And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.
And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them;
and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
For they came up with their cattle and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it.
And Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah.
And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah because of Midian,
that Jehovah sent a prophet unto the children of Israel: and he said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land;
and I said unto you, I am Jehovah your God; ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice.
And the angel of Jehovah came, and sat under the {Or, terebinth}oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him, and said unto him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.
And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my lord, if Jehovah is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt? but now Jehovah hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.
And Jehovah {Or, turned towards}looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee?
And he said unto him, Oh, Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my {Hebrew: thousand.}family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
And Jehovah said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
And he said unto him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, then show me a sign that it is thou that talkest with me.
Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and lay it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the {Or, terebinth}oak, and presented it.
And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
Then the angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Jehovah departed out of his sight.
And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah! forasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face.
And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
Then Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it {That is, Jehovah is peace.}Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
And it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said unto him, Take thy father's bullock, {Or, and}even the second bullock seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah that is {Or, upon}by it;
and build an altar unto Jehovah thy God upon the top of this stronghold, {Or, with that pertaining to it}in the orderly manner, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-offering with the wood of the Asherah which thou shalt cut down.
Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Jehovah had spoken unto him: and it came to pass, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was {Or, upon}by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.
And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the Asherah that was {Or, upon}by it.
And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye contend for Baal? or will ye save him? he that will contend for him, {Or, shall be put to death: let be til morning if &c.}let him be put to death {Or, before morning}whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one hath broken down his altar.
Therefore on that day he called him {That is, Let Baal contend.}Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he hath broken down his altar.
Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.
But the Spirit of Jehovah {Hebrew: clothed itself with.}came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him.
And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast spoken,
behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the ground, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast spoken.
And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.
And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once: let me make trial, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
Querverweise zu Richter 6,11 Ri 6,11
And Jehovah {Or, turned towards}looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee?
And he said unto him, Oh, Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my {Hebrew: thousand.}family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
And Jehovah said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
And he said unto them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
And what shall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets:
And {Or, a messenger}the angel of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you:
and ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice: why have ye done this?
Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
And it came to pass, when the angel of Jehovah spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
And they called the name of that place {That is, Weepers}Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto Jehovah.
So the lot was for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families.
Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of Jehovah.Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof,Because they came not to the help of Jehovah,To the help of Jehovah {Or, among}against the mighty.
And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
And the angel of Jehovah said unto him, Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is {Or, secret}wonderful?
So Manoah took the kid with the meal-offering, and offered it upon the rock unto Jehovah: and the angel did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.
For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar: and Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground.
the angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
{Another reading is, In all their adversity he was no adversary}In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.