Biblia the Byble, that is, the holy Scrypture of the Olde and New Testament, faithfully translated in to Englyshe.

The VI. Chapter.

[ A] ANd whan the children of Israel dyd euell in the sighte of the LORDE, the LORDE delyuered them vnder the han¦de of the Madianites vij. yeares. And whā the hande of the Madianites was to migh¦tie ouer the children of Israel, the children of Israel made them clyffes in y^e mountaynes, and caues and holdes, to defende them sel∣ues from y^e Madianites. And whan Israel sowed eny thinge, y^e Madianites and Ama¦lechites, and the children towarde the south came vp vpon them, and pitched their tētes agaynst them, and destroyed the increase of the londe downe vnto Gasa, & let nothinge remayne ouer of the beestes in Israel, nether shepe, ner oxen, ner asses. For they came vp with their catell and tentes, as it had bene a greate multitude of greshoppers (so that ne¦ther they ner their camels mighte be nom∣bred) and fell in to the londe, that they migh¦te destroye it. Thus was Israel exceadinge small before the Madianites. Then cried the children of Israel vnto the LORDE.

[ B] But whan they cried vnto the LORDE be cause of y^e Madianites, y^e LORDE sent thē a prophet, which sayde vnto thē: Thus saieth the LORDE the God of Israel: I caried you out of Egipte, & broughte you out of y^e hou¦se of bondage, & delyuered you from the han¦de of the Egipcians, & from the hāde of all them that oppressed you, and I haue thrust them out before you, & geuen you their lōde and sayde vnto you: I am the LORDE youre God. Feare not ye the goddes of the Amo¦rites, in whose londe ye dwell: neuertheles ye haue not herkened vnto my voyce.

And there came an angell of the LORDE, & sat him downe vnder an Oke at Aphra, which belonged vnto Ioas the father of y^e Esrites, and his sonne Gedeon was thros∣shinge wheate in the barne, that he mighte flye awaye before the Madianites.

[ C] Then appeared vnto him the angell of y^e LORDE, and sayde vnto him: The LORDE with y^e thou mightie giaunte. But Gedeon sayde vnto him: Syr, yf the LORDE be w^t vs, wherfore is all this then happened vnto vs? And where are all the wonders, which oure fathers tolde vs, & sayde: The LORDE brought vs out of Egipte? But now hath the LORDE forsaken vs, and delyuered vs in to the hande of the Madianites.

The LORDE turned him vnto him, & say¦de: Go thy waye in this thy strength, thou shalt delyuer Israel out of the hande of y^e Madianites. I haue sent the. But he sayde: My LORDE, wherwithall shal I delyuer Is¦rael? Beholde, my kynred is the smallest in Manasse, & I am the leest in my fathers hou¦se? The LORDE sayde vnto him: I will be w^t the, so y^t thou shalt smyte the Madianites, euen as though they were but one man.

He sayde vnto him: Yf I haue foūde gra¦ce [ D] in thy sighte, then make me a token, that it is thou, which speakest with me: go not awaye, tyll I come to y^e, and brynge a meat-offerynge, to set before the. He sayde: I wyll tary, tyll thou cōmest agayne. And Gedeon wēte, and made ready a kydd, and an Epha of vnleuended floure, and layed the flesh in a maunde, and put the broth in a pot, and broughte it forth vnto him vnder the Oke, and came nye. But the angell of God sayde vnto him: Take the flesh and the vnleuen∣ded bred, & set it vpon the stonye rocke that is here, and poure the broth theron. And he dyd so. Then the angell of the LORDE stret¦ched out the staffe that he had in his hande, and with the ende of it he touched the flesh and the vnleuended floure: and the fyre ca∣me out of the rocke, and consumed the flesh and the vnleuended floure. And the angell of the LORDE vanyshed out of his sighte.

Now whā Gedeon sawe that it was an [ E] angell of y^e LORDE, he sayde: O LORDE LOR¦DE, haue I thus sene an angell of y^e LORDE face to face? The LORDE sayde vnto him: Peace be with the, feare not, thou shalt not dye. Thē Gedeon buylded an altare there vn¦to y^e LORDE, & called it: The LORDE of pea∣ce. The same stondeth yet vnto this daye at Apra, y^t belōgeth vnto the father of y^e Esri¦tes.

And in y^e same night sayde y^e LOR∣DE vnto him: Take a fedd bullocke frō amō¦ge thy fathers oxen, & another bullocke of se¦uen yeare olde, and breake downe the altare of Baall which is thy fathers, and cut dow¦ne the groue that stondeth by it, and buylde thou an altare vnto the LORDE y^e God abo¦ue vpon the toppe of this rocke, and make it ready, and take the other bullocke, and of∣fre a burnt offerynge with the wodd of the groue that thou hast hewen downe. Then toke Gedeon ten men of his seruauntes, and dyd as y^e LORDE sayde vnto him: but he was afrayed to do this by daye tyme, for his fa∣thers house and the people in y^e cite, and so he dyd it by nighte.

Now whan the people in the cite rose vp [ F] early in the mornynge, beholde, Baals alta∣re

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was broken, and the groue hewen downe by it, and the other bullocke a burnt offeryn∣ge vpon the altare that was buylded, & one sayde vnto another: Who hath done this? And whan they soughte & made searche, it was sayde: Gedeon the sonne of Ioas hath done it. Thē sayde the people of y^e cite vnto Ioas: Brynge forth y^e sonne, He must dye, because he hath broken Baals altare, and hewen downe the groue therby. But Ioas sayde vnto all them that stode by him: Wyl ye stryue for Baal? Wil ye delyuer him? He y^t stryueth for him, shal dye this mornynge. Yf he be God, let him auēge him selfe, becau¦se his altare is broken downe. From y^t daye forth was he called Ierubaal, because it was sayde: Let Baal auenge him selfe, that his altare is broken downe.

[ G] Whan y^e Madianites now & y^e Amalechi¦tes, & the childrē towarde the south had ga∣thered thēselues together, & were passed tho¦row (Iordane) & had pitched their tentes in the valley of Iesrael, the sprete of the LOR∣DE endued Gedeon, & he caused the trompet to be blowne, & called (the house of) Abieser, that they shulde folowe him: & he sent mes∣saungers vnto all Manasse, & called them, y^t they shulde folowe him also: and he sent mes¦saungers likewyse vnto Asser & Zabulon & Nephtali, which came vp to mete him.

[illustration]

And Gedeon sayde vnto God: Yf thou wilt delyuer Israel thorow my hande, as thou hast saide, thē wil I laye a flese of woll in the courte: yf y^e dew be onely vpon y^e fle∣se, & drye vpon all the grounde, then wyll I perceaue, that thou shalt delyuer Israel tho¦row my hande, as thou hast sayde. And it ca¦me so to passe. And whan he rose vp early on the morow, he wrāge y^e dew out of the flese, and fylled a dyszshe full of water. And Ge∣deon sayde vnto God Be not wroth at me, that I speake yet this one tyme. I wyl pro∣ue yet but once with the flese, let it be drye onely vpon the flese, and dew vpon all the grounde. And God dyd so the same nighte: so that it was drye onely vpon the flese, and dew vpon all the grounde.