Judges 8–10

8The men of Ephraim asked Gideon, “Why did you treat us this way? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight against Midian?” They argued angrily with Gideon.

²But he answered them, “I have not done as well as you! The small part you did was better than all that my people of Abiezer did. ³God let you capture Oreb and Zeeb, the princes of Midian. How can I compare what I did with what you did?” When the men of Ephraim heard Gideon’s answer, they were not as angry anymore.

Gideon Captures Two Kings

⁴When Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan River, they were tired, but they chased the enemy across to the other side. ⁵Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give my soldiers some bread because they are very tired. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶But the leaders of Succoth said, “Why should we give your soldiers bread? You haven’t caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet.”

⁷Then Gideon said, “The Lord will surrender Zebah and Zalmunna to me. After that, I will whip your skin with thorns and briers from the desert.”

⁸Gideon left Succoth and went to the city of Peniel and asked them for food. But the people of Peniel gave him the same answer as the people of Succoth. ⁹So Gideon said to the men of Peniel, “After I win the victory, I will return and pull down this tower.”

¹⁰Zebah and Zalmunna and their army were in the city of Karkor. About fifteen thousand men were left of the armies of the peoples of the east. Already one hundred twenty thousand soldiers had been killed. ¹¹Gideon went up the road of those who live in tents east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked the enemy army when they did not expect it. ¹²Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian, ran away, but Gideon chased and captured them and frightened away their army.

¹³Then Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres. ¹⁴Gideon captured a young man from Succoth and asked him some questions. So the young man wrote down for Gideon the names of seventy-seven officers and elders of Succoth.

Gideon Punishes Succoth

¹⁵When Gideon came to Succoth, he said to the people of that city, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You made fun of me by saying, ‘Why should we give bread to your tired men? You have not caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet.’ ” ¹⁶So Gideon took the elders of the city and punished them with thorns and briers from the desert. ¹⁷He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the people in that city.

¹⁸Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What were the men like that you killed on Mount Tabor?”

They answered, “They were like you. Each one of them looked like a prince.”

¹⁹Gideon said, “Those were my brothers, my mother’s sons. As surely as the Lord lives, I would not kill you if you had spared them.” ²⁰Then Gideon said to Jether, his oldest son, “Kill them.” But Jether was only a boy and was afraid, so he did not take out his sword.

²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Come on. Kill us yourself. As the saying goes, ‘It takes a man to do a man’s job.’ ” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna and took the decorations off their camels’ necks.

Gideon Makes an Idol

²²The people of Israel said to Gideon, “You saved us from the Midianites. Now, we want you and your son and your grandson to rule over us.”

²³But Gideon told them, “The Lord will be your ruler. I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you.” ²⁴He said, “I want you to do this one thing for me. I want each of you to give me a gold earring from the things you took in the fighting.” (The Ishmaelites ⁿ wore gold earrings.)

²⁵They said, “We will gladly give you what you want.” So they spread out a coat, and everyone threw down an earring from what he had taken. ²⁶The gold earrings weighed about forty-three pounds. This did not count the decorations, necklaces, and purple robes worn by the kings of Midian, nor the chains from the camels’ necks. ²⁷Gideon used the gold to make a holy vest, which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. But all the Israelites were unfaithful to God and worshiped it, so it became a trap for Gideon and his family.

The Death of Gideon

²⁸So Midian was under the rule of Israel; they did not cause trouble anymore. And the land had peace for forty years, as long as Gideon was alive.

²⁹Gideon ⁿ son of Joash went to his home to live. ³⁰He had seventy sons of his own, because he had many wives. ³¹He had a slave woman who lived in Shechem, and he had a son by her, whom he named Abimelech. ³²So Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age. He was buried in the tomb of Joash, his father, in Ophrah, where the Abiezrites live.

³³As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel were again unfaithful to God and followed the Baals. They made Baal-Berith their god. ³⁴The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had saved them from all their enemies living all around them. ³⁵And they were not kind to the family of Jerub-Baal, also called Gideon, for all the good he had done for Israel.

Abimelech Becomes King

9Abimelech son of Gideon went to his uncles in the city of Shechem. He said to his uncles and all of his mother’s family group, ²“Ask the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for the seventy sons of Gideon to rule over you or for one man to rule?’ Remember, I am your relative.”

³Abimelech’s uncles spoke to all the leaders of Shechem about this. And they decided to follow Abimelech, because they said, “He is our relative.” ⁴So the leaders of Shechem gave Abimelech about one and three-quarter pounds of silver from the temple of the god Baal-Berith. Abimelech used the silver to hire some worthless, reckless men, who followed him wherever he went. ⁵He went to Ophrah, the hometown of his father, and murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Gideon. He killed them all on one stone. But Gideon’s youngest son, Jotham, hid from Abimelech and escaped. ⁶Then all of the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree standing in Shechem. There they made Abimelech their king.

Jotham’s Story

⁷When Jotham heard this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He shouted to the people: “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, so that God will listen to you! ⁸One day the trees decided to appoint a king to rule over them. They said to the olive tree, ‘You be king over us!’

⁹“But the olive tree said, ‘Men and gods are honored by my oil. Should I stop making it and go and sway over the other trees?’

¹⁰“Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be king over us!’

¹¹“But the fig tree answered, ‘Should I stop making my sweet and good fruit and go and sway over the other trees?’

¹²“Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be king over us!’

¹³“But the vine answered, ‘My new wine makes men and gods happy. Should I stop making it and go and sway over the trees?’

¹⁴“Then all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be king over us.’

¹⁵“But the thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to appoint me king over you, come and find shelter in my shade! But if not, let fire come out of the thornbush and burn up the cedars of Lebanon!’

¹⁶“Now, were you completely honest and sincere when you made Abimelech king? Have you been fair to Gideon ⁿ and his family? Have you treated Gideon as you should? ¹⁷Remember, my father fought for you and risked his life to save you from the power of the Midianites. ¹⁸But now you have turned against my father’s family and have killed his seventy sons on one stone. You have made Abimelech, the son of my father’s slave girl, king over the leaders of Shechem just because he is your relative! ¹⁹So then, if you have been honest and sincere to Gideon and his family today, be happy with Abimelech as your king. And may he be happy with you! ²⁰But if not, may fire come out of Abimelech and completely burn you leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! Also may fire come out of the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo and burn up Abimelech!”

²¹Then Jotham ran away and escaped to the city of Beer. He lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.

Abimelech Fights Against Shechem

²²Abimelech ruled Israel for three years. ²³Then God sent an evil spirit to make trouble between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem so that the leaders of Shechem turned against him. ²⁴Abimelech had killed Gideon’s ⁿ seventy sons, his own brothers, and the leaders of Shechem had helped him. So God sent the evil spirit to punish them. ²⁵The leaders of Shechem were against Abimelech then. They put men on the hilltops in ambush who robbed everyone going by. And Abimelech was told.

²⁶A man named Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers moved into Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem trusted him. ²⁷They went out to the vineyards to pick grapes, and they squeezed the grapes. Then they had a feast in the temple of their god, where they ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. ²⁸Gaal son of Ebed said, “We are the men of Shechem. Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Isn’t he one of Gideon’s sons, and isn’t Zebul his officer? We should serve the men of Hamor, Shechem’s father. Why should we serve Abimelech? ²⁹If you made me commander of these people, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him, ‘Get your army ready and come out to battle.’ ”

³⁰Now when Zebul, the ruler of Shechem, heard what Gaal son of Ebed said, he was very angry. ³¹He sent secret messengers to Abimelech, saying, “Gaal son of Ebed and Gaal’s brothers have come to Shechem, and they are turning the city against you! ³²You and your men should get up during the night and hide in the fields outside the city. ³³As soon as the sun comes up in the morning, attack the city. When Gaal and his men come out to fight you, do what you can to them.”

³⁴So Abimelech and all his soldiers got up during the night and hid near Shechem in four groups. ³⁵Gaal son of Ebed went out and was standing at the entrance to the city gate. As he was standing there, Abimelech and his soldiers came out of their hiding places.

³⁶When Gaal saw the soldiers, he said to Zebul,…