Richter 8
1 Da sprach Ephraims Mannschaft zu ihm: "Was hast du uns angetan, daß du uns nicht riefst, als du in den Kampf wider Midian gezogen bist?", Und sie machten ihm heftige Vorwürfe.
And the men of Ephraim came and said to him, Why did you not send for us when you went to war against Midian? And they said sharp and angry words to him.
2 Er sprach zu ihnen: "Was habe ich im Vergleich zu euch getan? Ist nicht Ephraims Nachlese besser als Abiezers Lese?
And he said to them, What have I done in comparison with you? Is not that which Ephraim took up after the grape-cutting better than all the grapes which Abiezer got in from the grape-cutting?
3 In eure Hand hat Gott die Midianiterfürsten Oreb und Zeeb gegeben. Was habe ich im Vergleich mit euch tun können?" Da legte sich ihr Zorn gegen ihn, als er so sprach.
God has given into your hands the chiefs of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you? And when he said this, their feeling about him became kinder.
4 Dann zog Gideon an den Jordan. Er und die dreihundert Mann bei ihm zogen hinüber. Sie waren zwar matt, setzten aber die Verfolgung fort.
Then Gideon came to Jordan and went over it with his three hundred, overcome with weariness and in need of food.
5 Da sprach er zu Sukkots Männern: "Gebt den Leuten, die ich befehlige, Brotkuchen! Denn sie sind matt. Ich aber jage den Midianiterkönigen Zebach und Salmunna nach."
And he said to the men of Succoth, Give bread cakes to my people, for they are overcome with weariness, and I am going on after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.
6 Da sagten Sukkots Oberste: "Hast du schon Zebach und Salmunna in deiner Hand, daß wir deiner Heerschar Brot geben sollten?"
But the chiefs of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna even now in your hand that we are to give bread to your army?
7 Da sprach Gideon: "Nun gut! Gibt der Herr Zebach und Salmunna in meine Hand, dann zerdresche ich euch mit Wüstendornen und Disteln."
Then Gideon said, Because of this, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will have you stretched on a bed of thorns of the waste land and on sharp stems, and have you crushed as grain is crushed on a grain-floor.
8 Von da zog er nach Penuel hinauf und sprach zu diesem ebenso. Aber Penuels Männer erwiderten ihm, wie die Männer Sukkots erwidert hatten.
So he went up from there to Penuel and made the same request to the men of Penuel; but they gave him the same answer as the men of Succoth had given.
9 Da sprach er zu Penuels Männern: "Komme ich heil zurück, dann schleife ich diesen Turm."
So he said to the men of Penuel, When I come back in peace, I will have this tower broken down.
10 Zebach und Salmunna aber waren in Karkor mit ihrem Heer, etwa fünfzehntausend Mann. Das war alles, was vom ganzen Heer der Söhne des Ostens übriggeblieben war. Der Gefallenen waren es 120.000 Mann Schwertgerüstete.
Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, those of all the army of the children of the east who were still living; for a hundred and twenty thousand of their swordsmen had been put to death.
11 Gideon zog nun den Weg gegen die Zeltleute östlich von Nobach und Jogbeha und überfiel das Lager; das Lager aber lag sorglos da.
And Gideon went up by the way used by the people living in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and made an attack on the army when they had no thought of danger.
12 Zebach und Salmunna flohen. Er aber jagte ihnen nach, fing die beiden Midianskönige Zebach und Salmunna und vernichtete das ganze Lager.
And Zebah and Zalmunna went in flight; and he went after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and put all the army to the curse.
13 Hierauf kehrte Gideon, des Joas Sohn, an der Sonnensteige vom Kriegszug um.
Then Gideon, the son of Joash, went back from the fight:
14 Da griff er einen jungen Mann aus Sukkots Männern und fragte ihn aus. Und er schrieb ihm Sukkots Oberste und Älteste auf, siebenundsiebzig Mann.
And taking prisoner a young man of the people of Succoth, he got from him, in answer to his questions, a list of the chiefs of Succoth and the responsible men, seventy-seven men.
15 So kam er zu den Männern von Sukkot und sprach: "Hier sind Zebach und Salmunna, deretwegen ihr mich gehöhnt habt mit den Worten: 'Hast du schon Zebach und Salmunna in deiner Hand, daß wir deinen hungrigen Männern Brot geben sollten?'"
So he came to the men of Succoth and said, Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, on account of whom you made sport of me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna even now in your hand, that we are to give bread to your army who are overcome with weariness?
16 Dann nahm er die Ältesten der Stadt sowie Wüstendornen und Stacheln und verurteilte Sukkots Männer.
Then he took the responsible men of the town and had them crushed on a bed of thorns and sharp stems.
17 Ebenso schleifte er Penuels Turm und metzelte die Männer der Stadt nieder.
And he had the tower of Penuel broken down and the men of the town put to death.
18 Dann sprach er zu Zebach und Salmunna: "Wie sind die Männer gewesen, die ihr am Tabor erschlagen habt?" Sie sprachen:"Ganz so wie du. Jeder nach Aussehen ein Königssohn."
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, Where are the men whom you put to death at Tabor? And they gave answer, As you are, so were they; every one of them was like a king's son.
19 Er sprach: "Das sind meine Brüder gewesen, meiner Mutter Söhne. So wahr der Herr lebt! Hättet ihr sie leben lassen, ich brächte euch nicht um."
And he said, They were my brothers, my mother's sons: by the life of the Lord, if you had kept them safe, I would not put you to death.
20 Dann rief er seinen Erstgeborenen Jeter: "Auf! Schlag sie nieder!" Aber der Knabe zog sein Schwert nicht, weil er sich scheute. Denn er war noch zu jung.
Then he said to Jether, his oldest son, Up! Put them to death. But the boy did not take out his sword, fearing because he was still a boy.
21 Da sprachen Zebach und Salmunna: "Auf! Stoß du uns nieder! Denn wie der Mann, so seine Kraft!" Da stand Gideon auf und erschlug Zebach und Salmunna. Er nahm auch die kleinen Monde an den Hälsen ihrer Kamele.
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Up! Put an end to us yourself: for you have a man's strength. Then Gideon got up and put Zebah and Zalmunna to death and took the ornaments which were on their camels' necks.
22 Da sprach Israels Mannschaft zu Gideon: "Walte über uns, du, dein Sohn und dein Enkel! Denn du hast uns aus Midians Hand befreit."
Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Be our ruler, you and your son and your son's son after him; for you have been our saviour from the hands of Midian.
23 Da sprach Gideon zu ihnen: "Weder will ich über euch walten, noch mein Sohn. Der Herr walte über euch!"
But Gideon said to them, I will not be a ruler over you, and my son will not be a ruler over you: it is the Lord who will be ruler over you.
24 Dann sprach Gideon zu ihnen: "Ich will mir von euch etwas anderes erbitten: Gebt mir jeder aus seiner Beute einen Ring!" Jene hatten nämlich goldene Ringe, weil sie Ismaeliter waren.
Then Gideon said to them, I have a request to make to you; let every man give me the ear-rings he has taken. (For they had gold ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
25 Da sagten sie: "Gern geben wir dir sie." Und sie breiteten einen Mantel aus, und jeder warf seinen Beutering darauf.
And they gave answer, We will gladly give them. So they put down a robe, every man dropping into it the ear-rings he had taken.
26 Das Gewicht der Goldringe, die er erbeten hatte, betrug 1.700 Ring Gold, außer den Monden, Ohrgehängen und Purpurkleidern, die die Midianskönige getragen, und den Halsbändern ihrer Kamele.
The weight of the gold ear-rings which he got from them was one thousand, seven hundred shekels of gold; in addition to the moon-ornaments and jewels and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and the chains on their camels' necks.
27 Gideon machte daraus ein Ephod und stellte es in seiner Stadt Ophra auf. Und ganz Israel hurte ihm dort nach. So ward es Gideon und seinem Hause zum Fallstricke.
And Gideon made an ephod from them and put it up in his town Ophrah; and all Israel went after it there and were false to the Lord; and it became a cause of sin to Gideon and his house.
28 Also ward Midian von den Israeliten gedemütigt, daß es nicht wieder das Haupt erhob. Und das Land hatte in Gideons Tagen vierzig Jahre Ruhe.
So Midian was broken before the children of Israel and the Midianites never got back their strength. And the land had peace for forty years, in the days of Gideon.
29 Und Jerubbaal, des Joas Sohn, zog ab und blieb fortan zu Hause.
And Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went back to his house and was living there.
30 Gideon aber besaß siebzig Vollsöhne. Denn er hatte viele Weiber.
Gideon had seventy sons, the offspring of his body; for he had a number of wives.
31 Sein Nebenweib zu Sichem aber hatte ihm auch einen Sohn geboren, und er legte ihm den Namen Abimelek bei.
And the servant-wife he had in Shechem had a son by him, to whom he gave the name Abimelech.
32 Gideon, des Joas Sohn, starb in hohem Alter und ward in seines Vaters Joas Grab begraben, im Ophra der Abiezriten.
And Gideon, the son of Joash, came to his end when he was very old, and his body was put in the resting-place of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 Als aber Gideon tot war, hurten die Israeliten wieder mit den Baalen. Sie nahmen sich den Bundesbaal zum Schutzgott.
And after the death of Gideon, the children of Israel again went after the gods of Canaan and were false to the Lord, and made Baal-berith their god.
34 Und die Israeliten gedachten nicht mehr des Herrn, ihres Gottes, der sie aus der Hand all ihrer Feinde ringsum befreit hatte.
And the children of Israel did not keep in their minds the Lord their God, who had been their saviour from all their haters on every side;
35 Auch erwiesen sie keine Liebe der Familie Jerubbaals, vormals Gideon genannt, trotz dem Guten, das er Israel getan hatte.
And they were not kind to the house of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, in reward for all the good he had done to Israel.
