JudgesChapter 8

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¹Then the men of Ephraim spoke to Gideon. "Why have you treated us like this?" they asked. "Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?" And they argued with him angrily. ²But Gideon answered them, "What have I done compared to you? The grapes Ephraim picks up after the harvest are better than the whole grape harvest of Abiezer, aren't they? ³God handed Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian, over to you. What could I do compared to you?" When he said this, their anger against him calmed down. ⁴Then Gideon and his 300 men came to the Jordan River and crossed it. They were worn out, but they kept chasing the enemy. ⁵Gideon said to the men of Succoth, "Please give my troops some bread. They are worn out. I am still chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." ⁶But the leaders of Succoth said, "Do you already have Zebah and Zalmunna in your hands? Why should we give bread to your army?" ⁷"All right," Gideon answered. "The LORD will hand Zebah and Zalmunna over to me. When he does, I will tear your skin with thorns and briers from the wilderness!" ⁸From there Gideon went up to Penuel. He asked the people there for the same thing. But the men of Penuel gave the same answer as the men of Succoth. ⁹So Gideon told the men of Penuel, "When I come back after winning, I will tear down this tower!" ¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army. They had about 15,000 men. That was all that was left of the armies of the people of the east. 120,000 soldiers with swords had already been killed. ¹¹Gideon went up by the road the traders used. It ran east of Nobah and Jogbehah. Then he attacked their army and took them by surprise. ¹²Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, but Gideon chased them. He caught these two kings of Midian. He made their whole army run in panic. ¹³After this, Gideon son of Joash came back from the battle. He came by the Pass of Heres. ¹⁴There he caught a young man from Succoth and questioned him. The young man wrote down for him the names of the 77 leaders and elders of Succoth. ¹⁵Then Gideon went to the men of Succoth. He said, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna! You made fun of me because of them. You said, 'Do you already have Zebah and Zalmunna in your hands? Why should we give bread to your tired men?'" ¹⁶Then he took the elders of the city. He used thorns and briers from the wilderness to punish the men of Succoth. ¹⁷He also tore down the tower of Penuel. And he killed the men of that city. ¹⁸Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What were the men like that you killed at Tabor?" "They were like you," they answered. "Each one looked like the son of a king." ¹⁹"They were my brothers," Gideon said. "They were my own mother's sons! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you." ²⁰Then he said to Jether, his oldest son, "Get up and kill them." But the young man did not pull out his sword. He was afraid, because he was still just a boy. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Get up and kill us yourself. A man is only as strong as he is grown." So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna. He took the moon-shaped ornaments from their camels' necks.a ²²Then the Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us. You, your son, and your grandson should rule. You have saved us from the power of Midian." ²³But Gideon answered, "I will not rule over you. My son will not rule over you either. The LORD will rule over you." ²⁴Then he said, "Let me ask one thing of you. Each of you give me an earring from the things you took in battle." (The enemy soldiers wore gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵"We'll be glad to give them," they answered. So they spread out a robe. Each man threw onto it an earring from what he had taken. ²⁶The gold earrings he asked for weighed 1,700 shekels. That did not count the moon-shaped ornaments or the pendants. It did not count the purple clothes the kings of Midian wore or the chains on their camels' necks.b ²⁷Gideon used all this gold to make an ephod. He put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel was unfaithful to God by worshiping it there. It became a trap for Gideon and his family.c ²⁸In this way Midian was beaten down by the Israelites. Midian never raised its head again. So the land had peace for 40 years while Gideon lived. ²⁹Gideon, also called Jerubbaal son of Joash, went back home and lived there. ³⁰Gideon had 70 sons of his own, because he had many wives. ³¹He also had a concubine who lived in Shechem. She had a son by him, and Gideon named him Abimelech.d ³²Later Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age. He was buried in the tomb of his father Joash. It was in Ophrah, the town of the Abiezrites. ³³As soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned away again. They were unfaithful to God by chasing after the Baals. They made Baal-berith their god.e ³⁴The Israelites did not remember the LORD their God. He had rescued them from the power of all their enemies around them. ³⁵They were not kind to the family of Jerubbaal, also called Gideon. They did not repay him for all the good he had done for Israel.