Judges 8

1Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him strongly.

2But he said to them, “What have I done now compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?”

3Into your hand God gave the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do compared with you? Then their spirit relaxed toward him when he spoke this word.

4Then Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing.

5And he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are with me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

6Then the leaders of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”

7And Gideon said, “Therefore, when Yahweh gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.”

8From there he went up to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered.

9He also said to the men of Penuel, “When I return in peace, I will tear down this tower.”

10Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their camps were with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left from all the camp of the sons of the east; and those who had fallen were one hundred twenty thousand men drawing the sword.

11Then Gideon went up by the route of those who dwell in tents, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the camp while the camp was unsuspecting.

12Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna; and he threw the whole camp into panic.

13Then Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres.

14And he captured a young man from the men of Succoth and questioned him, and he wrote down for him the officials of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.

15Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”

16Then he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he disciplined the men of Succoth.

17He tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

18Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “As you are, so were they; each one had the appearance of the sons of a king.”

19And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if you had let them live, I would not have killed you.”

20Then he said to Jether his firstborn, “Get up, kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword, because he was afraid, for he was still a young man.

21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and strike us down, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon rose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

22Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son, and your grandson as well—for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

23But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; Yahweh will rule over you.”

24Then Gideon said to them, “Let me ask one request of you: each man, give me an earring from his spoil.” For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.

25And they said, “We will surely give them.” Then they spread out the cloak, and each man threw there an earring from his spoil.

26And the weight of the gold rings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments that were on the kings of Midian, and besides the necklaces that were on the necks of their camels.

27Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel prostituted themselves after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

28So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not again lift up their head. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

29Then Jerubbaal son of Joash went and lived in his house.

30Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, because he had many wives.

31And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelek.

32And Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33And it happened that, when Gideon died, the sons of Israel turned back and prostituted themselves after the Baals, and they made Baal-berith their god.

34And the sons of Israel did not remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies all around.

35And they did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon), in keeping with all the good that he had done for Israel.