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.

¶ Gedeon with iii. hundred men ouercōmeth the Madianites. Oreb and zeb are sleyne.

CAPI. VII.

THen * 1.1 Ierobaal (otherwyse called Ge∣deon) [unspec A] and all the people that were with him, arose vp early and pytched besyde the well of Harad, so that the hooste of the Madianites were on the North syde of the rocke that boweth towarde the valey. And the Lorde sayd vnto Gedeon: the people that are with the, are to many for me to gyue the Madianites into theyr handes, leest Israell make theyr vaunte agaynst me, & saye: myne owne hande hath saued me. Nowe therfore make a proclamacyon in the eares of the peo¦ple, & say: * 1.2 Yf any man drede or be afrayde let hym returne & get him soone from mount Gilead. And there departed & returned of the people. xxii. thousande, & there abode ten. M. And the lorde sayd vnto Gedeon: the people [unspec B] are yet to many, bryng them downe vnto the water, and I wyll trye them vnto the there. And of whom I saye vnto the, this shall go with the, the same shal go with the. And who soeuer I say vnto the, this shall not go with the, the same shall not go. So he broughte downe the people vnto the water, & the lorde sayd vnto Gedeon: as many as lape the wa∣ter with theyr tong{is} as a dog doth, put them by them selues, and so do them that knele downe vpon theyr knees to drynke. And the nombre of them that put theyr hand{is} to theyr mouthes and laped, were thre hundred men.

But all the remenaunt of the people kneled

downe vpon theyr knees to drynke water.

And the Lorde sayde vnto Gedeon. By [unspec C] these iii. hundred men that laped water, wyll I saue you, and delyuer the Medianytes in to thyn hande. And let al the other people go euery man vnto his place. They therfore of the people toke vyrtayles with them, & theyr trompettes. And he sent at the rest of Israel, euery man vnto his tent, and cōforted those thre hundred with hym. And the hoost of Ma¦dian was beneth hym in a valeye. And it for∣tuned that the same nyght the lorde sayde vn¦to hym: Aryse, get the downe vnto the hoost, for I haue delyuered it in to thyne hande.

But and yf thou feare to go downe, then go thou, and Pharah thy lad downe to the hoost, and thou shalte herken what they say, and so shall thyne handes be stronge, to goo downe vnto the hoost. Then went he downe, and Pharah his ladde, euen harde vnto the men of armes that were in the hoost. And the Madianytes, the Amalekytes, and al they of the East, laye alonge in the valey, lyke a mul¦tytude of Greshoppers / and theyr Camelles were withoute nombre / euen as the sande by the see syde in multytude.

And when Gedeon was come: Beholde / [unspec D] there was a mā that tolde a dreame vnto his neyghbour, and sayde. Beholde, I dreamed a dreame, and me thought that a loofe of bar¦lye breade, tombled into the hoost of Madiā, and came vnto a tent and smote it that it fel / and ouerturned it that the tent laye alonge. And his felowe answered and sayde: this is nothynge els saue the swerde of Gedeon, the sonne of Ioas a man of Israell: for in to his hande hath God deliuered Madian, and all the hoost. When Gedeon herde the tellynge of the dreame / and the ☞ interpretacyon of the same, he worshypped, and returned vnto the hoost of Israell & sayde: Up, for the lorde hath delyuered in to youre hande the hooste of Madian.

And he deuyded the thre hundred men in [unspec E] to thre companyes, and gaue euerye man a Trompet in his hande, with an emptye pyt∣cher, and lampes therin, and sayd vnto them: loke on me & do lykewyse, that when I come to the syde of the hooste, euen as I do, so do you: When I blowe with a trompet, and all that are with me, blawe ye with trompettes also on euery syde of the hoost, and say: Here is the swerde of the Lorde / and of Gedeon.

And so Gedeon / and the thre hundren men that were with hym, came vnto the syde of the hoost in the begynnynge of the mydle watch and raysed vp the watche men.

And they blewe with theyr trompettes, & [unspec F] brake the pytchers that were in theyr handes And all the thre companyes blewe with trom pettes and brake the pytchers, and helde the lampes in theyr lefte handes, and the trom∣pettes in theyr ryght, to blowe withall. And they cryed: the swerde of the Lorde, & of Ge∣deon. And they stode styll, euery man in his place rounde aboute the hoost. And they w^tin the hoost, ran, and cryed, & fled. And the thre hundred blew with trompettes, and the lorde set * 1.3 euery mannes swerde vpon his neygh∣bour, thorowout all the hoost. And the hoost sted to Bethsitah, to Zererath, & to the edge of the playne of Maholah vnto Tabath.

And the men of Israel beyng gathered to∣gither [unspec G] out of the tribe of Nephthalim, of Aser & of all Manasses, folowed after the Madia¦nites. And Gedeon sent messengers vnto all moūt Ephraim, sayng: come downe agaynst the Madianites, & take before them the wa∣ters vnto Bethbarath & to Iordan. Then al the men of Ephraim gathered togyther, and toke the waters vnto Bethbarath, & to Ior∣dan. And they toke two captaynes of the Ma¦dianites, Oreb and Zeb, and slewe Oreb vpō the rocke Oreb, and Zeb at the presse Zeb, & folowed after Madiā. And brought the hea∣des of Oreb and Zeb, to Gedeon on the other syde Iordan.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Iudi. ••. ••.
• * 1.2

  Deui. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 i. Ma••••. ••
• * 1.3

  i. Regū 14 •• 11. Pa. xx. ••.