Gideon ta shikula Ovamidian
1 Opo nee ovakwaita vaEfraim ve mu lombwela: “We tu ningila shike ngaha, ove eshi ino tu shiva, ove eshi wa ka lwifa Ovamidian?” Ndele ve mu twifa eemhata unene. 2 Ndelenee ye ta ti kuvo: “Nda ninga ngeno shike shi fike pwaashi nye mwa ninga? Epupudululo laEfraim ndishi li dule ekolo leeviinyu daAbieser? 3 Kalunga a yandja eehamba daMidian, Oreb naSeeb momake eni, ndelenee ame nda ninga shike ngeno shi yelekwe naashi mwe shi ninga?” Ye eshi a popya eendjovo ei, vo ova handukuluka.
4 Ndele Gideon e uya kuJordan, novalumenhu omafele atatu ava va li puye, va tauluka va loloka molwokutaataa. 5 Ndele ye okwa lombwela ovalumenhu vomuSukkot: “Ovakwaita ava hava shikula nge, va peni omingome, osheshi vo ova loloka, naame ondi noupyakadi mokushikula Seba naSalmunna, eehamba dOvamidian.” 6 Ndelenee ovakulunhu vomuSukkot tava pula: “Eke laSeba nolaSalmunna oli li nokuli meke loye, fye tu pe omatanga oye omingome?” 7 Opo nee Gideon ta ti: “Onghee hano, Omwene ngeenge ta yandje meke lange Seba naSalmunna, ame ohandi ka xwa nokunyanyaula ombelela yeni nomano omofuka neeshosholo.” 8 Ndele oko okwa dja ko ta i kuPenuel, ndele okwa popya navo ngaha. Ndelenee ovalumenhu vomuPenuel ve mu nyamukula ngaashi ovalumenhu vomuSukkot ve mu nyamukula. 9 Opo nee ta lombwele ovanhu ava vomuPenuel ndele ta ti: “Ame ngeenge handi aluka nombili, ohandi ka ngumauna po ohoteshungo ei.”
10 Ndelenee Seba naSalmunna va li muKarkor, nomatanga avo, e fike pomayovi omulongo nomayovi atano a li puvo, vo aveshe ava va xupa po komatanga aeshe ovanhu vokoushilo. Ndelenee ava va dipawa po, va li ve fike pomayovi efele nomayovi omilongo mbali, ava va li ve nomaongamukonda. 11 Ndele Gideon okwa enda nondjila yovakali meefaila, langhele lwokoushilo waNobah naJogbeha, ndele okwa taataa omatanga ovakwaita fimbo omatanga a tulumukwa ehe noshisho. 12 Ndele Seba naSalmunna va ya onhapo, ndelenee vo ve va shikula, ndele va kwata eehamba edi mbali dOvamidian, Seba naSalmunna, eshi va halakanifa onhanda aishe.
13 Ndele Gideon yaJoas eshi a aluka a dja kolwoodi ta piti monghondo yaHeres, 14 okwa kwata omumati umwe womovanhu vomuSukkot nokwe mu pula noku mu pululula, ndele ye okwe mu shangela mo omadina omalenga novakulunhu vomuSukkot, ovalumenhu omilongo heyali navaheyali. 15 Ndele ye eshi e uya kovanhu vomuSukkot, ye ta ti: “Seba naSalmunna ovava, omolwavo mwa sheka nge nokutya: Eke laSeba nolaSalmunna oli li tuu nokuli meke loye, opo tu pe omatanga oye ovakwaita va loloka omingome?” 16 Opo nee ye okwa kwata ovakulunhu voshilando. Nokwa kufa omano omofuka neeshosholo. Ndele okwa longa ovalumenhu vomuSukkot nayo oshileshwa. 17 Nohoteshungo yomuPenuel okwe i ngumauna po nokwa dipaa ovalumenhu vomoshilando. 18 Ndele okwa pula kuSeba nokuSalmunna: “Ovalumenhu venya mwe va dipaa puTabor ovakwashike?” Ndele vo va nyamukula: “Ngaashi ove, osho va li: olupe lakeshe la fa olupe lovana vohamba.” 19 Opo nee ye ta ti: “Vo va li ovamwameme, ovana vameme! Oshili ngaashi Omwene e nomwenyo, ngeno mwe va efele va kale nomwenyo, ngeno itandi mu dipaa!” 20 Ndele ye ta ti kuJeter, oshiveli shaye: “Fikama, va dipaa!” Ndelenee omumati ina pweya mo eongamukonda, shaashi ye okwa tila. Osheshi ye okwa li natango okaana. 21 Opo nee Seba naSalmunna tava ti: “Fikama ove mwene u tu twe, osheshi ngaashi omulumenhu e li nosho yo eenghono daye di li.” Opo nee Gideon okwa fikama nokwa dipaa Seba naSalmunna. Ndele okwa kufa po omaulenga omeefingo deengamelo davo.
Gideon ta tungifa oshikutu shokomapepe
22 Opo nee ovalumenhu Ovaisraeli va lombwela Gideon ndele tava ti: “Tu pangela ove mwene, nomona woye omumati nomutekulu woye, osheshi ove we tu xupifa momake Ovamidian.” 23 Ndelenee Gideon e va nyamukula ta ti: “Ame inandi hala oku mu pangela, nomona wange yo ite ke mu pangela. Omwene ote ke mu pangela.” 24 Ndele Gideon okwe va lombwela ta ti: “Onda hala oku mu indila sha. Pei nge, keshe umwe, oulinga mwe va pewa oixuulwa!” Osheshi venya va li ve na oulinga voshingoldo, shaashi vo va li Ovaismaeli. 25 Opo vo va tya: “Ohatu va yandje nehafo.” Ndele vo ova yala oshikutu shokombada poshi, ndele keshe umwe a ekela po okalinga komoixuulwa yaye. 26 Ndele ondjele youlinga voshingoldo ovo e va indila ya li i fike peekilograma omilongo mbali ponho yomaulenga nomaliwapeko omomatwi noikutu yapurpuri, ei ya li ya djalwa keehamba dOvamidian, noponho yomalyenge a li meefingo deengamelo dado. 27 Ndele Gideon okwa ninga nayo oshikutu shokomapepe, ndele e shi dika moshilando shaye Ofra. NOvaisraeli aveshe ove shi shikula mokuhaela. Ndele eshi sha ninga omwiyo kuGideon neumbo laye. 28 Osho ngaha hano Ovamidian va li ve nokulininipika moipafi yovana vaIsrael, ndele venya inava tanganeneka omitwe davo vali. Noshilongo sha kala sha tulumukwa mefimbo laGideon omido omilongo nhee.
Oludalo laGideon nefyo laye
29 Ndele Jerubbaal yaJoas okwa ya keumbo nokwa kala ko. 30 Ndele Gideon okwa li e novana ovalumenhu omilongo heyali ava ye e va dala, osheshi ye okwa li e novalikadi vahapu. 31 Ndele oshikumbu shaye, ou a kala muSekem, e mu dalela yo okaana okamati, ndele e ka luka Abimelek. 32 Ndele Gideon yaJoas okwa fya a kulupa ndele a pakwa mombila yaxe Joas muOfra shOvaabieser. 33 Ndelenee Gideon eshi a fya, ovana vaIsrael va shikula vali ooBaal mokuhaela. Ndele ve liningila Baal-Berit kalunga kavo. 34 Novana vaIsrael inava dimbulukwa Omwene Kalunga kavo, ou e va xupifa mo momake ovatondadi vavo keembinga adishe. 35 Ndele vo inava alulila eumbo laJerubbaal (Gideon), omolwouwa aushe ou okwa li a ningila Israel.
The Final Defeat of the Midianites
1 Then the people of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why didn't you call us when you went to fight the Midianites? Why did you treat us like this?” They complained bitterly about it.
2 But he told them, “What I was able to do is nothing compared with what you have done. Even the little that you people of Ephraim did is worth more than what my whole clan has done. 3 After all, through the power of God you killed the two Midianite chiefs, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I done to compare with that?” When he said this, they were no longer so angry.
4 By this time Gideon and his three hundred men had come to the Jordan River and had crossed it. They were exhausted, but were still pursuing the enemy. 5 When they arrived at Sukkoth, he said to the men of the town, “Please give my men some loaves of bread. They are exhausted, and I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings.”
6 But the leaders of Sukkoth said, “Why should we give your army any food? You haven't captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet.”
7 So Gideon said, “All right! When the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will beat you with thorns and briers from the desert!” 8 Gideon went on to Penuel and made the same request of the people there, but the men of Penuel gave the same answer as the men of Sukkoth. 9 So he said to them, “I am going to come back safe and sound, and when I do, I will tear this tower down!”
10 Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor with their army. Of the whole army of desert tribesmen, only about 15,000 were left; 120,000 soldiers had been killed. 11 Gideon went on the road along the edge of the desert, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army by surprise. 12 The two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, ran away, but he pursued them and captured them, and caused their whole army to panic.
13 When Gideon was returning from the battle by way of Heres Pass, 14 he captured a young man from Sukkoth and questioned him. The young man wrote down for Gideon the names of the seventy-seven leading men of Sukkoth. 15 Then Gideon went to the men of Sukkoth and said, “Remember when you refused to help me? You said that you couldn't give any food to my exhausted army because I hadn't captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet. Well, here they are!” 16 He then took thorns and briers from the desert and used them to punish the leaders of Sukkoth. 17 He also tore down the tower at Penuel and killed the men of that city.
18 Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What about the men you killed at Tabor?”
They answered, “They looked like you—every one of them like the son of a king.”
19 Gideon said, “They were my brothers, my own mother's sons. I solemnly swear that if you had not killed them, I would not kill you.” 20 Then he said to Jether, his oldest son, “Go ahead, kill them!” But the boy did not draw his sword. He hesitated, because he was still only a boy.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Come on, kill us yourself. It takes a man to do a man's job.” So Gideon killed them and took the ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
22 After that, the Israelites said to Gideon, “Be our ruler—you and your descendants after you. You have saved us from the Midianites.”
23 Gideon answered, “I will not be your ruler, nor will my son. The Lord will be your ruler.” 24 But he went on to say, “Let me ask one thing of you. Every one of you give me the earrings you took.” (The Midianites, like other desert people, wore gold earrings.)
25 The people answered, “We'll be glad to give them to you.” They spread out a cloth, and everyone put on it the earrings that he had taken. 26 The gold earrings that Gideon got weighed over forty pounds, and this did not include the ornaments, necklaces, and purple clothes that the kings of Midian wore, nor the collars that were around the necks of their camels. 27 Gideon made an idol from the gold and put it in his hometown, Ophrah. All the Israelites abandoned God and went there to worship the idol. It was a trap for Gideon and his family.
28 So Midian was defeated by the Israelites and was no longer a threat. The land was at peace for forty years, until Gideon died.
The Death of Gideon
29 Gideon went back to his own home and lived there. 30 He had seventy sons, because he had many wives. 31 He also had a concubine in Shechem; she bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, at Ophrah, the town of the clan of Abiezer.
33 After Gideon's death the people of Israel were unfaithful to God again and worshiped the Baals. They made Baal-of-the-Covenant their god, 34 and no longer served the Lord their God, who had saved them from all their enemies around them. 35 They were not grateful to the family of Gideon for all the good that he had done for Israel.
