1 Da kom mennene fra Efraim til ham og sa: Hvorfor sendte du ikke bud til oss da du dro i krig mot Midjan? De sa harde og sinte ord til ham.

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 Han svarte dem: Hva har jeg gjort i forhold til dere? Er ikke det Efraim samlet etter innhøstingen bedre enn alle druene Abieser fikk samlet?

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 Gud har gitt Oreb og Zeeb, Midjans høvdinger, i deres hender; hva har jeg kunnet gjøre i forhold til dere? Da han sa dette, ble de roligere i sinnet mot ham.

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 Så kom Gideon til Jordan og krysset elven med sine tre hundre menn, utmattet og i behov for mat.

Then Gideon came to Jordan and went over it with his three hundred, overcome with weariness and in need of food.

5 Han sa til mennene i Sukkot: Gi brødkaker til folkene mine, for de er utmattede, og jeg er på jakt etter Sebah og Salmunna, Midjans konger.

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 Men høvdingene i Sukkot sa: Har du allerede Sebah og Salmunna i dine hender, siden vi skal gi brød til hæren din?

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 sa Gideon: Når Herren gir Sebah og Salmunna i mine hender, skal jeg straffe dere med ørkentorner og tornekvister.

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 Så dro han opp til Pnuel og ba mennene der om det samme; men de ga ham samme svar som mennene i Sukkot.

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 Han sa til mennene i Pnuel: Når jeg kommer tilbake i fred, skal jeg rive ned dette tårnet.

So he said to the men of Penuel, When I come back in peace, I will have this tower broken down.

10 Sebah og Salmunna var i Karkor med sine hærer, omkring femten tusen menn, av alle hærene til de østlige folkene som ennå levde; for hundre og tjue tusen sverdsvingere var blitt drept.

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 dro opp langs veien de som bodde i telt brukte, øst for Nobah og Jogbeha, og overfalt hæren i et ubevoktet øyeblikk.

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 Sebah og Salmunna flyktet; han forfulgte dem og tok til fange de to kongene i Midjan, Sebah og Salmunna, og slo hele hæren.

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 Så vendte Gideon, Joasj sønn, tilbake fra kampen.

Then Gideon, the son of Joash, went back from the fight:

14 Han tok til fange en ung mann fra Sukkots folk, og gjennom spørsmål fikk han oppgitt navnene på Sukkots høvdinger og ledende menn, syttisju i tallet.

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 Han kom til mennene i Sukkot og sa: Her er Sebah og Salmunna, som dere spottet meg for, og sa: Har du Sebah og Salmunna i dine hender, siden vi skal gi brød til hæren din som er utmattet?

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 Så tok han byens ledende menn og straffet dem med ørkentorner og tornekvister.

Then he took the responsible men of the town and had them crushed on a bed of thorns and sharp stems.

17 Og han rev ned tårnet i Pnuel og drepte mennene i byen.

And he had the tower of Penuel broken down and the men of the town put to death.

18 Da sa han til Sebah og Salmunna: Hvor er mennene dere drepte på Tabor? De svarte: Som du er, slik var de; hver av dem som kongssønner.

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 Han sa: De var mine brødre, min mors sønner: Så sant Herren lever, hvis dere hadde spart dem, ville jeg ikke drepe dere.

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 Så sa han til Jeter, sin eldste sønn: Reis deg! Drep dem! Men gutten trakk ikke sverdet, for han var redd, siden han ennå var ung.

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 Sebah og Salmunna sa: Stå fram! Drep oss selv! For du har en manns styrke. Da reiste Gideon seg og drepte Sebah og Salmunna og tok smykkene som var på kamelene deres.

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 sa Israels folk til Gideon: Bli vår hersker, du og din sønn og din sønns sønn etter deg; for du har reddet oss fra Midjans hender.

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 Men Gideon sa til dem: Jeg skal ikke herske over dere, og min sønn skal ikke herske over dere: Herren skal herske over dere.

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 Så sa Gideon til dem: Jeg har en bønn til dere; la hver mann gi meg øreringene han har tatt. (For de hadde gulløreringer, siden de var ismaelitter.)

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 De svarte: Vi vil gladelig gi dem. Så spredte de et klede, og hver mann kastet inn øreringene han hadde tatt.

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 Gulløreringenes vekt som han fikk var ett tusen sju hundre sjekel gull, i tillegg til måneformede smykker, juvelene og purpurkappene som var på Midjans konger, og kjedene som var på kamelenes halser.

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 laget en efod av dem og satte den opp i sin by Ofra; og hele Israel fulgte den der og var troløse mot Herren; og det ble en fallgruve for Gideon og hans hus.

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 Midjan ble knust foran Israels barn, og midianittene gjenvant aldri sin styrke. Landet hadde hvile i førti år i Gideons dager.

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 Jerubbaal, Joasj sønn, vendte tilbake til sitt hus og bodde der.

And Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went back to his house and was living there.

30 Gideon hadde sytti sønner, sine egne etterkommere; for han hadde mange koner.

Gideon had seventy sons, the offspring of his body; for he had a number of wives.

31 Og hans tjenestekvinne i Sikem fikk en sønn med ham, som han ga navnet Abimelek.

And the servant-wife he had in Shechem had a son by him, to whom he gave the name Abimelech.

32 Gideon, Joasj sønn, døde i høy alder, og han ble gravlagt i sin far Joasjs gravsted i Ofra hos abiesrittene.

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 Etter Gideons død vendte Israels barn seg igjen til guden i Kanaan og var utro mot Herren, og de gjorde Baal-berit til sin gud.

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 Israels barn husket ikke Herren sin Gud, som hadde frelst dem fra alle deres fiender på alle kanter;

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 Og de viste ikke godhet mot Jerubbaals hus, det vil si Gideon, for alt det gode han hadde gjort for Israel.

And they were not kind to the house of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, in reward for all the good he had done to Israel.