Judges 1-6

Judges 1

¹And it cometh to pass, after the death of Joshua, that the sons of Israel ask at Jehovah, saying, ‘Who doth go up for us unto the Canaanite, at the commencement, to fight against it?'

²And Jehovah saith, ‘Judah doth go up; lo, I have given the land into his hand.'

³And Judah saith to Simeon his brother, ‘Go up with me into my lot, and we fight against the Canaanite -- and I have gone, even I, with thee into thy lot;' and Simeon goeth with him.

⁴And Judah goeth up, and Jehovah giveth the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand, and they smite them in Bezek -- ten thousand men;

⁵and they find Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fight against him, and smite the Canaanite and the Perizzite.

⁶And Adoni-Bezek fleeth, and they pursue after him, and seize him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes,

⁷and Adoni-Bezek saith, ‘Seventy kings -- their thumbs and their great toes cut off -- have been gathering under my table; as I have done so hath God repaid to me;' and they bring him in to Jerusalem, and he dieth there.

⁸And the sons of Judah fight against Jerusalem, and capture it, and smite it by the mouth of the sword, and the city they have sent into fire;

⁹and afterwards have the sons of Judah gone down to fight against the Canaanite, inhabiting the hill-country, and the south, and the low country;

¹⁰and Judah goeth unto the Canaanite who is dwelling in Hebron (and the name of Hebron formerly is Kirjath-Arba), and they smite Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.

¹¹And he goeth thence unto the inhabitants of Debir (and the name of Debir formerly is Kirjath-Sepher),

¹²and Caleb saith, ‘He who smiteth Kirjath-Sepher -- and hath captured it -- then I have given to him Achsah my daughter for a wife.'

¹³And Othniel son of Kenaz, younger brother of Caleb, doth capture it, and he giveth to him Achsah his daughter for a wife.

¹⁴And it cometh to pass in her coming in, that she persuadeth him to ask from her father the field, and she lighteth from off the ass, and Caleb saith to her, ‘What -- to thee?'

¹⁵And she saith to him, ‘Give to me a blessing; when the south land thou hast given me -- then thou hast given to me springs of water; and Caleb giveth to her the upper springs and the lower springs.

¹⁶And the sons of the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, have gone up out of the city of palms with the sons of Judah to the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad, and they go and dwell with the people.

¹⁷And Judah goeth with Simeon his brother, and they smite the Canaanite inhabiting Zephath, and devote it; and one calleth the name of the city Hormah.

¹⁸And Judah captureth Gaza and its border, and Askelon and its border, and Ekron and its border;

¹⁹and Jehovah is with Judah, and he occupieth the hill-country, but not to dispossess the inhabitants of the valley, for they have chariots of iron.

²⁰And they give to Caleb Hebron, as Moses hath spoken, and he dispossesseth thence the three sons of Anak.

²¹And the Jebusite, inhabiting Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin have not dispossessed; and the Jebusite dwelleth with the sons of Benjamin, in Jerusalem, till this day.

²²And the house of Joseph go up -- even they -- to Beth-El, and Jehovah is with them;

²³and the house of Joseph cause men to spy about Beth-El (and the name of the city formerly is Luz),

²⁴and the watchers see a man coming out from the city, and say to him, ‘Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance of the city, and we have done with thee kindness.'

²⁵And he sheweth them the entrance of the city, and they smite the city by the mouth of the sword, and the man and all his family they have sent away;

²⁶and the man goeth to the land of the Hittites, and buildeth a city, and calleth its name Luz -- it is its name unto this day.

²⁷And Manasseh hath not occupied Beth-Shean and its towns, and Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Iblaim and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, and the Canaanite is desirous to dwell in that land;

²⁸and it cometh to pass, when Israel hath been strong, that he setteth the Canaanite to tribute, and hath not utterly dispossessed it.

²⁹And Ephraim hath not dispossessed the Canaanite who is dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanite dwelleth in its midst, in Gezer.

³⁰Zebulun hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Kitron, and the inhabitants of Nahalol, and the Canaanite dwelleth in its midst, and they become tributary.

³¹Asher hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Accho, and the inhabitants of Zidon, and Ahlab, and Achzib, and Helbah, and Aphik, and Rehob;

³²and the Asherite dwelleth in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land, for it hath not dispossessed them.

³³Naphtali hath not dispossessed the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh, and the inhabitants of Beth-Anath, and he dwelleth in the midst of the Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and of Beth-Anath have become tributary to them.

³⁴And the Amorites press the sons of Dan to the mountain, for they have not suffered them to go down to the valley;

³⁵and the Amorite is desirous to dwell in mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, and the hand of the house of Joseph is heavy, and they become tributary;

³⁶and the border of the Amorite is from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock and upward.

Judges 2

¹And a messenger of Jehovah goeth up from Gilgal unto Bochim,

²and saith, ‘I cause you to come up out of Egypt, and bring you in unto the land which I have sworn to your fathers, and say, I do not break My covenant with you to the age; and ye -- ye make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land -- their altars ye break down; and ye have not hearkened to My voice -- what is this ye have done?

³And I also have said, I do not cast them out from your presence, and they have been to you for adversaries, and their gods are to you for a snare.'

⁴And it cometh to pass, when the messenger of Jehovah speaketh these words unto all the sons of Israel, that the people lift up their voice and weep,

⁵and they call the name of that place Bochim, and sacrifice there to Jehovah.

⁶And Joshua sendeth the people away, and the sons of Israel go, each to his inheritance, to possess the land;

⁷and the people serve Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who prolonged days after Joshua, who saw all the great work of Jehovah which He did to Israel.

⁸And Joshua son of Nun, servant of Jehovah, dieth, a son of a hundred and ten years,

⁹and they bury him in the border of his inheritance, in Timnath-Heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of mount Gaash;

¹⁰and also all that generation have been gathered unto their fathers, and another generation riseth after them who have not known Jehovah, and even the work which He hath done to Israel.

¹¹And the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and serve the Baalim,

¹²and forsake Jehovah, God of their fathers, who bringeth them out from the land of Egypt, and go after other gods (of the gods of the peoples who are round about them), and bow themselves to them, and provoke Jehovah,

¹³yea, they forsake Jehovah, and do service to Baal and to Ashtaroth.

¹⁴And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He giveth them into the hand of spoilers, and they spoil them, and He selleth them into the hand of their enemies round about, and they have not been able any more to stand before their enemies;

¹⁵in every place where they have gone out, the hand of Jehovah hath been against them for evil, as Jehovah hath spoken, and as Jehovah hath sworn to them, and they are distressed -- greatly.

¹⁶And Jehovah raiseth up judges, and they save them from the hand of their spoilers;

¹⁷and also unto their judges they have not hearkened, but have gone a-whoring after other gods, and bow themselves to them; they have turned aside with haste out of the way in which their fathers walked to obey the commands of Jehovah -- they have not done so.

¹⁸And when Jehovah raised up to them judges -- then was Jehovah with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it repenteth Jehovah, because of their groaning from the presence of their oppressors, and of those thrusting them away.

¹⁹And it hath come to pass, at the death of the judge -- they turn back and have done corruptly above their fathers, to go after other gods, to serve them, and to bow themselves to them; they have not fallen from their doings, and from their stiff way.

²⁰And the anger of Jehovah doth burn against Israel, and He saith, ‘Because that this nation have transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened to My voice --

²¹I also continue not to dispossess any from before them of the nations which Joshua hath left when he dieth,

²²in order to try Israel by them, whether they are keeping the way of Jehovah, to go in it, as their fathers kept it or not.'

²³And Jehovah leaveth these nations, so as not to dispossess them hastily, and did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Judges 3

¹And these are the nations which Jehovah left, to try Israel by them, all who have not known all the wars of Canaan;

²(only for the sake of the generations of the sons of Israel's knowing, to teach them war, only those who formerly have not known them) --

³five princes of the Philistines, and all the Canaanite, and the Zidonian, and the Hivite inhabiting mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-Hermon unto the entering in of Hamath;

⁴and they are to prove Israel by them, to know whether they obey the commands of Jehovah that He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

⁵And the sons of Israel have dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,

⁶and take their daughters to them for wives, and their daughters have given to their sons, and they serve their gods;

⁷and the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and forget Jehovah their God, and serve the Baalim and the shrines.

⁸And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He selleth them into the hand of Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram-Naharaim, and the sons of Israel serve Chushan-Rishathaim eight years;

⁹and the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, and Jehovah raiseth a saviour to the sons of Israel, and he saveth them -- Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother;

¹⁰and the Spirit of Jehovah is upon him, and he judgeth Israel, and goeth out to battle, and Jehovah giveth unto his hand Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram, and strong is his hand against Chushan-Rishathaim;

¹¹and the land resteth forty years. And Othniel son of Kenaz dieth,

¹²and the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah; and Jehovah strengtheneth Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because that they have done the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah;

¹³and he gathereth unto him the Bene-Ammon and Amalek, and goeth and smiteth Israel, and they possess the city of palms;

¹⁴and the sons of Israel serve Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵And the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, and Jehovah raiseth to them a saviour, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjamite (a man -- shut of his right hand), and the sons of Israel send by his hand a present to Eglon king of Moab;

¹⁶and Ehud maketh for himself a sword, and it hath two mouths (a cubit is its length), and he girdeth it under his long robe on his right thigh;

¹⁷and he bringeth near the present to Eglon king of Moab, and Eglon is a very fat man.

¹⁸And it cometh to pass, when he hath finished to bring near the present, that he sendeth away the people bearing the present,

¹⁹and he himself hath turned back from the graven images which are at Gilgal, and saith, ‘A secret word I have unto thee, O king;' and he saith, ‘Hush!' and go out from him do all those standing by him.

²⁰And Ehud hath come unto him, and he is sitting in the upper chamber of the wall which he hath for himself, and Ehud saith, ‘A word of God I have unto thee;' and he riseth from off the throne;

²¹and Ehud putteth forth his left hand, and taketh the sword from off his right thigh, and striketh it into his belly;

²²and the haft also goeth in after the blade, and the fat shutteth on the blade, that he hath not drawn the sword out of his belly, and it goeth out at the fundament.

²³And Ehud goeth out at the porch, and shutteth the doors of the upper chamber upon him, and hath bolted it;

²⁴and he hath gone out, and his servants have come in, and look, and lo, the doors of the upper chamber are bolted, and they say, ‘He is only covering his feet in the inner chamber of the wall.'

²⁵And they stay till confounded, and lo, he is not opening the doors of the upper chamber, and they take the key, and open, and lo, their lord is fallen to the earth -- dead.

²⁶And Ehud escaped during their tarrying, and hath passed by the images, and is escaped to Seirath.

²⁷And it cometh to pass, in his coming in, that he bloweth with a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim, and go down with him do the sons of Israel from the hill-country, and he before them;

²⁸and he saith unto them, ‘Pursue after me, for Jehovah hath given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand;' and they go down after him, and capture the passages of the Jordan towards Moab, and have not permitted a man to pass over.

²⁹And they smite Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all robust, and every one a man of valour, and not a man hath escaped,

³⁰and Moab is humbled in that day under the hand of Israel; and the land resteth eighty years.

³¹And after him hath been Shamgar son of Anath, and he smiteth the Philistines -- six hundred men -- with an ox-goad, and he saveth -- he also -- Israel.

Judges 4

¹And the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah when Ehud is dead,

²and Jehovah selleth them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who hath reigned in Hazor, and the head of his host is Sisera, and he is dwelling in Harosheth of the Goyim;

³and the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, for he hath nine hundred chariots of iron, and he hath oppressed the sons of Israel mightily twenty years.

⁴And Deborah, a woman inspired, wife of Lapidoth, she is judging Israel at that time,

⁵and she is dwelling under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-El, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel go up unto her for judgment.

⁶And she sendeth and calleth for Barak son of Abinoam, out of Kedesh-Naphtali, and saith unto him, ‘Hath not Jehovah, God of Israel, commanded? go, and thou hast drawn towards mount Tabor, and hast taken with thee ten thousand men, out of the sons of Naphtali, and out of the sons of Zebulun,

⁷and I have drawn unto thee, unto the brook Kishon, Sisera, head of the host of Jabin, and his chariot, and his multitude, and have given him into thy hand.'

⁸And Barak saith unto her, ‘If thou dost go with me, then I have gone; and if thou dost not go with me, I do not go;'

⁹and she saith, ‘I do certainly go with thee; only, surely thy glory is not on the way which thou art going, for into the hand of a woman doth Jehovah sell Sisera;' and Deborah riseth and goeth with Barak to Kedesh.

¹⁰And Barak calleth Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and he goeth up -- at his feet are ten thousand men -- and Deborah goeth up with him.

¹¹And Heber the Kenite hath been separated from the Kenite, from the sons of Hobab father-in-law of Moses, and he stretcheth out his tent unto the oak in Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.

¹²And they declare to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam hath gone up to mount Tabor,

¹³and Sisera calleth all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who are with him, from Harosheth of the Goyim, unto the brook Kishon.

¹⁴And Deborah saith unto Barak, ‘Rise, for this is the day in which Jehovah hath given Sisera into thy hand; hath not Jehovah gone out before thee?' And Barak goeth down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.

¹⁵And Jehovah destroyeth Sisera, and all the chariots, and all the camp, by the mouth of the sword, before Barak, and Sisera cometh down from off the chariot, and fleeth on his feet.

¹⁶And Barak hath pursued after the chariots and after the camp, unto Harosheth of the Goyim, and all the camp of Sisera falleth by the mouth of the sword -- there hath not been left even one.

¹⁷And Sisera hath fled on his feet unto the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite, for peace is between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite;

¹⁸and Jael goeth out to meet Sisera, and saith unto him, ‘Turn aside, my lord, turn aside unto me, fear not;' and he turneth aside unto her, into the tent, and she covereth him with a coverlet.

¹⁹And he saith unto her, ‘Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water, for I am thirsty;' and she openeth the bottle of milk, and giveth him to drink, and covereth him.

²⁰And he saith unto her, ‘Stand at the opening of the tent, and it hath been, if any doth come in, and hath asked thee, and said, Is there a man here? that thou hast said, There is not.'

²¹And Jael wife of Heber taketh the pin of the tent, and taketh the hammer in her hand, and goeth unto him gently, and striketh the pin into his temples, and it fasteneth in the earth -- and he hath been fast asleep, and is weary -- and he dieth.

²²And lo, Barak is pursuing Sisera, and Jael cometh out to meet him, and saith to him, ‘Come, and I shew thee the man whom thou art seeking;' and he cometh in unto her, and lo, Sisera is fallen -- dead, and the pin in his temples.

²³And God humbleth on that day Jabin king of Canaan before the sons of Israel,

²⁴and the hand of the sons of Israel goeth, going on and becoming hard on Jabin king of Canaan, till that they have cut off Jabin king of Canaan.

Judges 5

¹And Deborah singeth -- also Barak son of Abinoam -- on that day, saying: --

²‘For freeing freemen in Israel, For a people willingly offering themselves Bless ye Jehovah.

³Hear, ye kings; give ear, ye princes, I, to Jehovah, I -- I do sing, I sing praise to Jehovah, God of Israel.

⁴Jehovah, in Thy going forth out of Seir, In Thy stepping out of the field of Edom, Earth trembled, also the heavens dropped, Also thick clouds dropped water.

⁵Hills flowed from the face of Jehovah, This one -- Sinai -- From the face of Jehovah, God of Israel.

⁶In the days of Shamgar son of Anath -- In the days of Jael -- The ways have ceased, And those going in the paths go in crooked ways.

⁷Villages ceased in Israel -- they ceased, Till that I arose -- Deborah, That I arose, a mother in Israel.

⁸He chooseth new gods, Then war is at the gates! A shield is not seen -- and a spear Among forty thousand in Israel.

⁹My heart is to the lawgivers of Israel, Who are offering themselves willingly among the people, Bless ye Jehovah!

¹⁰Riders on white asses -- Sitters on a long robe -- And walkers by the way -- meditate!

¹¹By the voice of shouters Between the places of drawing water, There they give out righteous acts of Jehovah, Righteous acts of His villages in Israel, Then ruled in the gates have the people of Jehovah.

¹²Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song; Rise, Barak, and take captive thy captivity, Son of Abinoam.

¹³Then him who is left of the honourable ones He caused to rule the people of Jehovah, He caused me to rule among the mighty.

¹⁴Out of Ephraim their root is against Amalek. After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples. Out of Machir came down lawgivers, And out of Zebulun those drawing with the reed of a writer.

¹⁵And princes in Issachar are with Deborah, Yea, Issachar is right with Barak, Into the valley he was sent on his feet. In the divisions of Reuben, Great are the decrees of heart!

¹⁶Why hast thou abode between the boundaries, To hear lowings of herds? For the divisions of Reuben, Great are the searchings of heart!

¹⁷Gilead beyond the Jordan did tabernacle, And Dan -- why doth he sojourn in ships? Asher hath abode at the haven of the seas, And by his creeks doth tabernacle.

¹⁸Zebulun is a people who exposed its soul to death, Naphtali also -- on high places of the field.

¹⁹Kings came -- they fought; Then fought kings of Canaan, In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; Gain of money they took not!

²⁰From the heavens they fought: The stars from their highways fought with Sisera.

²¹The brook Kishon swept them away, The brook most ancient -- the brook Kishon. Thou dost tread down strength, O my soul!

²²Then broken were the horse-heels, By pransings -- pransings of its mighty ones.

²³Curse Meroz -- said a messenger of Jehovah, Cursing, curse ye its inhabitants, For they came not to the help of Jehovah, To the help of Jehovah among the mighty!

²⁴Blessed above women is Jael, Wife of Heber the Kenite, Above women in the tent she is blessed.

²⁵Water he asked -- milk she gave; In a lordly dish she brought near butter.

²⁶Her hand to the pin she sendeth forth, And her right hand to the labourers' hammer, And she hammered Sisera -- she smote his head, Yea, she smote, and it passed through his temple.

²⁷Between her feet he bowed -- He fell, he lay down; Between her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell -- destroyed.

²⁸Through the window she hath looked out -- Yea, she crieth out -- the mother of Sisera, Through the lattice: Wherefore is his chariot delaying to come? Wherefore tarried have the steps of his chariot?

²⁹The wise ones, her princesses, answer her, Yea, she returneth her sayings to herself:

³⁰Do they not find? -- they apportion spoil, A female -- two females -- for every head, Spoil of finger-work for Sisera, Spoil of embroidered finger-work, Finger-work -- a pair of embroidered things, For the necks of the spoil!

³¹So do all Thine enemies perish, O Jehovah, And those loving Him are As the going out of the sun in its might!' and the land resteth forty years.

Judges 6

¹And the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth them into the hand of Midian seven years,

²and the hand of Midian is strong against Israel, from the presence of Midian have the sons of Israel made for themselves the flowings which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.

³And it hath been, if Israel hath sowed, that Midian hath come up, and Amalek, and the sons of the east, yea, they have come up against him,

⁴and encamp against them, and destroy the increase of the land till thine entering Gaza; and they leave no sustenance in Israel, either sheep, or ox, or ass;

⁵for they and their cattle come up, with their tents; they come in as the fulness of the locust for multitude, and of them and of their cattle there is no number, and they come into the land to destroy it.

⁶And Israel is very weak from the presence of Midian, and the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah.

⁷And it cometh to pass when the sons of Israel have cried unto Jehovah, concerning Midian,

⁸that Jehovah sendeth a man, a prophet, unto the sons of Israel, and he saith to them, ‘Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I -- I have brought you up out of Egypt, and I bring you out from a house of servants,

⁹and I deliver you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all your oppressors, and I cast them out from your presence, and I give to you their land,

¹⁰and I say to you, I am Jehovah your God, ye do not fear the gods of the Amorite in whose land ye are dwelling: -- and ye have not hearkened to My voice.'

¹¹And the messenger of Jehovah cometh and sitteth under the oak which is in Ophrah, which is to Joash the Abi-Ezrite, and Gideon his son is beating out wheat in the wine-press, to remove it from the presence of the Midianites;

¹²and the messenger of Jehovah appeareth unto him, and saith unto him, ‘Jehovah is with thee, O mighty one of valour.'

¹³And Gideon saith unto him, ‘O, my lord -- and Jehovah is with us! -- and why hath all this found us? and where are all His wonders which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Hath not Jehovah brought us up out of Egypt? and now Jehovah hath left us, and doth give us into the hand of Midian.'

¹⁴And Jehovah turneth unto him and saith, ‘Go in this -- thy power; and thou hast saved Israel out of the hand of Midian -- have not I sent thee.'

¹⁵And he saith unto him, ‘O, my lord, wherewith do I save Israel? lo, my chief is weak in Manasseh, and I the least in the house of my father.'

¹⁶And Jehovah saith unto him, ‘Because I am with thee -- thou hast smitten the Midianites as one man.'

¹⁷And he saith unto Him, ‘If, I pray Thee, I have found grace in Thine eyes, then Thou hast done for me a sign that Thou art speaking with me.

¹⁸Move not, I pray Thee, from this, till my coming in unto Thee, and I have brought out my present, and put it before Thee;' and he saith, ‘I -- I do abide till thy return.'

¹⁹And Gideon hath gone in, and prepareth a kid of the goats, and of an ephah of flour unleavened things; the flesh he hath put in a basket, and the broth he hath put in a pot, and he bringeth out unto Him, unto the place of the oak, and bringeth it nigh.

²⁰And the messenger of God saith unto him, ‘Take the flesh and the unleavened things, and place on this rock -- and the broth pour out;' and he doth so.

²¹And the messenger of Jehovah putteth forth the end of the staff which is in His hand, and cometh against the flesh, and against the unleavened things, and the fire goeth up out of the rock and consumeth the flesh and the unleavened things -- and the messenger of Jehovah hath gone from his eyes.

²²And Gideon seeth that He is a messenger of Jehovah, and Gideon saith, ‘Alas, Lord Jehovah! because that I have seen a messenger of Jehovah face to face!'

²³And Jehovah saith to him, ‘Peace to thee; fear not; thou dost not die.'

²⁴And Gideon buildeth there an altar to Jehovah, and calleth it Jehovah-Shalom, unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrites.

²⁵And it cometh to pass, on that night, that Jehovah saith to him, ‘Take the young ox which is to thy father, and the second bullock of seven years, and thou hast thrown down the altar of Baal which is to thy father, and the shrine which is by it thou dost cut down,

²⁶and thou hast built an altar to Jehovah thy God on the top of this stronghold, by the arrangement, and hast taken the second bullock, and caused to ascend a burnt-offering with the wood of the shrine which thou cuttest down.'

²⁷And Gideon taketh ten men of his servants, and doth as Jehovah hath spoken unto him, and it cometh to pass, because he hath been afraid of the house of his father, and the men of the city, to do it by day, that he doth it by night.

²⁸And the men of the city rise early in the morning, and lo, broken down hath been the altar of Baal, and the shrine which is by it hath been cut down, and the second bullock hath been offered on the altar which is built.

²⁹And they say one to another, ‘Who hath done this thing?' and they inquire and seek, and they say, ‘Gideon son of Joash hath done this thing.'

³⁰And the men of the city say unto Joash, ‘Bring out thy son, and he dieth, because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the shrine which is by it.'

³¹And Joash saith to all who have stood against him, ‘Ye, do ye plead for Baal? ye -- do ye save him? he who pleadeth for him is put to death during the morning; if he is a god he himself doth plead against him, because he hath broken down his altar.'

³²And he calleth him, on that day, Jerubbaal, saying, ‘The Baal doth plead against him, because he hath broken down his altar.'

³³And all Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east have been gathered together, and pass over, and encamp in the valley of Jezreel,

³⁴and the Spirit of Jehovah hath clothed Gideon, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and Abi-Ezer is called after him;

³⁵and messengers he hath sent into all Manasseh, and it also is called after him; and messengers he hath sent into Asher, and into Zebulun, and into Naphtali, and they come up to meet them.

³⁶And Gideon saith unto God, ‘If Thou art Saviour of Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken,

³⁷lo, I am placing the fleece of wool in the threshing-floor: if dew is on the fleece alone, and on all the earth drought -- then I have known that Thou dost save Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken;'

³⁸and it is so, and he riseth early on the morrow, and presseth the fleece, and wringeth dew out of the fleece -- the fulness of the bowl, of water.

³⁹And Gideon saith unto God, ‘Let not Thine anger burn against me, and I speak only this time; let me try, I pray Thee, only this time with the fleece -- let there be, I pray Thee, drought on the fleece alone, and on all the earth let there be dew.'

⁴⁰And God doth so on that night, and there is drought on the fleece alone, and on all the earth there hath been dew.