Judges 8–10

8The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?” And they argued with him violently.

²So he said to them, “What have I done now compared to you? Is not the gleaning^g of Ephraim better than the grape harvest^h of Abiezer? ³God handed over to you Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he said this, their anger against him subsided.

GIDEON PURSUES THE KINGS OF MIDIAN

⁴Gideon and the three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it. They were exhausted but still in pursuit. ⁵He said to the men of Succoth,^a “Please give some loaves of bread to the troops under my command,^B because they are exhausted, for I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶But the princes of Succoth asked, “Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands that we should give bread to your army?”

⁷Gideon replied, “Very well, when the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will tear^A your flesh with thorns and briers from the wilderness!” ⁸He went from there to Penuel and asked the same thing from them. The men of Penuel^b answered just as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹He also told the men of Penuel, “When I return safely, I will tear down this tower!”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and with them was their army of about fifteen thousand men, who were all those left of the entire army of the people of the east. Those who had been killed were one hundred twenty thousand armed men. ¹¹Gideon traveled on the caravan route^B east of Nobah^c and Jogbehah and attacked their army while the army felt secure. ¹²Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them. He captured these two kings of Midian and routed the entire army.

¹³Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Heres. ¹⁴He captured a youth from the men of Succoth and interrogated him. The youth wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth. ¹⁵Then he went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You taunted me about them, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your power that we should give bread to your exhausted men?’ ” ¹⁶So he took the elders of the city, and he took some thorns and briers from the wilderness, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them. ¹⁷He also tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”

“They were like you,” they said. “Each resembled the son of a king.”

¹⁹So he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰Then he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” The youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he was still a youth.

²¹Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and strike us down yourself, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

GIDEON’S LEGACY

²²Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us,^d you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.”

²³But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” ²⁴Then he said to them, “Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder.” Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.

²⁵They said, “We agree to give them.” So they spread out a cloak, and everyone threw an earring from his plunder on it. ²⁶The weight of the gold earrings he requested was forty-three pounds^A of gold, in addition to the crescent ornaments and ear pendants, the purple garments on the kings of Midian, and the chains on the necks of their camels. ²⁷Gideon made an ephod^e from all this and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. Then all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

²⁸So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they were no longer a threat. The land had peace for forty years^f during the days of Gideon. ²⁹Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) son of Joash went back to live at his house.

³⁰Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, since he had many wives. ³¹His concubine who was in Shechem^g also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. ³²Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³When Gideon died, the Israelites turned and prostituted^a themselves by worshiping the Baals and made Baal-berith^B their god. ³⁴The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God^b who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies around them. ³⁵They did not show kindness^c to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.

ABIMELECH BECOMES KING

9Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem and spoke to his uncles and to his mother’s whole clan, saying, ²“Please speak in the hearing of all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal,^d rule over you or that one man rule over you?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.”^C

³His mother’s relatives spoke all these words about him in the hearing of all the citizens of Shechem, and they were favorable to Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” ⁴So they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith. Abimelech used it to hire worthless and reckless men, and they followed him. ⁵He went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, on top of a large stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid. ⁶Then all the citizens of Shechem and of Beth-millo gathered together and proceeded to make Abimelech king at the oak of the pillar in Shechem.

JOTHAM’S PARABLE

⁷When they told Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim,^e raised his voice, and called to them:

Listen to me, citizens of Shechem,

and may God listen to you:

⁸The trees decided

to anoint a king over themselves.

They said to the olive tree, “Reign over us.”

⁹But the olive tree said to them,

“Should I stop giving my oil

that people use to honor both God and men,

and rule over the trees?”

¹⁰Then the trees said to the fig tree,

“Come and reign over us.”

¹¹But the fig tree said to them,

“Should I stop giving

my sweetness and my good fruit,

and rule over trees?”

¹²Later, the trees said to the grapevine,

“Come and reign over us.”

¹³But the grapevine said to them,

“Should I stop giving my wine

that cheers both God and man,

and rule over trees?”

¹⁴Finally, all the trees said to the bramble,

“Come and reign over us.”

¹⁵The bramble said to the trees,

“If you really are anointing me

as king over you,

come and find refuge in my shade.

But if not,

may fire come out from the bramble

and consume the cedars of Lebanon.”

¹⁶“Now if you have acted faithfully^f and honestly^g in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have rewarded him appropriately for what he did—¹⁷for my father fought for you, risked his life, and rescued you from Midian, ¹⁸and now you have attacked my father’s family today, killed his seventy sons on top of a large stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, king over the citizens of Shechem ‘because he is your brother’—¹⁹so if you have acted faithfully and honestly with Jerubbaal and his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech and may he also rejoice in you. ²⁰But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.” ²¹Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and lived there because of his brother Abimelech.

ABIMELECH’S PUNISHMENT

²²When Abimelech had ruled over Israel three years, ²³God sent an evil spirit^h between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. They treated Abimelech deceitfully, ²⁴so that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood would be avenged on their brother Abimelech, who killed them, and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him kill his brothers. ²⁵The citizens of Shechem rebelled against him by putting men in ambush^a on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed everyone who passed by them on the road. So this was reported to Abimelech.

²⁶Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers and crossed into Shechem, and the citizens of Shechem trusted him. ²⁷So they went out to the countryside and harvested grapes from their vineyards. They trampled the grapes and held a celebration.^b Then they went to the house of their god, and as they ate and drank, they cursed Abimelech. ²⁸Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal, and isn’t Zebul his officer? You are to serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem.^c Why should we serve Abimelech? ²⁹If only these people were in my power, I would remove Abimelech.” So he said^A to Abimelech, “Gather your army and come out.”

³⁰When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he was angry. ³¹So he secretly sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, “Beware! Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem and are turning the city against you.^{B 32}Now tonight, you and the troops with you, come and wait in ambush in the countryside. ³³Then get up early, and at sunrise attack the city. When he and the troops who are with him come out against you, do to him whatever you can.” ³⁴So Abimelech and all the troops with him got up at night and waited in ambush for Shechem in four units.

³⁵Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. Then Abimelech and the troops who were with him got up from their ambush. ³⁶When Gaal saw the troops, he said to Zebul, “Look, troops are…