士師記 第 6 章

And the sons of Israel did evil before the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Madiam seven years.

And the hand of Madiam prevailed over Israel; and because of Madiam the sons of Israel made for themselves the holes that are in the mountains, and the caves, and the hanging places.

And it came about that whenever the sons of Israel had sown, Madiam and Amalek would come up, and the sons of the east would come up together with them.

And they encamped against them and destroyed their fruits, until one comes to Gaza; and they left no sustenance of life in the land of Israel, nor among the flocks either bull or donkey.

For they and their possessions would come up, and their tents would arrive like locusts in multitude; and there was no number to them or to their camels; and they came into the land of Israel and destroyed it.

And Israel became exceedingly impoverished because of Madiam, and the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord.

Because of Madiam.

And the Lord sent forth a man, a prophet, to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I am he who brought you up out of the land of Egypt and brought you out of the house of your bondage.

And I rescued you out of the hand of Egypt and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and I drove them out from before you and gave you their land.

And I said to you, I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorite, among whom you are to settle in their land. And you did not listen to my voice.

And an angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth that is in Ephratha, which belonged to Ioas the father of Esdri; and Gedeon his son was beating out wheat in a winepress, to escape from before Madiam.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, mighty one of the hosts.

And Gedeon said to him, Pardon me, my lord — if the Lord is with us, why have these evils found us? And where are all his wonders that our fathers recounted to us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? But now he has cast us out and given us into the hand of Madiam.

And the angel of the Lord turned to him and said, Go in this strength of yours, and you shall save Israel out of the hand of Madiam. Behold, I have sent you.

And Gedeon said to him, Pardon me, my lord — by what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan has become weak in Manasse, and I am the least in my father's house.

And the angel of the Lord said to him, The Lord will be with you, and you shall strike down Madiam as one man.

And Gedeon said to him, But if I have found mercy in your eyes, then you will do for me today everything that you have spoken with me.

Do not depart from here until I come to you, and I will bring out the sacrifice and set it before you. And he said, I will remain seated until you return.

And Gedeon went in and prepared a kid of the goats and an ephah of flour as unleavened cakes; and he put the meat in the basket and poured the broth into the pot, and brought them out to him under the terebinth, and drew near.

And the angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and set them by that rock, and pour out the broth close alongside. And he did so.

And the angel of the Lord stretched out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire went up out of the rock and devoured the meat and the unleavened loaves; and the angel of the Lord went away from his eyes.

And Gideon saw that this was an angel of the Lord, and Gideon said, "Ah, ah, my lord, Lord! for I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face."

And the Lord said to him, "Peace to you; do not fear, you shall certainly not die."

And Gideon built there an altar to the Lord and named it "Peace of the Lord," until this day; it is still in Ephratha of the father of Esdri.

And it happened in that night that the Lord said to him, "Take the bull calf that belongs to your father, and a second calf, seven years old, and you shall pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and the grove that is upon it you shall destroy."

"And you shall build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this Maouek, in the battle array, and you shall take the second calf and offer up a whole burnt offering with the wood of the grove that you will destroy."

And Gideon took ten men from among his own servants and did just as the Lord had spoken to him; and it came about that, since he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.

And the men of the city rose early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Baal had been pulled down, and the grove that was upon it had been destroyed; and they saw the second calf that he had offered up on the altar that had been built.

And a man said to his neighbor, "Who has done this thing?" And they sought and searched and learned that Gideon son of Ioas had done this thing.

And the men of the city said to Ioas, "Bring out your son, and let him die, because he pulled down the altar of Baal and because he destroyed the grove that was upon it."

And Ioas said to all the men who had risen up against him, "Are you now contending on behalf of Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him, let him be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone pulled down his altar."

And on that day he called it Iarbaal, saying, "Let Baal contend in this matter, because his altar was pulled down."

And all Madiam and Amalek and the sons of the east gathered together in the same place and encamped in the valley of Ezereel.

And the spirit of the Lord empowered Gideon, and he sounded the horn, and Abiezer was afraid behind him.

And he sent messengers into all Manasse and in Aser and in Zaboulon and Nephthali, and he went up to meet them.

And Gideon said to God, "If you are saving Israel by my hand, just as you have spoken,

behold, I am placing the fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If dew comes upon the fleece only, and upon all the ground there is dryness, I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, just as you have spoken."

And it happened so. And he rose early the next day and squeezed out the fleece, and dew dripped from the fleece, a bowl full of water.

And Gideon said to God, "Do not let your anger be kindled against me, and let me speak just once more; and let me test yet once more with the fleece: let the dryness be upon the fleece only, and upon all the ground let there be dew."

And God did so in that night: there was dryness upon the fleece only, and upon all the ground there came dew.