1 És gonoszul cselekedének az Izráel fiai az Úrnak szemei elõtt, azért adá2 És hatalmat võn a Midiániták keze az Izráelen, és a Midiánitáktól [való3 Mert ha vetett Izráel, [mindjárt ott] termettek a Midiániták, az4 És táborba szálltak ellenök, és pusztították a földnek termését egész5 Mert barmaikkal és sátoraikkal vonultak föl; csapatosan jöttek, mint a6 Mikor azért igen megnyomorodott az Izráel a Midiániták miatt, az Úrhoz7 Mikor pedig kiáltottak vala az Izráel fiai az Úrhoz Midián miatt:8 Prófétát külde az Úr az Izráel fiaihoz, és monda nékik: Azt mondja az9 És én mentettelek meg benneteket az Égyiptombeliek kezébõl, és minden10 És mondék néktek: Én, az Úr, vagyok a ti Istenetek; ne féljétek az Emoreusok isteneit, kiknek földén laktok;11 És eljöve az Úrnak angyala, és leüle ama cserfa alatt, a mely Ofrában12 Ekkor megjelenék néki az Úrnak angyala, és monda néki: Az Úr veled, erõs13 Gedeon pedig monda néki: Kérlek uram, ha velünk van az Úr, miért ért14 És az Úr hozzá fordula, és monda: Menj el ezzel a te15 És monda néki: Kérlek uram, miképen szabadítsam én meg Izráelt? Ímé az16 És monda néki az Úr: Én leszek veled, és megvered Midiánt, mint egy17 Õ pedig monda néki: Ha kegyelmet találtam a te szemeid elõtt, kérlek,18 El ne menj kérlek innen, míg vissza nem jövök hozzád, és ki nem hozom az19 Gedeon pedig elméne, és elkészíte egy kecskegödölyét és egy efa lisztbõl20 És monda néki az Isten angyala: Vegyed a húst és a kovásztalan21 Ekkor kinyújtá az Úrnak angyala pálczájának végét, mely kezében vala, és22 Látván pedig Gedeon, hogy az Úrnak angyala volt az, monda Gedeon: Jaj23 És monda néki az Úr: Békesség néked! ne félj, nem halsz meg!24 És építe ott Gedeon oltárt az Úrnak, és nevezé azt Jehova-Salomnak25 És lõn ugyanazon éjjel, hogy monda az Úr néki: Végy egy tulkot atyádnak26 És építs oltárt az Úrnak, a te Istenednek, ennek a megerõsített helynek27 Ekkor Gedeon tíz férfiút võn [maga mellé] az õ szolgái közül, és a képen28 Mikor aztán felkeltek reggel a városnak férfiai, íme [már] össze volt29 És mondának egyik a másikának: Ki cselekedte ezt? És [mikor] utána30 Akkor mondának a városnak férfiai Joásnak: Add ki fiadat, meg kell31 Joás pedig monda mindazoknak, a kik körülötte állának: Baálért pereltek32 És azon a napon elnevezték õt Jerubbaálnak, mondván: Pereljen õ vele33 És mikor az egész Midián és Amálek és a Napkeletiek egybegyûlének, és34 Az Úrnak lelke megszállotta Gedeont, és megfúván a harsonákat, egybehívá35 És követeket külde egész Manasséba, és egybegyûle az is õ utána; és36 És monda Gedeon az Istennek: Ha [csakugyan] az én kezem által akarod37 Íme egy fürt gyapjat teszek a szérûre, [és] ha csak maga a gyapjú lesz38 És úgy lõn. Mert mikor másnap reggel felkelt, és megszorítá a gyapjat,39 És monda Gedeon az Istennek: Ne gerjedjen fel a te haragod én ellenem,40 És úgy cselekedék Isten azon az éjszakán, és lõn szárazság csak magán a
1The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. (1Móz 25,2; 4Móz 25,17; Bír 2,19; Hab 3,7)2And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. (1Sám 13,6; Zsid 11,38)3For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. (1Móz 29,1; Bír 3,13; Bír 6,33; Bír 7,12; Bír 8,10; 1Kir 4,30; Jób 1,3)4They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. (3Móz 26,16; 5Móz 28,30; 5Móz 28,51; Mik 6,15)5For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. (Bír 7,12)6And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord. (Bír 3,9)7When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites,8the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. (1Sám 10,18)9And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. (Zsolt 44,2)10And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” (Józs 24,15; 2Kir 17,35)
The Call of Gideon
11Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. (Józs 17,2; Bír 8,2; Zsid 11,32)12And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” (Józs 1,5; Bír 13,3; Lk 1,11; ApCsel 10,3)13And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” (Zsolt 44,1; Zsolt 89,49; Ézs 63,15)14And the Lord[1] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” (Józs 1,9; 1Sám 12,11)15And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” (2Móz 3,11; 1Sám 9,21; 1Sám 18,18)16And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” (2Móz 3,12; Józs 1,5)17And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. (2Móz 4,1; 2Móz 33,13; Bír 6,36; 2Kir 20,8; Ézs 7,11)18Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.” (1Móz 18,3; Bír 13,15)19So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah[2] of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. (1Móz 18,6)20And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. (Bír 13,19; 1Kir 18,33)21Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. (3Móz 9,24; 1Kir 18,38; 2Krón 7,1)22Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” (1Móz 32,30; 2Móz 33,20; 5Móz 5,26; Bír 13,21)23But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” (Dán 10,19)24Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites. (1Móz 22,14; 2Móz 17,15; Bír 6,11; Bír 8,27; Bír 8,32; Ez 48,35)25That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it (Bír 3,7)26and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” (Dán 11,7; Dán 11,10; Dán 11,31)27So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.
Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal
28When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.29And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.”30Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.”31But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.”32Therefore on that day Gideon[3] was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar. (Bír 7,1; 1Sám 12,11; 2Sám 11,21)33Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. (Józs 17,16; Bír 6,3)34But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. (Bír 3,10; Bír 3,27)35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. (Bír 7,24)
The Sign of the Fleece
36Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, (2Móz 4,1)37behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.”38And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.39Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” (1Móz 18,32)40And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.