Gidiyoni
1 Ngono bathu be Iziraela bakathama mbipo kakale mu mesho a Yahwe, ngono Yahwe bakabalonga mu maboko e Bamidiyani kwe makole ali kutendeka. 2 Ngoti simba le Bamidiyani lakatshambilidza Baiziraela, Baiziraela bakazwibakila mishasha mu matombo nemu makuwu ne matizhilo. 3 Kwakabe kuti apa Baiziraela badzwala, Bamidiyani ne Baamaleki ne bathu be kubhezhuba bakabezha bebanginilila, 4 bakakomba shango bekolomodza zwidzwalo kunoti tjose ku Gaza ngono kusina zojiwa zwabanosiyila Baiziraela, kene iyo pkhwizi kene ng'ombe kene donki. 5 Bakabe bebuya ne ng'ombe dzabo ne mishasha yabo bali nlunda se phashu nge bunji, ibo kose ne kamela dzabo bakabe basingabalike. Bakanginilila shango bakaithukudza. 6 Bamidiyani bakapedza Baiziraela simba kwabakadzina bakalilila bhatsho kuna Yahwe. 7 Kwakati Baiziraela balilila kuna Yahwe ngekwe Bamidiyani, 8 Yahwe bakatumila nlebesambeli ku bathu be Iziraela, ngono kabadwa kati, “Tjinoleba Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela ndiyetji, ndakamudusa mu Egipiti, ndimudusa mu busungwa, 9 ndakamusunungula mu luboko gwe Baegipiti ne mu luboko gwa bose bakamutshambilidza, ngono ndikabatata mbeli kwenyu ndikamupa shango yabo, 10 ngono ndakamudwa nditi, ‘Ndimi Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu, musitongo thigamila midzimu ye Baamoni, ibo be shango yamunogala.’ Koga amuzonditeedza.”
11 Ntumwa wa Yahwe kazha kagala kusi kwe nti we N'oko ku Ofira nzi wa Joashi we Abiyezeri, pakabe Gidiyoni e pulila mathunde kunuswinigwa nkumbi we zhambi, ku asumbikila Bamidiyani. 12 Ngono Ntumwa wa Yahwe kazwilakidza kuna Gidiyoni ngono ukandwa uti, “Yahwe banawe, iwe mbhayani wakasima.” 13 Gidiyoni kashandula eti, “Au, Apa Yahwe banaswi, nekutini ngono tashingikaligwa nge tjakajali kene? Matjenamiso abo wose angayi atakabudziwa ndi bobatategulu bedu beti, ‘Apa Yahwe abazotidusa ku Egipiti kene?’ Koga ngwenu Yahwe batilasha, ngono batilonga mu maboko e Bamidiyani.” 14 Ngono Yahwe bakatendebukila kunli bakati, “Yenda mu simba launalo ngono usunungule Baiziraela mu luboko gwe Bamidiyani, Apa anditokutuma kene?” 15 Ngono Gidiyoni kati, “Apa ndowosunungula Baiziraela tjini kene? Bonani, Ludzi gwangu gutukununu pana gwa Manase, kakale ndimi ntjetjana mu bana batate.” 16 Yahwe bakandwa beti, “Koga ndowobenawe, unowokunda Bamidiyani kukanga ungati nthu ung'ompela.” 17 Gidiyoni kashandula eti, “Ha ndawana mahwilongoni mu mesho enyu, mundipe tjilakidzo tjekuti ndimwi munolebeleka nami. 18 Ndokumbila musiyende kuswikila ndibuya ndizhisa tjibhayilo nditjibiga mbeli kwenyu.” Yahwe bakashandula beti, “Ndowolinda kuswikila ushanduka.” 19 Ndizo Gidiyoni kangina mu ng'umba kalulwamisa tjibudzana ne tjiwunga tjisina mbidzo tje bgwisa gwe efa. Kalonga nyama mu itundu, kadila sopo mu hali, kazwiyisa ku nli kusi kwe N'oko, kazwibiga panli. 20 Ngono ntumwa we Ndzimu kandwa kati, “Tola nyama ne tjiwunga tjisina mbidzo uzwibige mu shongwe iyeyi, ngono utebulile sopo muzwili.” Ngono kathama eyijalo. 21 Ipapo ntumwa wa Yahwe katola ludozo gwaakabe akabhata, kashwaya nyama ne tjiwunga tjisina mbidzo nge theswi yago, ngono kukathuta moto mu shongwe ukaja nyama ne tjiwunga tjisina mbidzo, ngono ntumwa wa Yahwe kanyelela mu mesho awe. 22 Kwakati Gidiyoni atjibona kuti kwabe kuli ntumwa wa Yahwe kati, “Yee mme wee! She Yahwe bangu! Ndabona ntumwa wa Yahwe takalingisanya njiso.” 23 Koga Yahwe bakandwa beti, “Kunyalala kube nawe, usitje autowofa.” 24 Ndizo Gidiyoni kabakila Yahwe tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo ikoko ngono katjidana eti Yahwe ndibo kunyalala. Nanasi tjitji ku Ofira ye Baabiyezeri.
25 Busiku igogo Yahwe bakandwa beti, “Tola nkono wa tate babo we bubili una makole ali kutendeka, ngono ulige tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo tja Bhaale itjo tate babo tjabanatjo, utemele pasi ndzimukadzi Ashera u hwunde natjo, 26 ngono ubakile Yahwe Ndzimu uwo tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo pakatuthumala, u walile nge mabgwe, kudwapo utole nkono we bubili kube tjibhayilo tjinopisiwa nge hwuni dze ndzimukadzi Ashera dzaunowotemela pasi.” 27 Ndizo Gidiyoni katola balume bali gumi be balanda babe ngono kathama sekwa abudziwa ndi Yahwe, ngoti wakabe etja be nsha uwe kwazo ne balume be nzi nkulu kuthama masikati, wakathama busiku. 28 Kwakati balume be nzi nkulu bemuka kuli mangwanana, bonani, tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo tja Bhaale tjikabe tjakaligwa, ngono ne ndzimukadzi Ashera hwunde yatjo akaligiwa, ndizo nkono we bubili ukadusiwa se tjibhayilo pezhugwi kwe tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo tjakabakiwa. 29 Ngono bakabhuzwana beti, “Ndiyani wathama ikoko?” Ngono kwakati bashakisisa nge kwako, bakati, “Gidiyoni nkololo wa Joashi wathama ikoko.” 30 Ngono balume be nzi nkulu bakadwa Joashi bakati, “Zhisa nkololo uwo, timbulaye, ngoti wakaliga tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo tja Bhaale katema ndzimukadzi Ashera hwunde natjo.” 31 Koga Joashi kadwa bose bakabebakampoteleka kati, “Apa molebelekela Bhaale kene? Apa mombakilila kene? Iye unonlebelekela unowobulawa kuli mangwanana. Apa ali ndzimwana, ngaazwilebelekele ngoti tjibeso tjitje tje zwibhayilo tjaligiwa.” 32 Ndizo zhuba ilelo Gidiyoni wakadang'wa Jerubhaale, ndiko kuyi, “Bhaale ngaagwe naye,” ngoti wakaliga tjibeso tjitje tje zwibhayilo.
33 Ipapo bathu bose be Midiyani ne Amaleki ne bathu be kubhezhuba bakashangana, ngono bakatjuluka gwizi gwe Jorodani bakakotokela pa nkuku wa Jezirele. 34 Ngono Meya ya Yahwe ikazha muna Gidiyoni, kalidza lunyanga, ngono kadana Baabiyezeri kunsala shule. 35 Ngono katuma batumwa mu Manase yose, ngono naibobo bakadang'wa kunsala shule. Katuma batumwa ku ludzi gwa Ashera ne gwa Zebuluni ne gwa Nafutali, ngono bakatathila kubashanganidza.
36 Gidiyoni kadwa Ndzimu kati, “Apa munga sunungula Iziraela nge luboko gwangu sekwa makagadzabgwe, 37 Bonani, ndobiga debgwe mu lubuwa. Ha kungabe ne khawa koga mu debgwe ngono pasi kwakawoma, ipapo ndowoziba kuti mowosunungula Iziraela nge luboko gwangu, sekwa makaleba.” 38 Ngono kukashingikala kuyijalo. Kwakati emuka tjimuka mangwanana kaswina debgwe, kukabhuda vula inozhala ndilo. 39 Ipapo Gidiyoni kadwa Ndzimu kati, “Musindigwadzilemoyo. Ndina kumbilo yandinoshaka thama, mundidumile ndilike kakale nge debgwe, ndokumbila muthame kuti debgwe liwome, ngono pasi kube ne khawa.” 40 Ngono Ndzimu bakathama beyijalo busiku igogo, debgwe lakabe lakawoma, ngono pasi kuna khawa.
Gideon
1 Once again the people of Israel sinned against the Lord, so he let the people of Midian rule them for seven years. 2 The Midianites were stronger than Israel, and the people of Israel hid from them in caves and other safe places in the hills. 3 Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites would come with the Amalekites and the desert tribes and attack them. 4 They would camp on the land and destroy the crops as far south as the area around Gaza. They would take all the sheep, cattle, and donkeys, and leave nothing for the Israelites to live on. 5 They would come with their livestock and tents, as thick as locusts. They and their camels were too many to count. They came and devastated the land, 6 and Israel was helpless against them.
7 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help against the Midianites, 8 and he sent them a prophet who brought them this message from the Lord, the God of Israel: “I brought you out of slavery in Egypt. 9 I rescued you from the Egyptians and from the people who fought you here in this land. I drove them out as you advanced, and I gave you their land. 10 I told you that I am the Lord your God and that you should not worship the gods of the Amorites, whose land you are now living in. But you have not listened to me.”
11 Then the Lord's angel came to the village of Ophrah and sat under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a man of the clan of Abiezer. His son Gideon was threshing some wheat secretly in a wine press, so that the Midianites would not see him. 12 The Lord's angel appeared to him there and said, “The Lord is with you, brave and mighty man!”
13 Gideon said to him, “If I may ask, sir, why has all this happened to us if the Lord is with us? What happened to all the wonderful things that our fathers told us the Lord used to do—how he brought them out of Egypt? The Lord has abandoned us and left us to the mercy of the Midianites.”
14 Then the Lord ordered him, “Go with all your great strength and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I myself am sending you.”
15 Gideon replied, “But Lord, how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least important member of my family.”
16 The Lord answered, “You can do it because I will help you. You will crush the Midianites as easily as if they were only one man.”
17 Gideon replied, “If you are pleased with me, give me some proof that you are really the Lord. 18 Please do not leave until I bring you an offering of food.”
He said, “I will stay until you come back.”
19 So Gideon went into his house and cooked a young goat and used a bushel of flour to make bread without any yeast. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them to the Lord's angel under the oak tree, and gave them to him. 20 The angel told him, “Put the meat and the bread on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” Gideon did so. 21 Then the Lord's angel reached out and touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick he was holding. Fire came out of the rock and burned up the meat and the bread. Then the angel disappeared.
22 Gideon then realized that it was the Lord's angel he had seen, and he said in terror, “Sovereign Lord! I have seen your angel face-to-face!”
23 But the Lord told him, “Peace. Don't be afraid. You will not die.” 24 Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and named it “The Lord is Peace.” (It is still standing at Ophrah, which belongs to the clan of Abiezer.)
25 That night the Lord told Gideon, “Take your father's bull and another bull seven years old, tear down your father's altar to Baal, and cut down the symbol of the goddess Asherah, which is beside it. 26 Build a well-constructed altar to the Lord your God on top of this mound. Then take the second bull and burn it whole as an offering, using for firewood the symbol of Asherah you have cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did what the Lord had told him. He was too afraid of his family and the people in town to do it by day, so he did it at night.
28 When the people in town got up early the next morning, they found that the altar to Baal and the symbol of Asherah had been cut down, and that the second bull had been burned on the altar that had been built there. 29 They asked each other, “Who did this?” They investigated and found out that Gideon son of Joash had done it. 30 Then they said to Joash, “Bring your son out here, so that we can kill him! He tore down the altar to Baal and cut down the symbol of Asherah beside it.”
31 But Joash said to all those who confronted him, “Are you arguing for Baal? Are you defending him? Anyone who argues for him will be killed before morning. If Baal is a god, let him defend himself. It is his altar that was torn down.” 32 From then on Gideon was known as Jerubbaal, because Joash said, “Let Baal defend himself; it is his altar that was torn down.”
33 Then all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the desert tribes assembled, crossed the Jordan River, and camped in Jezreel Valley. 34 The spirit of the Lord took control of Gideon, and he blew a trumpet to call the men of the clan of Abiezer to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout the territory of both parts of Manasseh to call them to follow him. He sent messengers to the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they also came to join him.
36 Then Gideon said to God, “You say that you have decided to use me to rescue Israel. 37 Well, I am putting some wool on the ground where we thresh the wheat. If in the morning there is dew only on the wool but not on the ground, then I will know that you are going to use me to rescue Israel.” 38 That is exactly what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the wool and wrung enough dew out of it to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Don't be angry with me; let me speak just once more. Please let me make one more test with the wool. This time let the wool be dry, and the ground be wet.” 40 That night God did that very thing. The next morning the wool was dry, but the ground was wet with dew.