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.
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 Er sprach zu ihnen: "Was habe ich im Vergleich zu euch getan? Ist nicht Ephraims Nachlese besser als Abiezers Lese?
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 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 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 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 and his 300 men [went east and] crossed the Jordan [River]. Although they were very tired, they continued to pursue their enemies.
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."
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 Da sagten Sukkots Oberste: "Hast du schon Zebach und Salmunna in deiner Hand, daß wir deiner Heerschar Brot geben sollten?"
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 Da sprach Gideon: "Nun gut! Gibt der Herr Zebach und Salmunna in meine Hand, dann zerdresche ich euch mit Wüstendornen und Disteln."
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 Von da zog er nach Penuel hinauf und sprach zu diesem ebenso. Aber Penuels Männer erwiderten ihm, wie die Männer Sukkots erwidert hatten.
From there, Gideon [and his 300 men] went to Peniel and asked for food there, but the people gave him the same answer.
9 Da sprach er zu Penuels Männern: "Komme ich heil zurück, dann schleife ich diesen Turm."
So he said to the men of Peniel, “After I defeat those kings, I will return and tear down this tower!”
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.
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 zog nun den Weg gegen die Zeltleute östlich von Nobach und Jogbeha und überfiel das Lager; das Lager aber lag sorglos da.
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 Zebach und Salmunna flohen. Er aber jagte ihnen nach, fing die beiden Midianskönige Zebach und Salmunna und vernichtete das ganze Lager.
Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but Gideon’s men pursued them and captured them and all their warriors.
13 Hierauf kehrte Gideon, des Joas Sohn, an der Sonnensteige vom Kriegszug um.
After that, Gideon and his men [took Zebah and Zalmunna with them and] started to return, going through Heres Pass.
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.
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 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?'"
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 Dann nahm er die Ältesten der Stadt sowie Wüstendornen und Stacheln und verurteilte Sukkots Männer.
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 Ebenso schleifte er Penuels Turm und metzelte die Männer der Stadt nieder.
Then [they went to] Peniel and tore down the tower, and killed all the men in the town.
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 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 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."
Gideon replied, “They were my brothers! Just as surely as Yahweh lives, I would not kill you if you had not killed them.”
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 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 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 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 Da sprach Israels Mannschaft zu Gideon: "Walte über uns, du, dein Sohn und dein Enkel! Denn du hast uns aus Midians Hand befreit."
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 Da sprach Gideon zu ihnen: "Weder will ich über euch walten, noch mein Sohn. Der Herr walte über euch!"
But Gideon replied, “No, I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. Yahweh will rule 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 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 Da sagten sie: "Gern geben wir dir sie." Und sie breiteten einen Mantel aus, und jeder warf seinen Beutering darauf.
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 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 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 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.
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 Also ward Midian von den Israeliten gedemütigt, daß es nicht wieder das Haupt erhob. Und das Land hatte in Gideons Tagen vierzig Jahre Ruhe.
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 Und Jerubbaal, des Joas Sohn, zog ab und blieb fortan zu Hause.
Gideon went back home to live there.
30 Gideon aber besaß siebzig Vollsöhne. Denn er hatte viele Weiber.
He had many wives, and they bore him seventy sons.
31 Sein Nebenweib zu Sichem aber hatte ihm auch einen Sohn geboren, und er legte ihm den Namen Abimelek bei.
He also had a slave wife in Shechem [town], who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.
32 Gideon, des Joas Sohn, starb in hohem Alter und ward in seines Vaters Joas Grab begraben, im Ophra der Abiezriten.
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 Als aber Gideon tot war, hurten die Israeliten wieder mit den Baalen. Sie nahmen sich den Bundesbaal zum Schutzgott.
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 Und die Israeliten gedachten nicht mehr des Herrn, ihres Gottes, der sie aus der Hand all ihrer Feinde ringsum befreit hatte.
They forgot about Yahweh, the one who had rescued them from all their enemies that surrounded them.
35 Auch erwiesen sie keine Liebe der Familie Jerubbaals, vormals Gideon genannt, trotz dem Guten, das er Israel getan hatte.
And even though Gideon had done many good things for the Israelis, they were not kind to Gideon’s family.
