Gideon
1The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. So for seven years he handed them over to the people of Midian. 2The Midianites treated the Israelites very badly. That’s why they made hiding places for themselves. They hid in holes in the mountains. They also hid in caves and in other safe places. 3Each year the people planted their crops. When they did, the Midianites came into the country and attacked it. So did the Amalekites and other tribes from the east. 4They camped on the land. They destroyed the crops all the way to Gaza. They didn’t spare any living thing for Israel. They didn’t spare sheep or cattle or donkeys. 5The Midianites came up with their livestock and tents. They came like huge numbers of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels. They came into the land to destroy it. 6The Midianites made the Israelites very poor. So they cried out to the Lord for help.
7They cried out to the Lord because of what the Midianites had done. 8So he sent a prophet to Israel. The prophet said, “The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘I brought you up out of Egypt. That is the land where you were slaves. 9I saved you from the power of the Egyptians. I saved you from all those who were treating you badly. I drove out the Canaanites to make room for you. I gave you their land. 10I said to you, “I am the Lord your God. You are now living in the land of the Amorites. Do not worship their gods.” But you have not listened to me.’ ”
11The angel of the Lord came. He sat down under an oak tree in Ophrah. The tree belonged to Joash. He was from the family line of Abiezer. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress at Ophrah. He was the son of Joash. Gideon was threshing in a winepress to hide the wheat from the Midianites. 12The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon. He said, “Mighty warrior, the Lord is with you.”
13“Pardon me, sir,” Gideon replied, “you say the Lord is with us. Then why has all this happened to us? Where are all the wonderful things he has done? Our people of long ago told us about them. They said, ‘Didn’t the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has deserted us. He has handed us over to Midian.”
14The Lord turned to Gideon. He said to him, “You are strong. Go and save Israel from the power of Midian. I am sending you.”
15“Pardon me, sir,” Gideon replied, “but how can I possibly save Israel? My family group is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh. And I’m the least important member of my family.”
16The Lord answered, “I will be with you. So you will strike down the Midianites. You will leave no one alive.”
17Gideon replied, “If you are pleased with me, give me a special sign. Then I’ll know that it’s really you talking to me. 18Please don’t go away until I come back. I’ll bring my offering and set it down in front of you.”
The Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”
19Gideon went inside and prepared a young goat. From 36 pounds of flour he made bread without using yeast. He put the meat in a basket. In a pot he put soup made from the meat. Then he brought all of it and offered it to the Lord under the oak tree.
20The angel of God said to Gideon, “Take the meat and the bread. Place them on this rock. Then pour out the soup.” So Gideon did it. 21The angel of the Lord had a walking stick in his hand. With the tip of the stick he touched the meat and the bread. Fire blazed out of the rock. It burned up the meat and the bread. Then the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22Gideon realized it was the angel of the Lord. He cried out, “Oh no, my Lord and King, I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
23But the Lord said to him, “May peace be with you! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
24So Gideon built an altar there to honor the Lord. He called it The Lord Is Peace. It still stands in Ophrah to this day. Ophrah is in the territory that belongs to the family line of Abiezer.
25That same night the Lord spoke to Gideon. He said, “Get the second bull from your father’s herd. Get the one that is seven years old. Tear down the altar your father built to honor the god named Baal. Cut down the pole beside it. The pole is used to worship the female god named Asherah. 26Then build the right kind of altar. Build it to honor the Lord your God. Build it on top of this hill. Then use the wood from the Asherah pole you cut down. Sacrifice the second bull as a burnt offering.”
27So Gideon went and got ten of his servants. He did just as the Lord had told him. But he was afraid of his family. He was also afraid of the people in the town. So he did everything at night instead of during the day.
28In the morning the people in the town got up. They saw that Baal’s altar had been torn down. The Asherah pole beside it had been cut down. And the second bull had been sacrificed on the new altar that had been built.
29They asked each other, “Who did this?”
They looked into the matter carefully. Someone told them, “Gideon, the son of Joash, did it.”
30The people in the town spoke to Joash. They ordered him, “Bring your son out here. He must die. He has torn down Baal’s altar. He has cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
31But Joash replied to the angry crowd around him. He asked, “Are you going to stand up for Baal? Are you trying to save him? Those who stand up for him will be put to death by morning! Is Baal really a god? If he is, he can stand up for himself when someone tears down his altar.” 32That’s why they gave Gideon the name Jerub-Baal on that day. Gideon had torn down Baal’s altar. So they said, “Let Baal take his stand against him.”
33All the Midianites and Amalekites gathered their armies together. Other tribes from the east joined them. All of them went across the Jordan River. They camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon. So Gideon blew a trumpet to send for the men of Abiezer. He told them to follow him. 35He sent messengers all through Manasseh’s territory. He called for the men of Manasseh to fight. He also sent messengers to the men of Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali. So all those men went up to join the others.
36Gideon said to God, “You promised you would use me to save Israel. 37Please do something for me. I’ll put a piece of wool on the threshing floor. Suppose dew is only on the wool tomorrow morning. And suppose the ground all around it is dry. Then I will know that you will use me to save Israel. I’ll know that your promise will come true.” 38And that’s what happened. Gideon got up early the next day. He squeezed the dew out of the wool. The water filled a bowl.
39Then Gideon said to God, “Don’t be angry with me. Let me ask you for just one more thing. Let me use the wool for one more test. But this time make the wool dry. And let the ground be covered with dew.” 40So that night God did it. Only the wool was dry. The ground all around it was covered with dew.
ጌዴዎን
1እንደ ገና እስራኤላውያን በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ክፉ ድርጊት ፈጸሙ፤ እግዚአብሔርም ለምድያማውያን አሳልፎ ሰጣቸው፤ እነርሱም ሰባት ዓመት ገዟቸው። 2እስራኤላውያን የምድያማውያን ኀይል ስለ በረታባቸው በየዋሻውና በየምሽጉ፣ በየተራራው ጥግ መሸሸጊያ ስፍራ አበጁ። 3እስራኤላውያን ዘር በሚዘሩበት ጊዜ ሁሉ ምድያማውያን፣ አማሌቃውያንና ሌሎች የምሥራቅ ሕዝቦች መጥተው አገሩን ይወሩ ነበር። 4እነርሱም በምድሪቱ ላይ ሰፍረው እስከ ጋዛ ያለውን ሰብል በማጥፋት አንዳችም የእህል ዘር አያስተርፉም፣ የበግም ሆነ የከብት ወይም የአህያ መንጋ አይተዉም ነበር። 5ከብቶቻቸውንና ድንኳኖቻቸውን ይዘው ሲመጡ ልክ የአንበጣ መንጋ ይመስሉ ነበር፤ ሰዎቹንም ሆነ ግመሎቻቸውን ለመቍጠር አዳጋች ሲሆን፣ የሚመጡትም ምድሪቱን ለማጥፋት ነበር። 6ምድያማውያን እስራኤላውያንን ችግር ላይ ስለ ጣሏቸው፣ ይረዳቸው ዘንድ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ጮኹ።
7ከምድያማውያን ጥቃት የተነሣ እስራኤላውያን ወደ እግዚአብሔር ጮኹ፤ 8እግዚአብሔር አንድ ነቢይ ላከላቸው፤ እርሱም እንዲህ አለ፤ “የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ከባርነት ቤት ከግብፅ ምድር ያወጣኋችሁ እኔ ነኝ። 9ከግብፃውያን እጅ ታደግኋችሁ፤ ከሚያስጨንቋችሁ ሁሉ አዳንኋችሁ፤ እነርሱንም ከፊታችሁ አሳድጄ አስወጣኋቸው፤ ምድራቸውንም ሰጠኋችሁ። 10እናንተንም፣ ‘እኔ እግዚአብሔር አምላካችሁ ነኝ፤ በምድራቸው ላይ የምትኖሩባቸው የአሞራውያንን አማልክት አታምልኩ’ አልኋችሁ፤ እናንተ ግን አላዳመጣችሁኝም።”
11የእግዚአብሔር መልአክ ዖፍራ ወደምትባል መንደር መጥቶ፣ በአቢዔዝራዊው በኢዮአስ ዕርሻ ውስጥ በሚገኝ በአንድ የባሉጥ ዛፍ ሥር ተቀመጠ፤ የኢዮአስም ልጅ ጌዴዎን፣ ምድያማውያን እንዳያዩበት ደብቆ በወይን መጭመቂያው ስፍራ ስንዴውን ይወቃ ነበር። 12የእግዚአብሔር መልአክ ተገልጦ፣ “አንተ ኀያል ጦረኛ እነሆ፤ እግዚአብሔር ከአንተ ጋር ነው” አለው።
13ጌዴዎን መልሶ፣ “ጌታዬ ሆይ፤ እግዚአብሔር ከእኛ ጋር ከሆነ ይህ ሁሉ እንዴት ሊደርስብን ቻለ? ‘እግዚአብሔር ከግብፅ ምድር አውጥቶናል’ በማለት አባቶቻችን የነገሩን ታምራት የት አለ? አሁን ግን እግዚአብሔር ትቶናል፤ በምድያማውያንም እጅ አሳልፎ ሰጥቶናል” አለው።
14በዚህ ጊዜ እግዚአብሔር ወደ እርሱ ዘወር ብሎ፣ “ሂድ፤ ባለህ ኀይል እስራኤላውያንን ከምድያማውያን እጅ ነጻ እንድታወጣ የምልክህ እኔ አይደለሁምን?” አለው።
15ጌዴዎንም፣ “ጌታ ሆይ፤ የእኔ ጐሣ ከምናሴ ነገድ እጅግ ደካማ ነው፤ ከቤተ ሰቤም እኔ የመጨረሻ ነኝ፤ ታዲያ እንዴት እኔ እስራኤልን ላድን እችላለሁ?” አለ።
16እግዚአብሔርም፣ “በርግጥ እኔ ከአንተ ጋር እሆናለሁ፤ ምድያማውያንንም እንደ አንድ ሰው አድርገህ ትመታቸዋለህ” አለው።
17ጌዴዎን እንዲህ ብሎ መለሰ፤ “አሁን በፊትህ ሞገስ አግኝቼ ከሆነ በርግጥ የምታነጋግረኝ አንተ ራስህ ለመሆንህ ምልክት ስጠኝ፤ 18ተመልሼ እስክመጣ፣ መሥዋዕቴንም አምጥቼ በፊትህ እስካቀርብ ድረስ እባክህ አትሂድ።”
እግዚአብሔርም፣ “እስክትመለስ እጠብቅሃለሁ” አለው።
19ጌዴዎን ወደ ቤቱ ሄደ፤ የፍየል ጠቦትም ዐረደ፤ አንድ ኢፍ መስፈሪያ6፥19 22 ሊትር ያህል ነው። ዱቄት ወስዶ እርሾ ያልገባበት ቂጣ ጋገረ። ሥጋውን በቅርጫት፣ መረቁን በምንቸት ይዞ በመምጣት በባሉጥ ሥር ለተቀመጠው አቀረበለት።
20የእግዚአብሔር መልአክ፣ “ሥጋውንና ዕርሾ ያልገባበትን ቂጣ ወስደህ፣ በዚያ ዐለት ላይ አኑር፤ መረቁንም በሥጋውና በቂጣው ላይ አፍስስ” አለው፤ ጌዴዎንም እንደ ታዘዘው አደረገ። 21መልአኩም በያዘው በትር ጫፍ ሥጋውንና ቂጣውን ነካ፤ ከዐለቱም እሳት ወጥቶ ሥጋውንና ቂጣውን በላ፤ ከዚያም የእግዚአብሔር መልአክ ተሰወረ። 22ጌዴዎን ያየው የእግዚአብሔር መልአክ መሆኑን ባወቀ ጊዜ፣ “ልዑል እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ የእግዚአብሔርን መልአክ ፊት ለፊት አይቻለሁና ወዮልኝ” አለ።
23እግዚአብሔርም፣ “ሰላም ለአንተ ይሁን፤ አትፍራ፤ አትሞትም” አለው።
24ጌዴዎንም በዚያ ለእግዚአብሔር መሠዊያ ሠራ፤ ስሙንም “እግዚአብሔር ሰላም ነው” ብሎ ጠራው፤ ይህ መሠዊያ የአቢዔዝራውያን ይዞታ በሆነው በዖፍራ ዛሬም ቆሞ ይታያል።
25በዚያች ሌሊት እግዚአብሔር ጌዴዎንን እንዲህ አለው፤ “ከአባትህ መንጋ ሰባት ዓመት የሆነውን6፥25 ወይም፣ ከአባትህ መንጋ በደንብ ያደገውን ኮርማ ውሰድ ሁለተኛውን ወይፈን ውሰድ፤ አባትህ ለበኣል የሠራውን መሠዊያ አፍርስ፤ በአጠገቡ የአሼራን ዐምድ6፥25 በዚህም ሆነ በመጽሐፉ ክፍሎች ሁሉ የአሼራን ምስል ጣዖት የሚያመለክት ነው። ሰባብረህ ጣል። 26በዚህ ፍርስራሽ ጕብታ ላይ ለአምላክህ ለእግዚአብሔር የሚገባውን መሠዊያ6፥26 ወይም፣ የድንጋይ ካብ ሥራ። ሰባብረህ በጣልኸው የአሼራ ምስል ዐምድ ሁለተኛውን6፥26 ወይም፣ የደረሰ ወይፈን ወስደህ የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕት አድርገህ አቅርበው።”
27ጌዴዎን ከአገልጋዮቹ ዐሥር ሰዎች ወስዶ እግዚአብሔር እንዳዘዘው አደረገ፤ ቤተ ሰቡንና የከተማውን ሰው ስለ ፈራ ይህን ያደረገው ቀን ሳይሆን ሌሊት ነበር።
28ሌሊቱ ነግቶ የከተማው ሕዝብ ከመኝታው ሲነሣ፣ የበኣል መሠዊያ ፈርሶ በአጠገቡ የቆመው የአሼራ ምስል ተሰባብሮ፣ አዲስ በተሠራው መሠዊያ ላይ ሁለተኛው ወይፈን ተሠውቶ ነበር።
29እነርሱም፣ “ይህን ያደረገ ማን ነው?” በማለት እርስ በርሳቸው ተጠያየቁ።
ነገሩን በጥብቅ ሲከታተሉም፣ “የኢዮአስ ልጅ ጌዴዎን መሆኑን ደረሱበት።”
30የከተማዪቱም ሰዎች ኢዮአስን፣ “የበኣልን መሠዊያ ያፈረሰና በአጠገቡ የቆመውን የአሼራን ምስል ዐምድ የሰበረው ልጅህ በመሆኑ መሞት ስላለበት አውጣልን አሉት።”
31በዚህ ጊዜ ኢዮአስ በቍጣ ለገነፈለውና በዙሪያው ለነበረው ሕዝብ እንዲህ አለ፤ “ለበኣል ትሟገቱለታላችሁን? ልታድኑትስ ትሞክራላችሁን? ለእርሱ የሚሟገትለት ቢኖር እስከ ጧት ይሙት! እንግዲህ በኣል በርግጥ አምላክ ከሆነ መሠዊያውን ሲያፈርሱበት ራሱን ሊከላከል ይችላል።” 32ስለዚህም፣ “መሠዊያውን አፍርሶበታልና ራሱ በኣል ይሟገተው” ሲሉ በዚያ ዕለት ጌዴዎንን፣ “ይሩበኣል”6፥32 ይሩበኣል ማለት በኣል ይጋፈጠው ማለት ነው። ብለው ጠሩት።
33በዚህ ጊዜ ምድያማውያን ሁሉ፣ አማሌቃውያንና ሌሎች የምሥራቅ ሕዝቦች ኀይላቸውን አስተባብረው የዮርዳኖስን ወንዝ በመሻገር በኢይዝራኤል ሸለቆ ሰፈሩ። 34ከዚያም የእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ በጌዴዎን ላይ ወረደ፤ እርሱም መለከት ነፋ፤ አቢዔዝራውያን እንዲከተሉት ጠራቸው። 35እንዲሁም በመላው የምናሴ ምድር መልእክተኞቹን ልኮ እንዲከተሉት ጥሪ አደረገ፤ ደግሞም የአሴር፣ የዛብሎንና የንፍታሌም ሰዎች ወጥተው እንዲገጥሟቸው መልእክተኛ ላከባቸው።
36ጌዴዎን እግዚአብሔርን እንዲህ አለው፤ “በተናገርኸው መሠረት እስራኤላውያንን በእጄ የምታድናቸው ከሆነ፣ 37እነሆ፤ የበግ ጠጕር ባዘቶ በዐውድማው ላይ አኖራለሁ። ምድሩ በሙሉ ደረቅ ሆኖ ባዘቶው ላይ ብቻ ጤዛ ቢኖር፣ እንዳልኸው እስራኤላውያንን በእኔ እጅ እንደምታድናቸው ዐውቃለሁ።” 38እንደዚሁ ሆነ፤ ጌዴዎን በማግስቱም ጧት ማልዶ ተነሣ፤ ባዘቶውንም ሲጨምቅ የወጣው ውሃ አንድ ቈሬ ሞላ።
39ከዚያም ጌዴዎን እግዚአብሔርን እንዲህ አለው፤ “እባክህ አትቈጣኝ፤ አንዲት ጥያቄ እንደ ገና ልጠይቅ። በጠጕሩ ባዘቶ ላይ ሌላ ሙከራ እንዳደርግ ፍቀድልኝ፤ በዚህ ጊዜ ምድሩ ሁሉ በጤዛ ተሸፍኖ ባዘቶው ደረቅ ይሁን።” 40በዚያች ሌሊት እግዚአብሔር እንደ ተጠየቀው አደረገ፤ ምድሩ በሙሉ በጤዛ ሲሸፈን፣ ባዘቶው ብቻ ደረቅ ሆነ።
