Judges 8:1–21

Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

8^zThen the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. ²And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not ^athe gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? ^3bGod has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” ^cThen their anger¹ against him subsided when he said this.

⁴And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and ^dthe 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. ⁵So he said to the men of ^eSuccoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ⁶And the officials of Succoth said, ^f“Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, ^gthat we should give bread to your army?” ⁷So Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, ^hI will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸And from there he went up to ⁱPenuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹And he said to the men of Penuel, ^j“When I come again in peace, ^kI will break down this tower.”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of ^lthe people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men ^mwho drew the sword. ¹¹And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of ⁿNobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt ^osecure. ¹²And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them ^pand captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

¹³Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ^q‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’ ” ¹⁶And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. ^17rAnd he broke 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 ^sTabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” ¹⁹And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. ^tAs the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” ²⁰So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and ^ukilled Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took ^vthe crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.