1 The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why
have you treated us this way, that you
didn’t call us when you went to fight with
Midian?” They rebuked him sharply.
2 He said to them, “What have I now done
in comparison with you? Isn’t the gleaning
of the grapes of Ephraim better than the
vintage of Abiezer?
3 God has delivered into your hand the
princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb! What
was I able to do in comparison with you?”
Then their anger was abated towards him
when he had said that.
4 Gideon came to the Jordan and passed
over, he and the three hundred men who
were with him, faint, yet pursuing.
5 He said to the men of Succoth, “Please
give loaves of bread to the people who
follow me; for they are faint, and I am
pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the
kings of Midian.”
6 The princes of Succoth said, “Are the
hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your
hand, that we should give bread to your
army?”
7 Gideon said, “Therefore when the
LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna
into my hand, then I will tear your flesh
with the thorns of the wilderness and with
briers.”
8 He went up there to Penuel, and spoke
to them in the same way; and the men
of Penuel answered him as the men of
Succoth had answered.
9 He spoke also to the men of Penuel,
saying, “When I come again in peace, I will
break down this tower.”
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in
Karkor, and their armies with them, about
fifteen thousand men, all who were left of
all the army of the children of the east; for
there fell one hundred and twenty thousand
men who drew sword.
11 Gideon went up by the way of those
who lived in tents on the east of Nobah
and Jogbehah, and struck the army; for the
army felt secure.
12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled and he pursued
them. He took the two kings of Midian,
Zebah and Zalmunna, and confused
all the army.
13 Gideon the son of Joash returned from
the battle from the ascent of Heres.
14 He caught a young man of the men
of Succoth, and enquired of him; and he
described for him the princes of Succoth,
and its elders, seventy-seven men.
15 He came to the men of Succoth, and
said, “See Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning
whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the
hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your
hand, that we should give bread to your
men who are weary?’ ”
16 He took the elders of the city, and
thorns of the wilderness and briers, and
with them he taught the men of Succoth.
17 He broke down the tower of Penuel,
and killed the men of the city.
18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna,
“What kind of men were they whom you
killed at Tabor?”
They answered, “They were like you.
They all resembled the children of a king.”
19 He said, “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 He said to Jether his firstborn, “Get up
and kill them!” But the youth didn’t draw
his sword; for he was afraid, because he
was yet a youth.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “You
rise and fall on us; for as the man is, so is
his strength.” Gideon arose, and killed Zebah
and Zalmunna, and took the crescents
that were on their camels’ necks.
22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon,
“Rule over us, both you, your son, and your
son’s son also; for you have saved us out of
the hand of Midian.”
23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule
over you, neither shall my son rule over
you. The LORD shall rule over you.”
24 Gideon said to them, “I do have a request:
that you would each give me the
earrings of his plunder.” (For they had
golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
25 They answered, “We will willingly
give them.” They spread a garment, and
every man threw the earrings of his plunder
into it.
26 The weight of the golden earrings that
he requested was one thousand and seven
hundred shekels† of gold, in addition to
the crescents, and the pendants, and the
purple clothing that was on the kings of
Midian, and in addition to the chains that
were about their camels’ necks.
27 Gideon made an ephod out of it, and
put it in Ophrah, his city. Then all Israel
played the prostitute with it there; and it
became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
28 So Midian was subdued before the
children of Israel, and they lifted up their
heads no more. The land had rest forty
years in the days of Gideon.
29 Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and
lived in his own house.
30 Gideon had seventy sons conceived
from his body, for he had many wives.
31 His concubine who was in Shechem
also bore him a son, and he named him
Abimelech.
32 Gideon the son of Joash died in a
good old age, and was buried in the tomb
of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the
Abiezrites.
33 As soon as Gideon was dead, the children
of Israel turned again and played the
prostitute following the Baals, and made
Baal Berith their god.
34 The children of Israel didn’t remember
the LORD their God, who had delivered
them out of the hand of all their enemies
on every side;
35 neither did they show kindness to the
house of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, according
to all the goodness which he had shown
to Israel.
