.	38 And so it was done. And rising in the night, wringing out the fleece, he filled a vessel with the dew.
39 Dixitque rursus ad Deum : Ne irascatur furor tuus contra me si adhuc semel tentavero, signum quærens in vellere. Oro ut solum vellus siccum sit, et omnis terra rore madens.	39 And again he said to God: “Let not your fury be enkindled against me, if I test once more, seeking a sign in the fleece. I pray that only the fleece may be dry, and all the ground may be wet with dew.”
40 Fecitque Deus nocte illa ut postulaverat : et fuit siccitas in solo vellere, et ros in omni terra.	40 And that night, God did as he had requested. And it was dry only on the fleece, and there was dew on all the ground.