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

The VIII. Chapter.

ANd the men of Ephraim sayde vnto [ A] him: Wherfore hast thou done this vnto vs, that thou hast not called vs, whā thou wentest forth to fight agaynst y^e Madianites? and they chode sore with him. But he sayde vnto them: What haue I do∣ne now that is like youre acte? Is not the af¦ter gadderynge of Ephraim better then the whole haruest of Abieser?* 1.1 God hath delyue∣red y^e prynces of the Madianites Oreb and Zeb in to youre hande, how coulde I do that ye haue done? Whā he had sayde this, their blast was swaged from him.

Now whan Gedeon came vnto Iorda∣ne, he wente ouer with the thre hundreth mē that were with him, and they were weery, and folowed vpon their chace. And he sayde vnto the men of Sucoth: I praye you geue [ B] the people that are with me, some loaues of bred (for they are weery) that I maye folo∣we vpon Zebea and Salmana the kinges of the Madianites.

But the rulers of Sucoth sayde: Are the handes of Zebea and Salmana in thy handes allready, that we must geue bred vn¦to thy men of warre? Gedeon sayde: Well, whan the LORDE delyuereth Zebea and Sal¦mana in to my hāde, I wyll thres••she youre flesh with thornes of the wyldernesse and with breares. And from thence he wente vp vnto Penuel, and spake euen so vnto them. And the mē of Penuel gaue him like answe∣re as they of Sucoth. And he sayde also vn∣to the men of Penuel: Yf I come peaceably agayne, I wil breake downe this tower.

As for Zebea and Salmana, they were [ C] at Karkar, and their hoost with them vpon a fyftene thousande, which were all that we∣re lefte of the whole hoost of the children of the Easte: for there were fallen an hundreth and twentye thousande, that coulde drawe the swerde.

And Gedeon wente vp by the waye, whe¦re they dwell in the tentes on the east side of Nobah and Iakbeha, & smote the hoost, for the hoost was carelesse, and mystrusted no∣thinge. And Zebea and Salmana fled, but he folowed after them, and toke y^e two kyn∣ges

of the Madianites Zebea and Salma∣na, and put all the hoost in feare▪

Now whan Gedeon y^e sonne of Ioas ca¦me agayne frō the battayll out of y^e east, he toke a lad of the men of Sucoth, & examy∣ned him, which wrote him vp the names of the rulers of Sucoth, and their Elders, euē thre score and seuentene men.

[ D] And he came to the men of Sucoth, & say¦de: Beholde, here is Zebea & Salmana, cōcer¦nynge whō ye laughed me to scorne, & sayde: Are the handes of Zebea and Salmana in thy hādes all ready, that we must geue bred vnto thy men which are weery? And he to∣ke the Elders of the cite, and thornes out of the wildernes, and breres, and caused y^e men of Sucoth to be torne therwith. * 1.2 And the tower of Penuel brake he downe, and slewe the men of the cite.

And he saide vnto Zebea and Salmana: What maner of mē were they whō ye slewe at Thabor? They sayde: They were euen li∣ke the, & goodly men, as yf they had bene a kynges childrē. He sayde: They were my bre¦thren, euen my mother sonnes: As truly as the LORDE lyueth, yf ye had lettē them ly¦ue, I wolde not slaye you.

[ E] And he saide vnto his first borne sonne Ie¦ther: Stonde vp, & slaye them. Howbeit the lad drue not out his swerde, for he was afray¦ed, for so moch as he was yet but a lad. Zebea & Salmana sayde: Stonde thou vp, & slaye vs, for as the man is, soch is also his strēgth. So Gedeon arose, and slewe Zebea and Sal¦mana, and toke the ornamentes that were aboute their Camels neckes.

Then sayde certayne in Israel vnto Ge∣deon: Be thou lorde ouer vs, thou and thy sonne, and thy sonnes sonne, for so moch as thou hast delyuered vs from y^e hande of y^e Madianites. Neuertheles Gedeon saide vn¦to them: I wil not be lorde ouer you, nether shal my sonne be lorde ouer you, but the LOR¦DE shalbe lorde ouer you.

[ F] Gedeon sayde vnto them: One thinge I desyre of you, Euery man geue me the earin∣ge that he hath spoyled. (For in so moch as y^e men were Ismaelites, they had earinges.) They sayde: Them wyll we geue the. And they spred out a cloth, and euery man cast the earinge theron that he had spoyled. And the golden earynges which he requyred, had in weight, a thousande and seuen hundreth Sycles of golde, besyde the spanges and cheynes, and scarlet rayment which the kyn∣ges of the Madianites dyd weere, and be∣syde the neckbandes of their Camels. And Gideon made a cote armoure therof, and set it in his cite at Aphra. And all Israel wente there a whoringe after it, and it tur¦ned to an occasion of fallinge vnto Gedeon and his house.

Thus were y^e Madianites brought dow¦ne [ G] before the children of Israel, and lifte vp their heade nomore: and the londe was in rest fortye yeares, as lōge as Gedeon lyued.

And Ierubaal the sonne of Ioas wēte & dwelt in his house.* 1.3 And Gedeon Had thre sco¦re & ten sonnes, which were come out of his thye: for he had many wyues. And his concu¦byne which he had at Sichē, bare him a son¦ne also, whom he called Abimelech. And Gi¦deon the sonne of Ioas dyed in a good age, & was buried at Aphra in y^e sepulcre of his father Ioas the father of the Esrites.

But whan Gedeon was deed, the childrē of Israel turned backe, and wente awhorin¦ge after Baalim, and made a couenaunt w^t Baal Berith, y^t he shulde be their God. And y^e childrē of Israel thoughte not on y^e LOR¦DE their God, which had delyuered them frō the hande of their enemies rounde aboute: and they shewed not mercy vnto the house of Ierubaal Gedeon, acordinge to all the good that he had done vnto Israel.

Notes

• * 1.1

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• * 1.2

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• * 1.3

  4. Re. 10▪ ••