The Byble in Englyshe that is to saye, the content of all the holye scrypture, bothe of the olde and newe Testament, truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke textes, by the diligent studye of dyuers excellent lerned [men e]xperte in the fore[saide] tongues.

¶ Israell is oppressed of the Madianites: Gedeon is sent of God to be theyr delpue••••r.

CAPI VI.

ANd the chyldren of Israell cōmytted [unspec A] wyckednesse in the syght of the Lorde. And the Lorde delyuered them into the handes of Madiā seuen yeres. And the hand of Madian preuayled agaynst Israell, and bycause of the Madianites, the chyldren of Israell made them dennes in the mountay∣nes and caues and strong holdes. And when Israel had sowen, the Madianites, the Ama∣lechites, & they of the East countrey came vp togyther agaynst them, & pytched theyr ten∣tes agaynst▪ them, & destroyed the encrese of the earth, euen tyl thou come vnto Azah, and lefte no sustenaūce for Israel, neyther shepe, ore or Asse: for they went vp, they and theyr cattel & came with theyr tent{is} as a multitude of greshoppers: so that both they & also theyr camels were without nombre. And they en∣tred into the lande to destroy it. And so was [unspec B] Israel excedyngly impoueryshed in the sight of the Madianites, & cryed vnto the Lorde. And when the chyldren of Israel cryed vnto the lorde bycause of the Madiante▪ the lorde sent vnto them a prophet, whiche sayde vnto them: Thus sayth the lorde God of Israell: I fet you from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage, and I ryd you out of the hande of the Egyptians, & out of the hande of al that oppressed you, and cast them out before you, and gaue you theyr lande.

And I sayd vnto you: I am the lorde your god, feare not the goddes of the Amorites in whose lande you dwell. But you haue not obeyed my voyce. And the angell of the lorde came, and sat vnder an Oke / whiche was in Ephrah, that perteyned vnto Ioas the fa∣ther of the Ezerites. And his sonne Gedeon pressed out wheate of the eares in a presse, to hyde it from the Madianites.

And the angel of the Lorde appeared vn∣to [unspec C] hym, and sayde: the lorde is with the, thou myghtye man of warre. And Gedeon answe∣red hym: Oh my Lorde, yf the Lorde be with vs, why is al this come vpon vs: yea & where be all his myracles whiche our fathers tolde vs of, and sayd▪ Dyd not the lorde brynge vs out of Egypte? but nowe the Lorde hath for∣saken vs, and delyuered vs into the handes of the Madianites. And the lorde loked vpō hym, and sayde: Go hence in this thy myght, and thou shalte delyuer Israell out of the handes of the Madianites: Haue not I sent the? And he answered hym: Oh Lorde, wher∣with shall I saue Israell? Beholde, my kyn∣red is poore in Manasses, and I am lytell in my fathers house. The lorde sayd vnto hym. I wyll be with the: and thou shalte smyte the Madianites, as they were but one man. And he answered hym: Oh, yf I haue foūde grace in thy syght, then shewe me a sygne, that it is thou that talkest with me. Departe not hence vntyll I come agayne vnto the, and tyll I bryng myne offrynge, & haue set it before the.

And he sayd: I wyll cary vntyl thou come [unspec D] agayne. And Gedeon wente in, and made re∣dye a kydde, and swete cakes of an Epha•• of floure, and put it with the flesshe in a basket, and put the broth in a pot, and brought it out vnto hym vnder the Oke, and presented it.

And the angell of god sayd vnto hym: take the flesshe and the swete cakes, and lay them

vpon this rocke, and powre out the broth.

And he dyd so. Then the angel of the Lorde put forth the ende of the staffe / that he helde in his hande, and touched the flesshe and the swete cakes. And there arose fyre out of the rocke, and consumed the flesshe and the swete cakes. But the angel of the Lorde vanysshed out of his syght. And when Gedeon percey∣ued that it was an angel of the lorde, he sayd Alas, O Lorde God, haue I therfore sene an angel of the lorde face to face, that shulde dye? And the Lorde sayd vnto hym: peace be vnto the, feare not, thou shalte not dye.

Then Gedeon made an aulter there vnto [unspec E] the Lorde, and called it: The Lorde of peace. And vnto this day it is yet in Ephrath, that perteyneth vnto the father of the Ezerites. And it fortuned that the same nyght the lord sayd vnto hym: take a yonge bullocke out of thy fathers droue, and another of. vii. yeres olde, and destroy the aulter of Baal that thy father hath, and cut downe the groue that is by it, and make an aulter vnto the Lorde thy God vpon the top of this rocke in a conueni∣ent place. And take the seconde bullocke, and offre burntsacrifice vpō the wod of the groue whiche thou shalte cut downe. Then Gedeon toke ten men of his seruauntes, and dyd as the Lorde bad hym. But bycause he durst not do it by day for feare of his fathers houshold & of the men of the citye, he dyd it by nyght.

And when the men of the citye were vp [unspec F] earlye in the mornyng: Beholde, the aulter of Baal was broken, and the groue cut downe that was by it, and the seconde bullocke offe∣red vpō the aulter that was made. And they sayde one to another: Who hathe done this thynge: and when they enquyred and asked, they sayde: Gedeon the sonne of Ioas hathe done this thynge. Then the men of the citye sayd vnto Ioas: bryng out thy sonne, that he may dye, bycause he hath destroyed the aul∣ter of Baal, & cut downe the groue that was by it. And Ioas sayde vnto all that stode by hym: wyll ye entreate for Baal? or wyll ye be his defēders: ☞ he that hath medled against hym, let hym dye or the mornynge. If he be a God, let hym be auenged of hym, that caste downe his aulter. And from that daye was Gedeon called ☞ Ierobaal, bycause his fa∣ther had sayd: Let Baal be auenged of hym, that hath broken downe his aulter.

All the Madianites therfore, & the Ama∣lekites and they of the east, were gathered to∣gyther, [unspec G] and went, and pytched in the valey of Izreel: But the spirite of the lorde came vpō Gedeon. And he blewe a trompet, and cal∣led Abiezar to folowe hym, and sent messen¦gers thorout al Manasses, and called them, which also dyd folowe hym. And he sent mes∣sengers vnto Aser, Zabulon, and Nephtha∣lim, and they came to mete hym.

And Gedeon sayd vnto god: yf thou wylt saue Israel in my hande, as thou hast sayde:

Beholde, I wyll put a fleece of wolle in the thresshynge place. And yf the dewe come on the fleece only, and it be drye vpon all the earthe besyde, then shall I be sure, that thou wylte saue Israel by my hande, as thou say∣dest. And it came so to passe. For he rose vp early on the morow, and thrust the fleece to∣gyther, and wrong the dewe therout, & fylled a bowle of water. And Gedeon sayde agayne vnto God: be not angrye with me, that I speake once more. For I wyll proue once a∣gayne by the fleece. Let it be drye onely vpon the fleece, and dew vpon all the grounde.

And god dyd so that same nyght: For it was drye vpon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the grounde.

Notes

• Iosua. 4. ••
• ••. Re. ••7. ••. Iere. ••. ••.
• 3. Reg. 18. f
• Exodi. 33 d Iudi. xiii. d
• Nume. x. a.
• Iudi viii. ••
• Gene. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ••.