Judges 8–10

Chapter 8

Zebah and Zalmunna Routed

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

²But he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

³“God has given the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb into your hands; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their ¹anger toward him subsided when he said ²that.

⁴Then Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came ^ato the Jordan and crossed over, weary yet pursuing.

⁵He said to the men of ^aSuccoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶The leaders of Succoth said, “^1aAre the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?”

⁷Gideon said, “¹All right, ^awhen the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will ²thrash your ³bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.”

⁸He went up from there to ^1aPenuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered.

⁹So he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I return safely, ^aI will tear down this tower.”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their ¹armies with them, about 15,000 men, all who were left of the entire ²army of the sons of the east; ^afor the fallen were 120,000 ³swordsmen.

¹¹Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and ¹attacked the camp when the camp was ²unsuspecting.

¹²When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole ¹army.

¹³Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle ¹by the ascent of Heres.

¹⁴And he captured a youth ¹from Succoth and questioned him. Then the youth wrote down for him the princes of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.

¹⁵He came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, ‘^1aAre the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’ ”

¹⁶He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and he ¹disciplined the men of Succoth with them.

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

¹⁸Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “They were like you, each one ¹resembling the son of a king.”

¹⁹He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

²⁰So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them.” But the youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.

²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself, and fall on us; for as the man, so is his strength.” ^aSo Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and ^btook the crescent ornaments which were on their camels’ necks.

²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son’s son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”

²³But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; ^athe Lord shall rule over you.”

²⁴Yet Gideon said to them, “I would ¹request of you, that each of you give me ²an earring from his spoil.” (For they had gold earrings, because they were ^aIshmaelites.)

²⁵They said, “We will surely give them.” So they spread out a garment, and every one of them threw an earring there from his spoil.

²⁶The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the neck bands that were on their camels’ necks.

²⁷Gideon made it into ^aan ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

Forty Years of Peace

²⁸So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads anymore. And the land was undisturbed for forty years in the days of Gideon.

²⁹Then ^aJerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.

³⁰Now Gideon had ^aseventy sons who ¹were his direct descendants, for he had many wives.

³¹His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he ¹named him Abimelech.

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

³³Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, ^athat the sons of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made ^bBaal-berith their god.

³⁴Thus the sons of Israel ^adid not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;

^35anor did they show kindness to the household of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in accord with all the good that he had done to Israel.

Chapter 9

Abimelech’s Conspiracy

¹And ^aAbimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s ¹relatives, and spoke to them and to the whole clan of the household of his mother’s father, saying,

²“Speak, now, in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that ^aseventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you?’ Also, remember that I am ^byour bone and your flesh.”

³And his mother’s ¹relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem; and ²they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is ^aour ³relative.”

⁴They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of ^aBaal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, and they followed him.

⁵Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and ^akilled his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, ^bseventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.

⁶All the men of Shechem and all ¹Beth-millo assembled together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the ²oak of the pillar which was in Shechem.

⁷Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of ^aMount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and called out. Thus he said to them, “Listen to me, O men of Shechem, that God may listen to you.

⁸“Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’

⁹“But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness with ¹which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’

¹⁰“Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come, reign over us!’

¹¹“But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good ¹fruit, and go to wave over the trees?’

¹²“Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come, reign over us!’

¹³“But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go to wave over the trees?’

¹⁴“Finally all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come, reign over us!’

¹⁵“The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in ¹truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶“Now therefore, if you have dealt in ¹truth and integrity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with ^aJerubbaal and his house, and ²have dealt with him ³as he deserved—

¹⁷for my father fought for you and ¹risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian;

¹⁸but you have risen against my father’s house today and have killed ^ahis sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, ^bthe son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your ¹relative—

¹⁹if then you have dealt in ¹truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.

²⁰“But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the men of Shechem and ¹Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from Beth-millo, and consume Abimelech.”

²¹Then Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer and remained there because of Abimelech his brother.

Shechem and Abimelech Fall

²²Now Abimelech ruled over Israel three years.

^23aThen God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem ^bdealt treacherously with Abimelech,

^24aso that the violence ¹done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and ^btheir blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

²⁵The men of Shechem set ¹men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who might pass by them along the road; and it was told to Abimelech.

²⁶Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his ¹relatives, and crossed over into Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their trust in him.

²⁷They went out into the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trod them, and held a ¹festival; and they went into the house of ^atheir god, and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

²⁸Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is Zebul not his ¹lieutenant? Serve the men of ^aHamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him?

²⁹“^1aWould, therefore, that this people were under my authority! Then I would remove Abimelech.” And he said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out.”

³⁰When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger burned.

³¹He sent messengers to Abimelech ¹deceitfully, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his ²relatives have come to Shechem; and behold, they are ³stirring up the city against you.

³²“Now therefore, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field.

³³“In the morning, as soon as the sun is up,…