Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Revised Standard NRS
1 And the men of Ephraim said to him: What is this that thou meanest to do, that thou wouldst not call us, when thou wentest to fight against Madian? And they chid him sharply, and almost offered violence.
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Then the Ephraimites said to him, "What have you done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against the Midianites?" And they upbraided him violently.
2 And he answered them: What could I have done like to that which you have done? Is not one bunch of grapes of Ephraim better than the vintages of Abiezer?
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So he said to them, "What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
3 The Lord hath delivered into your hands the princes of Madian, Oreb and Zeb: what could I have done like to what you have done? And when he had said this, their spirit was appeased, with which they swelled against him.
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God has given into your hands the captains of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you?" When he said this, their anger against him subsided.
4 And when Gedeon was come to the Jordan, he passed over it with the three hundred men that were with him: who were so weary that they could not pursue after them that fled.
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Then Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred who were with him, exhausted and famished.
5 And he said to the men of Soccoth: Give, I beseech you, bread to the people that is with me, for they are faint: that we may pursue Zebee, and Salmana, the kings of Madian.
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So he said to the people of Succoth, "Please give some loaves of bread to my followers, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."
6 The princes of Soccoth answered: Peradventure the palms of the hands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hand, and therefore thou demandest that we should give bread to thy army.
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But the officials of Succoth said, "Do you already have in your possession the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna, that we should give bread to your army?"
7 And he said to them: When the Lord therefore shall have delivered Zebee and Salmana into my hands, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns and briers of the desert.
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Gideon replied, "Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will trample your flesh on the thorns of the wilderness and on briers."
8 And going up from thence, he came to Phanuel: and he spoke the like things to the men of that place. And they also answered him, as the men of Soccoth had answered.
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From there he went up to Penuel, and made the same request of them; and the people of Penuel answered him as the people of Succoth had answered.
9 He said, therefore, to them also: When I shall return a conqueror in peace, I will destroy this tower.
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So he said to the people of Penuel, "When I come back victorious, I will break down this tower."
10 But Zebee and Salmana were resting with all their army. For fifteen thousand men were left of all the troops of the eastern people, and one hundred and twenty thousand warriors that drew the sword were slain.
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Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the east; for one hundred twenty thousand men bearing arms had fallen.
11 And Gedeon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents, on the east of Nobe and Jegbaa, and smote the camp of the enemies, who were secure, and suspected no hurt.
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So Gideon went up by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army; for the army was off its guard.
12 And Zebee and Salmana fled, and Gedeon pursued and took them, all their host being put in confusion.
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Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and threw all the army into a panic.
13 And returning from the battle before the sun rising,
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When Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres,
14 He took a boy of the men of Soccoth: and he asked him the names of the princes and ancients of Soccoth, and he described unto him seventy-seven men.
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he caught a young man, one of the people of Succoth, and questioned him; and he listed for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven people.
15 And he came to Soccoth, and said to them: Behold Zebee, and Salmana, concerning whom you upbraided me, saying: Peradventure the hands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hands, and therefore thou demandest that we should give bread to the men that are weary and faint.
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Then he came to the people of Succoth, and said, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, "Do you already have in your possession the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna, that we should give bread to your troops who are exhausted?' "
16 So he took the ancients of the city, and thorns and briers of the desert, and tore them with the same, and cut in pieces the men of Soccoth.
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So he took the elders of the city and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them he trampled the people of Succoth.
17 And he demolished the tower of Phanuel, and slew the men of the city.
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He also broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city.
18 And he said to Zebee and Salmana: What manner of men were they, whom you slew in Thabor? They answered: They were like thee, and one of them as the son of a king.
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Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What about the men whom you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king."
19 He answered them: They were my brethren, the sons of my mother. As the Lord liveth, if you had saved them, I would not kill you.
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And he replied, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you."
20 And he said to Jether, his eldest son: Arise, and slay them. But he drew not his sword: for he was afraid, being but yet a boy.
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So he said to Jether his firstborn, "Go kill them!" But the boy did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a boy.
21 And Zebee and Salmana said: Do thou rise and run upon us: because the strength of a man is according to his age: Gedeon rose up, and slew Zebee and Salmana: and he took the ornaments and bosses, with which the necks of the camels of kings are wont to be adorned.
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Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "You come and kill us; for as the man is, so is his strength." So Gideon proceeded to kill Zebah and Zalmunna; and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.
22 And all the men of Israel said to Gedeon: Rule thou over us, and thy son, and thy son’s son: because thou hast delivered us from the hand of Madian.
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Then the Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian."
23 And he said to them: I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, but the Lord shall rule over you.
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Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you."
24 And he said to them: I desire one request of you: Give me the earlets of your spoils. For the Ismaelites were accustomed to wear golden earlets.
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Then Gideon said to them, "Let me make a request of you; each of you give me an earring he has taken as booty." (For the enemy had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
25 They answered: We will give them most willingly. And spreading a mantle on the ground, they cast upon it the earlets of the spoils.
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"We will willingly give them," they answered. So they spread a garment, and each threw into it an earring he had taken as booty.
26 And the weight of the earlets that he requested, was a thousand seven hundred sicles of gold, besides the ornaments, and jewels, and purple raiment, which the kings of Madian were wont to use, and besides the golden chains that were about the camels necks.
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The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold (apart from the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and the collars that were on the necks of their camels).
27 And Gedeon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city Ephra. And all Israel committed fornication with it, and it became a ruin to Gedeon, and to all his house.
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Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his town, in Ophrah; and all Israel prostituted themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.
28 But Madian was humbled before the children of Israel, neither could they any more lift up their heads: but the land rested for forty years, while Gedeon presided.
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So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they lifted up their heads no more. So the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
29 So Jerobaal, the son of Joas, went and dwelt in his own house:
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Jerubbaal son of Joash went to live in his own house.
30 And he had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh, for he had many wives.
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Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives.
31 And his concubine, that he had in Sichem, bore him a son, whose name was Abimelech.
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His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
32 And Gedeon, the son of Joas died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father, in Ephra, of the family of Ezri.
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Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 But after Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned again, and committed fornication with Baalim. And they made a covenant with Baal, that he should be their god:
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As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites relapsed and prostituted themselves with the Baals, making Baal-berith their god.
34 And they remembered not the Lord their God, who delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies round about:
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The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side;
35 Neither did they shew mercy to the house of Jerobaal Gedeon, according to all the good things he had done to Israel.
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and they did not exhibit loyalty to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.
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New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.