士师记 8

¹以法莲人对基甸说：“你去与米甸人争战，没有招我们同去，为什么这样待我们呢？”他们就与基甸大大地争吵。Then the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you done this to us? Why did you fail to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him violently.

²基甸对他们说：“我所行的岂能比你们所行的呢？以法莲拾取剩下的葡萄不强过亚比以谢所摘的葡萄吗？But Gideon answered them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?

³神已将米甸人的两个首领俄立和西伊伯交在你们手中；我所行的岂能比你们所行的呢？”基甸说了这话，以法莲人的怒气就消了。God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian, into your hand. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he had said this, their anger against him subsided.

⁴基甸和跟随他的三百人到约旦河过渡，虽然疲乏，还是追赶。Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.

⁵基甸对疏割人说：“求你们拿饼来给跟随我的人吃，因为他们疲乏了；我们追赶米甸人的两个王西巴和撒慕拿。”So Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give my troops some bread, for they are exhausted, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶疏割人的首领回答说：“西巴和撒慕拿已经在你手里，你使我们将饼给你的军兵吗？”But the leaders of Succoth asked, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your army?”

⁷基甸说：“耶和华将西巴和撒慕拿交在我手之后，我就用野地的荆条和枳棘打伤你们。”“Very well,” Gideon replied, “when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness!”

⁸基甸从那里上到毗努伊勒，对那里的人也是这样说；毗努伊勒人也与疏割人回答他的话一样。From there he went up to Penuel and asked the same from them, but the men of Penuel gave the same response as the men of Succoth.

⁹他向毗努伊勒人说：“我平平安安回来的时候，我必拆毁这楼。”So Gideon told the men of Penuel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower!”

¹⁰那时西巴和撒慕拿，并跟随他们的军队都在加各，约有一万五千人，就是东方人全军所剩下的；已经被杀约有十二万拿刀的。Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already fallen.

¹¹基甸就由挪巴和约比哈东边，从住帐棚人的路上去，杀败了米甸人的军兵，因为他们坦然无惧。And Gideon went up by way of the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, taking them by surprise.

¹²西巴和撒慕拿逃跑；基甸追赶他们，捉住米甸的二王西巴和撒慕拿，惊散全军。When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, Gideon pursued and captured these two kings of Midian, routing their entire army.

¹³约阿施的儿子基甸由希列斯坡从阵上回来，After this, Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle along the Ascent of Heres.

¹⁴捉住疏割的一个少年人，问他：“疏割的首领长老是谁？”他就将首领长老七十七个人的名字写出来。There he captured a young man of Succoth and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.

¹⁵基甸到了疏割，对那里的人说：“你们从前讥诮我说：‘西巴和撒慕拿已经在你手里，你使我们将饼给跟随你的疲乏人吗？’现在西巴和撒慕拿在这里。”And Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”

¹⁶于是捉住那城内的长老，用野地的荆条和枳棘责打（原文是指教）疏割人；Then he took the elders of the city, and using the thorns and briers of the wilderness, he disciplined the men of Succoth.

¹⁷又拆了毗努伊勒的楼，杀了那城里的人。He also pulled down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸基甸问西巴和撒慕拿说：“你们在他泊山所杀的人是什么样式？”回答说：“他们好像你，各人都有王子的样式。”Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.”

¹⁹基甸说：“他们是我同母的弟兄，我指着永生的耶和华起誓，你们从前若存留他们的性命，我如今就不杀你们了。”“They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

²⁰于是对他的长子益帖说：“你起来杀他们。”但益帖因为是童子，害怕，不敢拔刀。So he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword; he was fearful because he was still a youth.

²¹西巴和撒慕拿说：“你自己起来杀我们吧！因为人如何，力量也是如何。”基甸就起来，杀了西巴和撒慕拿，夺获他们骆驼项上戴的月牙圈。Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments from the necks of their camels.

²²以色列人对基甸说：“你既救我们脱离米甸人的手，愿你和你的儿孙管理我们。”Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you and your son and grandson—for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

²³基甸说：“我不管理你们，我的儿子也不管理你们，惟有耶和华管理你们。”But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD shall rule over you.”

²⁴基甸又对他们说：“我有一件事求你们：请你们各人将所夺的耳环给我。”（原来仇敌是以实玛利人，都是戴金耳环的。）Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

²⁵他们说：“我们情愿给你”，就铺开一件外衣，各人将所夺的耳环丢在其上。“We will give them gladly,” they replied. So they spread out a garment, and each man threw an earring from his plunder onto it.

²⁶基甸所要出来的金耳环重一千七百舍客勒金子。此外还有米甸王所戴的月环、耳坠，和所穿的紫色衣服，并骆驼项上的金链子。The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.

²⁷基甸以此制造了一个以弗得，设立在本城俄弗拉。后来以色列人拜那以弗得行了邪淫；这就作了基甸和他全家的网罗。From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

²⁸这样，米甸人被以色列人制伏了，不敢再抬头。基甸还在的日子，国中太平四十年。In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon,

²⁹约阿施的儿子耶路·巴力回去，住在自己家里。and he—Jerubbaal son of Joash—returned home and settled down.

³⁰基甸有七十个亲生的儿子，因为他有许多的妻。Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.

³¹他的妾住在示剑，也给他生了一个儿子。基甸与他起名叫亚比米勒。His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

³²约阿施的儿子基甸，年纪老迈而死，葬在亚比以谢族的俄弗拉，在他父亲约阿施的坟墓里。Later, Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³基甸死后，以色列人又去随从诸巴力行邪淫，以巴力·比利土为他们的神。And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.

³⁴以色列人不记念耶和华—他们的　神，就是拯救他们脱离四围仇敌之手的，The Israelites failed to remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.

³⁵也不照着耶路·巴力，就是基甸向他们所施的恩惠厚待他的家。They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for Israel.