Study Desk

Then said Yahweh unto Gideon - Yet, are the people too many, take them down unto the waters, that I may prove them for thee, there, - and it shall be, that, he of whom I say unto thee, This one, shall go with thee, the same, shall go with thee, and, every one of whom I say unto thee, This one, shall not go with thee, the same, shall not go.

And it came to pass, on that night, that Yahweh said unto him, Arise! go down against the camp, - for I have delivered it into thy hand.

Now, the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east, were lying along in the vale, like locusts for multitude, - their camels also, were without number, as the sand that is by the sea side, for multitude.

And it was so, when Gideon heard the story of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he bowed himself down, - and returned unto the camp of Israel, and said - Arise! for Yahweh hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.

When I shall blow with the horn, I and all who are with me, then shall, ye also, round about all the camp, blow with your horns, and shall say, For Yahweh and for Gideon!

Yea the three companies blew with the horns, and shivered the pitchers, and caught hold - with their left hands - of the torches, while, in their right hands, were the horns, to blow with, - and they cried, A sword for Yahweh, and for Gideon!

So he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people that are following me; for, faint, they are, and, I, am in pursuit of Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.

and caught a young man, of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him, - so he wrote down for him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, seventy-seven men.

So he said to Jether his firstborn, Up! slay them. But the youth drew not his sword, for he feared, because he was yet a youth.

Then said Zebah and Zalmunna - Up! thou, and fall upon us, for, like the man, is his might. So Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

Then said the men of Israel, unto Gideon, Rule over us - even thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, - for thou hast saved us out of the power of Midian.

And Gideon said unto them - I would make to you a request, Give me, then, every man the nose-ring of his spoil. For they had, nose-rings of gold, for, Ishmaelites, they were.

And, Gideon, had seventy sons, sprung from his own loins, - for, many wives, had he.

Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the owners of Shechem - Which is better for you, that there should rule over you, seventy men, all sons of Jerubbaal, or that there should rule over you, one man? And remember that, your bone and your flesh, am I.

So the brethren of his mother spake for him, in the ears of all the owners of Shechem, all these words, - and their heart inclined after Abimelech, for they said - Our own brother, is he.

And he entered the house of his father, at Ophrah, and slew his brethren, sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, upon one stone, - but there remained Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, for he had hidden himself.

in that my father fought for you, and cast his soul away from before him, and rescued you out of the hand of Midian; -

So the owners of Shechem set for him liers in wait, upon the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who crossed over them by the road, - and it was told Abimelech.

And the wife of Gilead bare him sons, - and, when the wife's sons grew up, they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him - Thou shalt not inherit with the house of our father, for, son of an alien woman, art thou.

And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah - Therefore, have we, now, returned unto thee, that, if thou go with us, and do battle with the sons of Ammon, then shalt thou become our head, for all the inhabitants of Gilead.