Mwet Nununku 8
1 Na mwet Ephraim elos fahk nu sel Gideon, “Efu ku kom tia pangon kut ke kom som mweuni mwet Midian? Efu kom ku orekut ouinge?” Elos arulana multikin nu sel Gideon.
Then the descendants of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you acted toward us like this? When you went out to fight against the people of Midian, why did you not summon us [to help you]?” They rebuked Gideon severely.
2 Na el fahk nu selos, “Ma nga tuh orala tia apkuran nu ke ma kowos orala. Finne ma na srisrik kowos mwet in sruf lal Ephraim orala an, yohk liki na ma nukewa mwet in ota lal Abiezer elos orala.
But Gideon replied, “I have done [RHQ] very little compared with what you have done! My small clan of descendants of Abiezer only started the battle, but [your very large group of] descendants of Ephraim [helped me to finish the task very well. It is like] the final grapes of the harvest being much better than the first grapes that are picked.
3 Saya pacna, ke ku lun God kowos tuh uniya leum luo lun mwet Midian ah, Oreb ac Zeeb. Mea nga tuh orala yohk liki ma kowos orala inge?” Ke el fahkla ma inge, elos tila toasr sel.
God enabled you to defeat Oreb and Zeeb, the generals of the army from Midian. That is [RHQ] much more important than what I did!” After Gideon told them that, they no longer resented what he had done.
4 In pacl se inge, Gideon ac mwet tolfoko lal ah tuku nu Infacl Jordan ac fahsr alukela. Elos arulana totola, tusruktu elos srakna ukwe mwet lokoalok lalos.
Then Gideon and his 300 men [went east and] crossed the Jordan [River]. Although they were very tired, they continued to pursue their enemies.
5 Ke elos sun acn Sukkoth, Gideon el fahk nu sin mwet in acn sac, “Nunak munas, sang kutu bread an nu sin mwet luk inge. Elos arulana totola, ac nga srakna ukwe tokosra luo lun mwet Midian: Zebah ac Zalmunna.”
When they arrived at Succoth [town], Gideon said to the town leaders, “Please give my men some food! They are very tired. We are pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6 Na mwet kol lun acn Sukkoth elos fahk nu sel, “Efu ku kut in sang mongo nu sin mwet mweun lom an? Kom soenna sruokilya Zebah ac Zalmunna.”
But the leaders of Succoth replied, “You have not caught [RHQ] Zebah and Zalmunna yet. So why should we give food to your troops [now? Catch them first, and then we will give you food].”
7 Na Gideon el topuk nu selos, “Fin ouingan, LEUM GOD El fin ase Zebah ac Zalmunna nu inpouk, nga ac fah use kokul ac mah fakfuk yen mwesis uh ac sang sringil kowos.”
Gideon replied, “[Because you said that], after Yahweh enables us to defeat Zebah and Zalmunna, we will return. And then we will make whips from thorns from the desert, and with them we will rip the flesh off your bones!”
8 Na Gideon el som nu Penuel ac ngisre mwet we oana ke el tuh ngisre mwet Sukkoth ah, ac mwet we elos topkol oapana mwet Sukkoth ah.
From there, Gideon [and his 300 men] went to Peniel and asked for food there, but the people gave him the same answer.
9 Na Gideon el fahk nu sin mwet Penuel, “Ke nga ac kutangla foloko, nga ac kunausya tower se inge!”
So he said to the men of Peniel, “After I defeat those kings, I will return and tear down this tower!”
10 Zebah ac Zalmunna eltal muta in acn Karkor wi mwet mweun laltal. Siofok longoul tausin mwet mweun lalos misa, ac singoul limekosr na tausin srakna moul.
By that time, Zebah and Zalmunna had gone to Karkor [town] with 15,000 troops. They were all that were left of the armies that had come from the east. 120,000 of their men had already been killed.
11 Gideon el ut sisken yen mwesis kutulap in Nobah ac Jogbehah, ac mweuni mwet lokoalok lalos inge in lukma.
Gideon [and his men] went east along the road on which caravans travel. They went past Nobah and Jogbehah [villages] and arrived at the enemy camp by surprise.
12 Zebah ac Zalmunna, tokosra luo lun mwet Midian, elos kaing, tusruktu Gideon el ukwaltal ac sruokoltal uh, na mwet mweun nukewa laltal ah fohsak.
Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but Gideon’s men pursued them and captured them and all their warriors.
13 Ke Gideon el folok liki mweun ah, el ut ke Innek In Utyak Nu Heres.
After that, Gideon and his men [took Zebah and Zalmunna with them and] started to return, going through Heres Pass.
14 In pacl se inge el sruokya mwet fusr Sukkoth se ac siyuk inen mwet kol lun acn Sukkoth. Na mwet fusr sac simusla inen mwet itngoul itkosr ac sang nu sel Gideon.
There he captured a young man from Succoth, and demanded that he write down the names of all of the leaders in the town. The young man wrote down seventy-seven names.
15 Na Gideon el folokla nu yurin mwet Sukkoth ac fahk, “Kowos esam ke kowos tuh srunga kasreyu? Kowos tuh fahk mu kowos ac tia ase mwe mongo nu sin mwet luk inge, ke sripen nga soenna sruokilya Zebah ac Zalmunna. Liye, eltal a inge!”
Then Gideon and his men returned to Succoth and said to those leaders, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. When we were here before, you made fun of me and said ‘You have not [RHQ] caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet! After you catch them, we will give your exhausted men some food.’”
16 Na el eis kokul ac mwe fakfuk in acn mwesis uh sang akkeokye mwet kol lun Sukkoth.
Then Gideon’s men took the town leaders and whipped them with whips made from briers from the desert, to teach them [that they deserved to be punished for not giving them any food].
17 El oayapa kunausya tower in acn Penuel ac uniya mwet we.
Then [they went to] Peniel and tore down the tower, and killed all the men in the town.
18 Na Gideon el siyuk sel Zebah ac Zalmunna, “Fuka luman mwet komtal tuh uniya in acn Tabor ah?” Eltal topuk nu sel ac fahk, “Elos oana kom. Elos nukewa oana luman wen nutin tokosra uh.”
Then Gideon said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “The men you killed near Tabor [Mountain], what did they look like?” They replied, “They were like you; they all looked like they were sons of a king.”
19 Na Gideon el fahk, “Elos ma wiuk, ma nutin nina kiuk ah. Nga fulahk nu sumtal, komtal funu tia onelosi, nga lukun tia pac uni komtal uh.”
Gideon replied, “They were my brothers! Just as surely as Yahweh lives, I would not kill you if you had not killed them.”
20 Na el forang nu sel Jether, wen se omeet natul ah, ac fahk, “Oneltalu!” Tusruktu tulik sac tiana faisak cutlass natul ah, mweyen el srakna fusr, oru el sangeng.
Then he turned to his oldest son, Jether. He said to him, “Kill them!” But Jether was only a boy, and he was afraid, so he did not pull out his dagger [to kill them].
21 Na Zebah ac Zalmunna fahk nu sel Gideon, “Fahsru sifacna unikuti. Fal sie mukul in orekma in mukul.” Na Gideon el oneltalu, ac eisla mwe naweyuk liki inkwawen camel natultal ah.
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Do not ask a young boy to do the work that a man should do!” So Gideon killed both of them. Then he took the gold ornaments from the necks of their camels.
22 Tukun ma inge, mwet Israel elos fahk nu sel Gideon, “Kom in leum facsr — kom ac fwil nutum an — mweyen kom molikutla liki mwet Midian.”
Then a group of Israeli men [came to] Gideon and said to him, “You be our ruler! [We want] you and your son and your grandsons [to] be our rulers, because you rescued us from the Midian army.”
23 Ac Gideon el fahk nu selos, “Nga ac fah tia leum fowos, oayapa wen nutik ac fah tia leum fowos. LEUM GOD El fah leum fowos.”
But Gideon replied, “No, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.”
24 Na el sifilpa fahk, “Nga ke siyuk ma se suwos. Kais sie suwos in ase nu sik yaring ma kowos eisla sin mwet Midian.” (Mweyen mwet Midian elos oana mwet forfor yen mwesis wialos uh, elos sracsra yaring.)
Then he said, “I request only one thing. I request that each of you give me one earring from the things you captured after the battle.” [All the men descended from Ishmael wore gold earrings.]
25 Ac elos topuk nu sel, “Kut insewowo in asot ma inge nu sum.” Elos laknelik nuknuk se, ac kais sie selos sang ma oasr sel.
They replied, “We will be glad to give earrings to you!” So they spread a cloth [on the ground], and each man threw on it one gold earring that he had taken [from a man he had killed in the battle].
26 Toasriyen yaring gold ma orekeni inge yohk liki paun angngaul, sayen na mwe naweyuk ac walwal ac nuknuk sroninmutuk lun tokosra luo ah, ku mwe yun ke kwawen camel natultal ah.
The weight of all the earrings was (43 pounds/19.4 kg.). That did not include other things [that they gave to Gideon]—the other ornaments or the pendants or the clothes that the kings of Midian wore or the gold chains that were on the necks of their camels.
27 Na Gideon el orala sie ma sruloala ke gold ma el eisani inge, ac el filiya in acn sel sifacna, Ophrah. Mwet Israel nukewa elos forla liki God, ac elos som ac alu nu ke ma sruloala se inge, su kwasrip se nu sel Gideon ac sou lal.
Gideon made/decorated a sacred vest from the gold, and later he put it in his hometown, Ophrah. But soon the Israeli people started to worship the vest. So it became like a trap [MET] for the people, [causing them to worship it instead of worshiping only God].
28 Ouinge mwet Israel elos kutangla mwet Midian, ac mwet Midian elos tia sifil orek lokoalok nu selos. Acn Israel muta in misla ke lusen yac angngaul, nwe ke pacl se Gideon el misa.
That is how the Israelis defeated the people from Midian. The people of Midian did not become strong enough to attack Israel again. So while Gideon was alive, there was peace in the land for 40 years.
29 Gideon el folokla nu in acn sel ac muta we.
Gideon went back home to live there.
30 Oasr wen itngoul natul, mweyen pus mutan kial.
He had many wives, and they bore him seventy sons.
31 Oasr pac mutan kulansap se kial in acn Shechem, ac el oswela pac wen se nu sel Gideon, ac Gideon el sang inel Abimelech.
He also had a slave wife in Shechem [town], who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
32 Gideon, wen natul Joash, el misa ke el arulana matu, ac elos piknilya yurin papa tumal in acn Ophrah, acn sin ota lal Abiezer.
Gideon died when he was very old. They buried his body in the grave where his father Joash was buried, at Ophrah, in the land belonging to the descendants of Abiether.
33 Tukun Gideon el misa, mwet Israel elos sifilpa forla liki God ac alu nu sin Baal. Elos eisal Baal-lun-Wuleang tuh elan god lalos.
But as soon as Gideon died, the Israelis [stopped worshiping God and started worshiping the images of the god Baal, like] [MET] adultresses [leave their husbands and go to sleep with other men]. They made a [statue of a] new god called Baal-Berith.
34 Elos tia sifil kulansap nu sin LEUM GOD lalos, su tuh molelosla liki mwet lokoalok nukewa lalos su raunelosla.
They forgot about Yahweh, the one who had rescued them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
35 Ac elos tia pac akilen sou lal Gideon ke orekma wo puspis el tuh oru nu selos ah.
And even though Gideon had done many good things for the Israelis, they were not kind to Gideon’s family.
