16

Why did they tarry among their sheepfolds?
Was it to hear the bleating of their flocks?

For the divisions of Reuben, there were great searchings of
heart.

Why abode Galaad beyond the Jordan where he dwelt?
And why doth Dan sojourn in ships?

Aser seated himself on the sea shore,

And chuseth to dwell in his extreme borders.

The people of Zabulon jeoparded their lives to death;
And Nephthaleim came to the high places of the field.
Kings had drawn themselves up in array.
Then fought the kings of Chanaan at Thanach-
At the waters of Mageddo;

They had not received the gift of silver.

The stars from heaven were drawn up in array--
From their orbits they fought against Sisara.
The torrent of Kison swept them away-
The ancient torrent-the torrent Kison.
My mighty soul shall trample them down.
When the feet of the horse were entangled,
With precipitate speed, they who were able, fled.
Curse Meroz, said the messenger of the Lord,
Curse ye it bitterly.

Cursed be every one who dwelleth therein,
Because they came not to the help of the Lord-
To the help of the Lord among the mighty.

Blessed among women be Jael the wife of Chaber the
Kinite:

Above women in tents may she be blessed.
He asked for water; she gave him milk;

From her churning vessel she brought him whey.
She stretched forth her left hand to the tent pin;
And her right hand to the workman's mallet.
And with the mallet she smote Sisara.
She drove the pin into his head and smote him;
She drove the pin quite through his temples.
At her feet he had thrown himself down-
He prostrated himself, and fell asleep at her feet.
Throwing himself down, he had prostrated himself.

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29

30

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VI.

As he lay there he fell and finished his course.

Through a window the mother of Sisara looked
earnestly;

Out of that of an archer she cried,
Why is his chariot so long a coming?
Why tarry the wheels of his chariot?
Her wise ladies answered her-
Nay she returned an answer to herself,
Shall they not find him dividing spoil?

Will he shew compassion to the head of a man?
Sisara shall have spoils of richest dyes→→

Spoils of richest dyes of needle work.

Rich dyes of embroidery are the spoils for his neck!
So perish all thine enemies, O Lord,

But let them who love thee be like

The going forth of the Sun in his might.
So the land had rest. Forty years.

Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Madiam seven years. And the hand of Madiam prevailed against Israel, so that because of Madiam, the Israelites made for themselves those dens which are in the mountains, and those caves 3 and strong holds in cliffs. And when the Israelites had sown, Madiam and Amelek came up, and the children of the east came up with them, and encamped against them, and destroy4 ed their fruits, all the way to Gaza. In all the land of Israel

they did not leave sustenance for life, nor among the herds 5 a bull or a jack ass. For they came up with cattle. And their tents were pitched like locusts for multitude: and they and their camels were innumerable. And they came into the land 6 of Israel, and wasted it; so that Israel was greatly impover7ished by the Madianites. And when the children of Israel 8 cried to the Lord because of Madiam, the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, and he said to them, Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel. It was I who brought you up from 9 the land of Egypt. I brought you out of a house of your bondage, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all those who are afflicting you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you this their land, and said

10 to you, I the Lord am your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But you have not hearkened to my voice.

11

Then there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under the fir tree, which is at Ephratha, in the land of father Joas, the Esdrite. Now Gideon, his son, was beating out corn in the wine 12 press, with an intent to flee from before Madiam. And the an

gel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, The Lord 13 is with thee-the Mighty Lord of Hosts. Whereupon Gideon said to him, With me, my lord! But if the Lord is with us, why have these evils befallen us? And where are all his wondrous works, of which our fathers have told us, saying, Hath not the Lord brought us up out of Egypt? But he hath now 14 cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Madiam. Then the angel of the Lord turned towards him and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel out of the hand of Ma15 diam. Behold I have sent thee. Upon which Gideon said to him, Me, my lord! How can I save Israel? Behold my thousand is weak in Manasses; and I am the least in my father's 16 house. And the angel of the Lord said to him, The Lord will be with thee, and thou shalt smite Madiam like one man. 17 Whereupon Gideon said to him, If I have found favour in thy sight, and thou wilt now do for me all that thou hast said to me, go not away, I beseech thee, from this place till I come to 18 thee, and bring out the sacrifice, and set it before thee. And 19 he said, I will assuredly tarry till thou return. Thereupon Gi

deon went, and prepared a kid of the goats, and unleavened cakes of an epha of barley meal; and having put the flesh in a basket, and the soup in a pot, he brought them out to him un20 der the fir tree, and set them before him. Then the angel of God said to him, Take the flesh, and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on that rock, and pour out the soup close by. 21 And when he had done so, the angel of the Lord stretched out the point of the staff in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and fire came up out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the Lord vanished out of his sight.

22

When Gideon saw that it was an angel of the Lord, he said, Alas! alas! O Lord, my lord! For have I seen the an

23 gel of the Lord face to face. And the Lord said to him, Peace 24 be to thee. Fear not. Thou shalt not die. Upon which Gide

on built there an altar to the Lord, and called it, Peace of the Lord. To this day it is still at Ephratha, which belonged to fa25 ther Esdri. And on that same night the Lord said to him, Take the young bull-the bull belonging to thy father, the second bull of seven years old, and having demolished the altar of Baal which is for thy father, and destroyed the arbour near it, thou 26 shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God, on the top of Maozi,

in the parade; and thou shalt take the second bull, and offer whole burnt offerings on the wood of the arbour which thou 27 hast demolished. So Gideon took ten men of his servants, and

did as the Lord had spoken to him. But as he was afraid of doing it by day, because of his father's house, and the men of 28 the city, he did it by night. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, and lo! the altar of Baal was pulled down, and the arbour near it destroyed, and they saw the second bull 29 which he had offered on the altar which he had built, they said

one to another, Who hath done this? And when they had made diligent inquiry, and found, and knew that Gideon son of Joas had done the deed, the men of the city said to Joas, 30 Bring out thy son, and let him be put to death, because he hath

pulled down the altar of Baal, and because he hath destroyed 31 the arbour which was beside it. Whereupon Gideon son of Joas said to all the men who had risen up against him, Do you now plead for Baal, and will you save him? Whoever shall plead for Baal, let him be put to death this morning. If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because somebody hath pulled down 32 his altar. So this gave him on that day the name of Jerobaal, as he said, Let Baal plead for himself, because this altar of his is pulled down.

33

Now all Madiam, and Amalek, and the children of the east, had assembled together and encamped in the valley of Jesrael. 34 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he sounded 35 a horn, and called out Abiezer after him. He also sent mes

sengers to all Manasses, and through Aser, and through Za36 bulon, and through Nephthaleim. And when they came up to 37 meet him, Gideon said to God, If thou wilt save Israel by my

hand, as thou hast spoken, behold I lay this fleece of wool on

the threshing floor; If there be dew on this fleece only, and all the ground be dry, then I shall know that thou wilt save Israel 38 by my hand as thou hast spoken. This was accordingly done. And when he arose early the next morning he pressed the fleece, and wringed out the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of 39 water. Then Gideon said to God, Let not, I beseech thee, thy anger be kindled against me: let me, I pray thee, make one trial more with the fleece; and let it be dry on the fleece only, 40 and on all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

VII. Then Jerobaal (the same is Gideon) arose early in the morning, and all the people with him, and they encamped by the well Arad. Now the camp of Madiam was to the north of 2 him, at the foot of Gabaathamorai, in the valley. And the Lord said to Gideon, The people with thee are too numerous for me to deliver Madiam into their hands. Perhaps they may boast 3 against me saying, My own hand hath saved me. Now there

fore speak in the hearing of the people, and say, If any man is fearful, or timorous, let him depart from mount Galaad. So there returned of the people twenty two thousand and ten 4 thousand were left. And the Lord said to Gideon, The people are still too numerous: bring them to the water, and I will purge them there for thee. And it shall be that of whomsoever I say, This man shall go with thee; he shall go with thee. And of whomsoever I say, This man shall not go with thee—he shall 5 not go with thee. So he took the people to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, Whosoever shall lap of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him thou shalt set apart; likewise every one who shall bow down on his knees to drink. 6 And it came to pass that the number of them who lapped, by putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to 7 drink water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, By these three

hundred men who have lapped I will save you, and deliver Madiam into thy hands. Let all those people therefore go, every 8 man to his home. So they took the people's provisions at their hands, and their trumpets; and having dismissed all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, he retained the three hundred.