Iudicum 8

VULGATA	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Dixeruntque ad eum viri Ephraim : Quid est hoc quod facere voluisti, ut nos non vocares, cum ad pugnam pergeres contra Madian ? jurgantes fortiter, et prope vim inferentes.	1 Now the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, 'What do you mean by treating us like this, not summoning uswhen you went to fight Midian?' And they reproached him bitterly.
2 Quibus ille respondit : Quod enim tale facere potui, quale vos fecistis ? nonne melior est racemus Ephraim, vindemiis Abiezer ?	2 He replied, 'What have I achieved, compared with you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim's grapes betterthan the vintage of Abiezer?
3 In manus vestras Dominus tradidit principes Madian, Oreb et Zeb : quid tale facere potui, quale vos fecistis ? Quod cum locutus esset, requievit spiritus eorum, quo tumebant contra eum.	3 God delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the chieftains of Midian, into your power. What was I able to do, incomparison with what you have done?' At these words, their anger with him died down.
4 Cumque venisset Gedeon ad Jordanem, transivit eum cum trecentis viris, qui secum erant : et præ lassitudine, fugientes persequi non poterant.	4 Gideon reached the Jordan and crossed it, but he and his three hundred companions were exhaustedwith the pursuit.
5 Dixitque ad viros Soccoth : Date, obsecro, panes populo qui mecum est, quia valde defecerunt : ut possimus persequi Zebee et Salmana reges Madian.	5 So he said to the men of Succoth, 'Please give my fol owers some loaves of bread, since they areexhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna the kings of Midian.'
6 Responderunt principes Soccoth : Forsitan palmæ manuum Zebee et Salmana in manu tua sunt, et idcirco postulas ut demus exercitui tuo panes.	6 The headmen of Succoth replied, 'Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your grasp, that weshould give bread to your army?'
7 Quibus ille ait : Cum ergo tradiderit Dominus Zebee et Salmana in manus meas, conteram carnes vestras cum spinis tribulisque deserti.	7 'Very wel ,' retorted Gideon, 'when Yahweh has put Zebah and Zalmunna into my power, I shal tearyour flesh off with desert-thorn and thistles.'
8 Et inde conscendens, venit in Phanuel : locutusque est ad viros loci illius similia. Cui et illi responderunt, sicut responderant viri Soccoth.	8 From there he went up to Penuel and asked the men of Penuel the same thing; they replied as those ofSuccoth had done.
9 Dixit itaque et eis : Cum reversus fuero victor in pace, destruam turrim hanc.	9 And to those of Penuel he made a similar retort, 'When I return victorious, I shal destroy this tower.'
10 Zebee autem et Salmana requiescebant cum omni exercitu suo. Quindecim enim millia viri remanserant ex omnibus turmis orientalium populorum, cæsis centum viginti millibus bellatorum educentium gladium.	10 Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen thousand men, al that was left ofthe entire army of the sons of the East. Of men bearing arms, a hundred and twenty thousand had fal en.
11 Ascendensque Gedeon per viam eorum, qui in tabernaculis morabantur, ad orientalem partem Nobe et Jegbaa, percussit castra hostium, qui securi erant, et nihil adversi suspicabantur.	11 Gideon approached them by the tent-dwellers' route, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked thearmy when it thought itself in safety.
12 Fugeruntque Zebee et Salmana, quos persequens Gedeon comprehendit, turbato omni exercitu eorum.	12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled. He pursued them; he took the two kings of Midian prisoner -- Zebah andZalmunna -- and the whole army he routed in panic.
13 Revertensque de bello ante solis ortum,	13 After the battle Gideon came back by the Ascent of Heres.
14 apprehendit puerum de viris Soccoth : interrogavitque eum nomina principum et seniorum Soccoth, et descripsit septuaginta septem viros.	14 He caught a young man, one of the people of Succoth, and questioned him, and the latter wrote downthe names of the headmen and elders of Succoth for him -- seventy-seven men.
15 Venitque ad Soccoth, et dixit eis : En Zebee et Salmana, super quibus exprobrastis mihi, dicentes : Forsitan manus Zebee et Salmana in manibus tuis sunt, et idcirco postulas ut demus viris, qui lassi sunt et defecerunt, panes.	15 Gideon son of Joash then went to the people of Succoth and said, 'Here you see Zebah andZalmunna, about whom you taunted me and said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your grasp,that we should give bread to your exhausted troops?" '
16 Tulit ergo seniores civitatis et spinas deserti ac tribulos, et contrivit cum eis atque comminuit viros Soccoth.	16 He then seized the elders of the town and, taking desert-thorn and thistles, tore the men of Succoth topieces.
17 Turrim quoque Phanuel subvertit, occisis habitatoribus civitatis.	17 He destroyed the tower of Penuel and slaughtered the townsmen.
18 Dixitque ad Zebee et Salmana : Quales fuerunt viri, quos occidistis in Thabor ? Qui responderunt : Similes tui, et unus ex eis quasi filius regis.	18 He then said to Zebah and Zalmunna, 'The men you kil ed at Tabor -- what were they like?' Theyreplied, 'They looked like you. Every one of them carried himself like the son of a king.'
19 Quibus ille respondit : Fratres mei fuerunt, filii matris meæ. Vivit Dominus, quia si servassetis eos, non vos occiderem.	19 Gideon replied, 'They were my brothers, the sons of my own mother; as Yahweh lives, if you hadspared their lives I would not kil you.'
20 Dixitque Jether primogenito suo : Surge, et interfice eos. Qui non eduxit gladium : timebat enim, quia adhuc puer erat.	20 To Jether his eldest son he said, 'Stand up and kil them!' But the boy did not draw his sword; he darednot; he was stil only a lad.
21 Dixeruntque Zebee et Salmana : Tu surge, et irrue in nos : quia juxta ætatem robur est hominis. Surrexit Gedeon, et interfecit Zebee et Salmana : et tulit ornamenta ac bullas quibus colla regalium camelorum decorari solent.	21 Zebah and Zalmunna then said, 'Stand up yourself, and strike us down; for as a man is, so is hisstrength.' Then Gideon stood up and kil ed Zebah and Zalmunna; and he took the crescents from round theircamels' necks.
22 Dixeruntque omnes viri Israël ad Gedeon : Dominare nostri tu, et filius tuus, et filius filii tui : quia liberasti nos de manu Madian.	22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, 'Rule over us, you, your son and your grandson, since you haverescued us from the power of Midian.'
23 Quibus ille ait : Non dominabor vestri, nec dominabitur in vos filius meus, sed dominabitur vobis Dominus.	23 But Gideon replied, 'I wil not rule you, neither wil my son. Yahweh shal rule you.'
24 Dixitque ad eos : Unam petitionem postulo a vobis : date mihi inaures ex præda vestra. Inaures enim aureas Ismaëlitæ habere consueverant.	24 Gideon went on, however, 'Let me make you one request. Each of you give me one ring out of hisbooty' -- for the vanquished had had gold rings, being Ishmaelites.
25 Qui responderunt : Libentissime dabimus. Expandentesque super terram pallium, projecerunt in eo inaures de præda :	25 'We shal give them gladly,' they replied. So he spread out his cloak, and on it each of them threw aring from his booty.
26 et fuit pondus postulatarum inaurium, mille septingenti auri sicli, absque ornamentis, et monilibus, et veste purpurea, quibus reges Madian uti soliti erant, et præter torques aureas camelorum.	26 The weight of the gold rings which he had asked for amounted to seventeen hundred shekels of gold,besides the crescents and the earrings and purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the col arsround their camels' necks.
27 Fecitque ex eo Gedeon ephod, et posuit illud in civitate sua Ephra. Fornicatusque est omnis Israël in eo, et factum est Gedeoni et omni domui ejus in ruinam.	27 From this Gideon made an ephod and set it up in his town, in Ophrah. All Israel, fol owing his example,prostituted themselves to it, and it was a snare for Gideon and his family.
28 Humiliatus est autem Madian coram filiis Israël, nec potuerunt ultra cervices elevare : sed quievit terra per quadraginta annos, quibus Gedeon præfuit.	28 Thus Midian was humbled before the Israelites. He did not raise his head again, and the country hadpeace for forty years, as long as Gideon lived.
29 Abiit itaque Jerobaal filius Joas, et habitavit in domo sua :	29 So Jerubbaal son of Joash went to live at home.
30 habuitque septuaginta filios, qui egressi sunt de femore ejus : eo quod plures haberet uxores.	30 Gideon had seventy sons begotten by him, for he had many wives.
31 Concubina autem illius, quam habebat in Sichem, genuit ei filium nomine Abimelech.	31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, to whom he gave the name Abimelech.
32 Mortuusque est Gedeon filius Joas in senectute bona, et sepultus est in sepulchro Joas patris sui in Ephra de familia Ezri.	32 Gideon son of Joash died after a happy old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, atOphrah of Abiezer.
33 Postquam autem mortuus est Gedeon, aversi sunt filii Israël, et fornicati sunt cum Baalim. Percusseruntque cum Baal fœdus, ut esset eis in deum :	33 After Gideon's death, the people of Israel again began to prostitute themselves to the Baals, takingBaal-Berith for their god.
34 nec recordati sunt Domini Dei sui, qui eruit eos de manibus inimicorum suorum omnium per circuitum :	34 The Israelites no longer remembered Yahweh their God, who had rescued them from all the enemiesround them.
35 nec fecerunt misericordiam cum domo Jerobaal Gedeon, juxta omnia bona quæ fecerat Israëli.	35 And to the family of Jerubbaal -- Gideon -- they showed no faithful gratitude for al the good which ithad done for Israel.