Judges 8–10

Chapter 8

And the men of Ephraim said to him: What is this that thou meanest to do, that thou wouldst not call us, when thou wentest to fight against Madian? And they chid him sharply, and almost offered violence.

²And he answered them: What could I have done like to that which you have done? Is not one bunch of grapes of Ephraim better than the vintages of Abiezer?

³The Lord hath delivered into your hands the princes of Madian, Oreb and Zeb: what could I have done like to what you have done? And when he had said this, their spirit was appeased, with which they swelled against him.

⁴And when Gedeon was come to the Jordan, he passed over it with the three hundred men that were with him: who were so weary that they could not pursue after them that fled.

⁵And he said to the men of Soccoth: Give, I beseech you, bread to the people that is with me, for they are faint: that we may pursue Zebee, and Salmana, the kings of Madian.

⁶The princes of Soccoth answered: Peradventure the palms of the hands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hand, and therefore thou demandest that we should give bread to thy army.

⁷And he said to them: When the Lord therefore shall have delivered Zebee and Salmana into my hands, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns and briers of the desert.

⁸And going up from thence, he came to Phanuel: and he spoke the like things to the men of that place. And they also answered him, as the men of Soccoth had answered.

⁹He said, therefore, to them also: When I shall return a conqueror in peace, I will destroy this tower.

¹⁰But Zebee and Salmana were resting with all their army. For fifteen thousand men were left of all the troops of the eastern people, and one hundred and twenty thousand warriors that drew the sword were slain.

¹¹And Gedeon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents, on the east of Nobe and Jegbaa, and smote the camp of the enemies, who were secure, and suspected no hurt.

¹²And Zebee and Salmana fled, and Gedeon pursued and took them, all their host being put in confusion.

¹³And returning from the battle before the sun rising,

¹⁴He took a boy of the men of Soccoth: and he asked him the names of the princes and ancients of Soccoth, and he described unto him seventy-seven men.

¹⁵And he came to Soccoth, and said to them: Behold Zebee, and Salmana, concerning whom you upbraided me, saying: Peradventure the hands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hands, and therefore thou demandest that we should give bread to the men that are weary and faint.

¹⁶So he took the ancients of the city, and thorns and briers of the desert, and tore them with the same, and cut in pieces the men of Soccoth.

¹⁷And he demolished the tower of Phanuel, and slew the men of the city.

¹⁸And he said to Zebee and Salmana: What manner of men were they, whom you slew in Thabor? They answered: They were like thee, and one of them as the son of a king.

¹⁹He answered them: They were my brethren, the sons of my mother. As the Lord liveth, if you had saved them, I would not kill you.

²⁰And he said to Jether, his eldest son: Arise, and slay them. But he drew not his sword: for he was afraid, being but yet a boy.

²¹And Zebee and Salmana said: Do thou rise and run upon us: because the strength of a man is according to his age: Gedeon rose up, and slew Zebee and Salmana: and he took the ornaments and bosses, with which the necks of the camels of kings are wont to be adorned.

²²And all the men of Israel said to Gedeon: Rule thou over us, and thy son, and thy son’s son: because thou hast delivered us from the hand of Madian.

²³And he said to them: I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, but the Lord shall rule over you.

²⁴And he said to them: I desire one request of you: Give me the earlets of your spoils. For the Ismaelites were accustomed to wear golden earlets.

²⁵They answered: We will give them most willingly. And spreading a mantle on the ground, they cast upon it the earlets of the spoils.

²⁶And the weight of the earlets that he requested, was a thousand seven hundred sicles of gold, besides the ornaments, and jewels, and purple raiment, which the kings of Madian were wont to use, and besides the golden chains that were about the camels necks.

²⁷And Gedeon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city Ephra. And all Israel committed fornication with it, and it became a ruin to Gedeon, and to all his house.

²⁸But Madian was humbled before the children of Israel, neither could they any more lift up their heads: but the land rested for forty years, while Gedeon presided.

²⁹So Jerobaal, the son of Joas, went and dwelt in his own house:

³⁰And he had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh, for he had many wives.

³¹And his concubine, that he had in Sichem, bore him a son, whose name was Abimelech.

³²And Gedeon, the son of Joas died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father, in Ephra, of the family of Ezri.

³³But after Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned again, and committed fornication with Baalim. And they made a covenant with Baal, that he should be their god:

³⁴And they remembered not the Lord their God, who delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies round about:

³⁵Neither did they shew mercy to the house of Jerobaal Gedeon, according to all the good things he had done to Israel.

Chapter 9

And Abimelech, the son of Jerobaal, went to Sichem, to his mother’s brethren, and spoke to them, and to all the kindred of his mother’s father, saying:

²Speak to all the men of Sichem: whether is better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerobaal, should rule over you, or that one man should rule over you? And withal, consider that I am your bone, and your flesh.

³And his mother’s brethren spoke of him to all the men of Sichem, all these words, and they inclined their hearts after Abimelech, saying: He is our brother:

⁴And they gave him seventy weight of silver out of the temple of Baalberith: wherewith he hired to himself men that were needy, and vagabonds, and they followed him.

⁵And he came to his father’s house in Ephra, and slew his brethren, the sons of Jerobaal, seventy men, upon one stone: and there remained only Joatham, the youngest son of Jerobaal, who was hidden.

⁶And all the men of Sichem were gathered together, and all the families of the city of Mello: and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak that stood in Sichem.

⁷This being told to Joatham, he went, and stood on the top of Mount Garizim: and lifting up his voice, he cried, and said: Hear me, ye men of Sichem, so may God hear you.

⁸The trees went to anoint a king over them: and they said to the olive tree: Reign thou over us.

⁹And it answered: Can I leave my fatness, which both gods and men make use of, to come to be promoted among the trees?

¹⁰And the trees said to the fig tree: Come thou and reign over us.

¹¹And it answered them: Can I leave my sweetness, and my delicious fruits, and go to be promoted among the other trees?

¹²And the trees said to the vine: Come thou and reign over us.

¹³And it answered them: Can I forsake my wine, that cheereth God and men, and be promoted among the other trees?

¹⁴And all the trees said to the bramble: Come thou and reign over us.

¹⁵And it answered them: If, indeed, you mean to make me king, come ye, and rest under my shadow: but if you mean it not, let fire come out from the bramble, and devour the cedars of Libanus.

¹⁶Now, therefore, if you have done well, and without sin, in appointing Abimelech king over you, and have dealt well with Jerobaal, and with his house, and have made a suitable return for the benefits of him who fought for you,

¹⁷And exposed his life to dangers, to deliver you from the hand of Madian,

¹⁸And you are now risen up against my father’s house, and have killed his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his handmaid, king over the inhabitants of Sichem, because he is your brother:

¹⁹If therefore you have dealt well, and without fault, with Jerobaal and his house, rejoice ye, this day, in Abimelech, and may he rejoice in you.

²⁰But if unjustly: let fire come out from him, and consume the inhabitants of Sichem, and the town of Mello: and let fire come out from the men of Sichem and from the town of Mello, and devour Abimelech.

²¹And when he had said thus, he fled, and went into Bera: and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech, his brother.

²²So Abimelech reigned over Israel three years.

²³And the Lord sent a very evil spirit between Abimelech and the inhabitants of Sichem; who began to detest him,

²⁴And to lay the crime of the murder of the seventy sons of Jerobaal, and the shedding of their blood, upon Abimelech, their brother, and upon the rest of the princes of the Sichemites, who aided him.

²⁵And they set an ambush against him on the top of the mountains: and while they waited for his coming, they committed robberies, taking spoils of all that passed by: and it was told Abimelech.

²⁶And Gaal, the son of Obed, came with his brethren, and went over to Sichem. And the inhabitants of Sichem, taking courage at his coming,

²⁷Went out into the fields, wasting the vineyards, and treading down the grapes: and singing and dancing, they went into the temple of their god, and in their banquets and cups they cursed Abimelech.

²⁸And Gaal, the son of Obed, cried: Who is Abimelech, and what is Sichem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerobaal, and hath made Zebul, his servant, ruler over the men of Emor, the father of Sichem? Why then shall we serve him?

²⁹Would to God that some man would put this people under my hand, that I might remove Abimelech out of the way. And it was said to Abimelech: Gather together the multitude of an army, and come.

³⁰For Zebul, the ruler of the city, hearing the words of Gaal, the son of Obed, was very angry,

³¹And sent messengers privately to Abimelech, saying: Behold, Gaal, the son of Obed, is come into Sichem with his…