Livro dos Juízes 6

SAGRADA BIBLIA	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Os israelitas fizeram o mal aos olhos do Senhor, e o Senhor entregou-os nas mãos dos madianitas durante sete anos.	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 A mão de Madiã pesou rudemente contra Israel. Por medo dos madianitas, os filhos de Israel refugiaram-se nas cavernas das montanhas, em cavernas e fortificações.	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 Quando Israel semeava, subia Madiã com Amalec e os filhos do oriente para atacá-lo.	3 And when Israel had planted, Midian and Amalek, and the rest of the eastern nations ascended,
4 Acampavam defronte deles e devastavam as suas plantações até a vizinhança de Gaza, e não deixavam aos israelitas provisão alguma, nem ovelhas, nem bois, nem jumentos.	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 Subiam com todos os seus rebanhos e tendas, semelhantes a uma nuvem de gafanhotos, e essa multidão inumerável de homens e camelos subia e devastava a terra.	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 Os israelitas ficaram desse modo extenuados pelos madianitas, e clamaram ao Senhor.	6 And Israel was humbled greatly in the sight of Midian.
7 E, tendo eles clamado ao Senhor, pedindo socorro contra os madianitas, o Senhor mandou-lhes um profeta,	7 And he cried out to the Lord, requesting assistance against the Midianites.
8 que lhes disse: Eis o oráculo do Senhor, Deus de Israel: eu vos fiz sair do Egito e vos tirei da servidão;	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 livrei-vos da mão dos egípcios e de vossos opressores; expulsei-os de diante de vós e dei-vos a sua terra.	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 E disse-vos: eu sou o Senhor, vosso Deus: não adorareis os deuses dos amorreus, em cuja terra ides habitar. Mas não ouvistes a minha voz.	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 Depois veio o anjo do Senhor e sentou-se debaixo do terebinto de Efra, que pertencia a Joás, da família de Abieser. Gedeão, seu filho, estava limpando o trigo no lagar, para escondê-lo dos madianitas.	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 O anjo do Senhor apareceu-lhe e disse-lhe: O Senhor está contigo, valente guerreiro!	12 the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and he said: “The Lord is with you, most valiant of men.”
13 Gedeão respondeu: Ah, meu senhor, se o Senhor está conosco, por que nos vieram todos esses males? Onde estão aqueles prodígios que nos contaram nossos pais, dizendo: o Senhor fez-nos verdadeiramente sair do Egito? Agora o Senhor abandonou-nos e entregou-nos nas mãos dos madianitas.	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 Então o Senhor, voltando-se para ele: Vai, disse, com essa força que tens e livra Israel dos madianitas. Porventura não sou eu que te envio?	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 Ó Senhor, respondeu Gedeão, com que livrarei eu Israel? Minha família é a última de Manassés, e eu sou o menor na casa de meu pai.	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 O Senhor replicou: Eu estarei contigo e tu derrotarás os madianitas como se fossem um só homem.	16 And the Lord said to him: “I will be with you. And so, you shall cut down Midian as if one man.”
17 Prosseguiu Gedeão: Se encontrei graça aos vossos olhos, provai-me por um sinal que sois vós quem me falais.	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 Não vos afasteis daqui até que eu volte trazendo uma oferta, e a ponha diante de vós. Esperarei, respondeu o Senhor, até que voltes.	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 Gedeão entrou em sua casa, preparou um cabrito e fez pães sem fermento com um efá de farinha. Pôs a carne num cesto e o caldo numa panela, levou tudo debaixo do terebinto e ofereceu-lho.	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 O anjo do Senhor disse-lhe: Toma a carne e os pães sem fermento, põe-nos sobre aquela pedra e derrama por cima o caldo. Ele assim o fez.	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 Então o anjo do Senhor estendeu a ponta da vara que tinha na mão, tocou a carne com os pães sem fermento, e imediatamente jorrou fogo da rocha que consumiu a carne e os pães sem fermento; e o anjo do Senhor desapareceu de seus olhos.	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 Gedeão reconheceu que era o anjo do Senhor e exclamou: Ai de mim, Senhor Javé, que vi o anjo do Senhor face a face.	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 O Senhor disse-lhe: Tranqüiliza-te; não temas, não morrerás.	23 And the Lord said to him: “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid; you shall not die.”
24 Gedeão edificou ali um altar ao Senhor e chamou-o Javé-Chalom. Esse altar existe ainda hoje em Efra de Abieser.	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 Durante a noite disse-lhe o Senhor: Toma o novilho de teu pai e um segundo touro de sete anos; destrói o altar de Baal de teu pai e faze o mesmo com o ídolo de madeira que está junto dele.	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 Edificarás então um altar ao Senhor, teu Deus, em cima dessa pedra, depois de a teres preparado. Tomarás o segundo touro e o oferecerás em holocausto usando a madeira do ídolo que tiveres cortado.	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 Gedeão escolheu dez dos seus servos e fez o que o Senhor lhe tinha ordenado. Temendo, porém, a família de seu pai e os habitantes da cidade, não o quis fazer durante o dia; executou tudo durante a noite.	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 Chegada a manhã, quando os habitantes da cidade se levantaram, eis que viram o altar de Baal derrubado por terra, o ídolo vizinho cortado, e o segundo touro queimado em holocausto sobre o novo altar.	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 Quem fez isto?, perguntaram uns aos outros. Depois de haverem buscado e investigado cuidadosamente, foi-lhes dito: Foi Gedeão, filho de Joás.	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 Disseram então a Joás: Faze vir aqui o teu filho, para que seja morto, porque ele derrubou o altar de Baal e cortou o ídolo de madeira que estava perto!	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 Joás respondeu a todos os que o interpelavam: Porventura sois vós que deveis tomar o partido de Baal? Sois vós que deveis socorrê-lo? Pois aquele que tomar o partido de Baal será morto hoje mesmo. Se Baal é deus, que defenda ele mesmo a sua causa, pois derrubaram o seu altar!	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 Daquele dia em diante, Gedeão foi chamado Jerobaal, dizendo: Que Baal defenda a sua causa contra ele, pois ele derrubou o seu altar!	32 From that day, Gideon was called Jerubbaal, because Joash had said, “Let Baal avenge himself against him who has overturned his altar.”
33 Todos os madianitas, os amalecitas e os filhos do oriente se tinham coligado e, tendo passado o Jordão, acamparam no vale de Jezrael.	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 O Espírito do Senhor apoderou-se de Gedeão, o qual, tocando a trombeta, convocou os filhos de Abieser para que o seguissem.	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 Enviou mensageiros por toda a tribo de Manassés, que se reuniu para segui-lo; e enviou também mensageiros às tribos de Aser, de Zabulon e de Neftali, e todos vieram juntar-se a ele.	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 Gedeão disse a Deus: Se quereis realmente salvar Israel por meio de minha mão, como o dissestes,	36 And Gideon said to God: “If you will save Israel by my hand, just as you have said:
37 eis que vou estender um velo de lã na eira: se o orvalho cair só no velo, ficando toda a terra seca, reconhecerei que é por minha mão que livrareis Israel, como o dissestes.	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 E assim aconteceu. Levantando-se Gedeão no dia seguinte pela manhã, espremeu a lã e encheu um copo de orvalho.	38 And so it was done. And rising in the night, wringing out the fleece, he filled a vessel with the dew.
39 Gedeão disse de novo a Deus: Não se acenda contra mim a vossa cólera se vos falo ainda uma vez! Só quero fazer mais uma prova com o velo: peço que só a lã fique seca, e o orvalho molhe toda a terra em redor.	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 E Deus assim o fez naquela noite: só o velo ficou seco, enquanto todo o solo estava coberto de orvalho.	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.