Judges 8–10

Gideon Destroys Midian’s Whole Army

8The men of Ephraim spoke to Gideon. They asked, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you ask us to help you when you went out to fight against Midian?” They spoke very sharply against Gideon.

²But he answered them, “What I’ve done isn’t anything compared to what you have done. After Ephraim’s grapes have been gathered, isn’t what is left over better than all of the grapes that have been gathered from Abiezer’s vines? ³God handed Oreb and Zeeb over to you. They were Midianite leaders. So what was I able to do compared to what you did?”

After Gideon had said that, they didn’t feel angry with him anymore.

⁴Gideon and his 300 men were very tired. But they kept on chasing their enemies. They came to the Jordan River and went across it. ⁵Gideon spoke to the men of Succoth. He said, “Give my troops some bread. They are worn out. And I’m still chasing Zebah and Zalmunna. They are the kings of Midian.”

⁶But the officials of Succoth objected. They said, “Have you already killed Zebah and Zalmunna? Have you cut their hands off and brought them back to prove it? If you haven’t, why should we give bread to your troops?”

⁷Gideon replied, “The Lord will hand Zebah and Zalmunna over to me. When he does, I’ll tear your skin with thorns from desert bushes.”

⁸From there Gideon went up to Peniel. He asked its men for the same thing. But they answered as the men of Succoth had. ⁹So he said to the men of Peniel, “I’ll be back after I’ve won the battle. Then I’ll tear down this tower.”

¹⁰Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor. They had an army of about 15,000 men. That’s all that was left of the armies of the tribes from the east. About 120,000 men who carried swords had died in battle.

¹¹Gideon went up the trail the people of the desert had made. It ran east of Nobah and Jogbehah. He attacked the army by surprise. ¹²Zebah and Zalmunna ran away. They were the two kings of Midian. Gideon chased them and captured them. He destroyed their whole army.

¹³Then Gideon, the son of Joash, returned from the battle. He came back through the Pass of Heres.

¹⁴He caught a young man from Succoth. He asked him about the elders of the town. The young man wrote down for him the names of Succoth’s 77 officials.

¹⁵Then Gideon came and spoke to the men of Succoth. He said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You made fun of me because of them. You said, ‘Have you already killed Zebah and Zalmunna? Have you cut their hands off and brought them back to prove it? If you haven’t, why should we give bread to your tired men?’ ”

¹⁶Gideon went and got the elders of the town. Then he taught the men of Succoth a lesson. He tore their skin with thorns from desert bushes. ¹⁷He also pulled down the tower at Peniel. He killed the men in the town.

¹⁸Then he spoke to Zebah and Zalmunna. He asked, “What were the men like that you killed at Tabor?”

“Men like you,” they answered. “Each one walked as if he were a prince.”

¹⁹Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers. They were the sons of my own mother. You can be sure that the Lord lives. And you can be just as sure that if you had spared their lives, I wouldn’t kill you.”

²⁰Then Gideon turned to his oldest son Jether. He said, “Kill them!” But Jether didn’t pull out his sword. He was only a boy. So he was afraid.

²¹Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come on. Do it yourself. ‘The older the man, the stronger he is.’ ”

So Gideon stepped forward and killed them. Then he took the moon-shaped necklaces off the necks of their camels.

Gideon Refuses to Be Israel’s Ruler

²²The people of Israel spoke to Gideon. They said, “Rule over us. We want you, your son and your grandson to be our rulers. You have saved us from the power of Midian.”

²³But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you. My son won’t rule over you either. The Lord will rule over you.”

²⁴He continued, “I do ask one thing. I want each of you to give me an earring. I’m talking about the earrings you took from your enemies.” It was the practice of the people in the family line of Ishmael to wear gold earrings.

²⁵The people of Israel said, “We’ll be glad to give them to you.” So they spread out a piece of clothing. Each man threw a ring on it from what he had taken. ²⁶The weight of the gold rings Gideon asked for was 43 pounds. That didn’t include the moon-shaped necklaces the kings of Midian had worn. It didn’t include their other necklaces or their purple clothes. And it didn’t include the gold chains that had been on the necks of their camels.

²⁷Gideon made an object out of all of the gold. It looked like the linen apron the high priest of Israel wore. He placed it in Ophrah. That was his hometown. All of the people of Israel worshiped it there. They weren’t faithful to the Lord. So the gold object became a trap to Gideon and his family.

Gideon Dies

²⁸Israel brought Midian under their control. Midian wasn’t able to attack Israel anymore. So the land was at peace for 40 years. The peace lasted as long as Gideon was living.

²⁹Jerub-Baal, the son of Joash, went back home to live. Jerub-Baal was another name for Gideon. ³⁰He had 70 sons of his own. That’s because he had a lot of wives. ³¹And he had a concubine who lived in Shechem. She also had a son by him. Gideon named that son Abimelech.

³²Gideon, the son of Joash, died when he was very old. His body was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah. Ophrah was in the territory that belonged to the family line of Abiezer.

³³As soon as Gideon had died, the people of Israel joined themselves to the gods that were named after Baal. Israel wasn’t faithful to the Lord. They worshiped Baal-Berith as their god. ³⁴They forgot what the Lord their God had done for them. He had saved them from the power of their enemies who were all around them.

³⁵Jerub-Baal had done many good things for the people of Israel. But they weren’t kind to his family. Jerub-Baal was another name for Gideon.

Abimelech Becomes King of Shechem

9Abimelech was the son of Jerub-Baal. He went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem. He spoke to them and to all of the members of his mother’s family group. He said, ²“Speak to all of the citizens of Shechem. Tell them, ‘You can have all 70 of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you. Or you can have just one man rule over you. Which would you rather have?’ Remember, I’m your own flesh and blood.”

³The brothers told all of that to the citizens of Shechem. Then the people decided to follow Abimelech. They said, “He’s related to us.”

⁴They gave him 28 ounces of silver. They had taken it from the temple of the god Baal-Berith. Abimelech used it to hire some men. They were wild. They weren’t good for anything. They became his followers.

⁵Abimelech went to his father’s home in Ophrah. There on a big rock he murdered his 70 brothers. All of them were the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham escaped by hiding. He was Jerub-Baal’s youngest son.

⁶All of the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo came together. They gathered at the stone pillar that was beside the large tree in Shechem. They wanted to crown Abimelech as their king.

⁷Jotham was told about it. So he climbed up on top of Mount Gerizim. He shouted down to them, “Citizens of Shechem! Listen to me! Then God will listen to you. ⁸One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to an olive tree, ‘Be our king.’

⁹“But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my olive oil? It’s used to honor gods and people alike. Should I give that up just to rule over the trees?’

¹⁰“Next, the trees spoke to a fig tree. They said, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹¹“But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit? It’s so good and sweet. Should I give that up just to rule over the trees?’

¹²“Then the trees spoke to a vine. They said, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹³“But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine? It cheers up gods and people alike. Should I give that up just to rule over the trees?’

¹⁴“Finally, all of the trees spoke to a bush that had thorns. They said, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹⁵“The bush spoke to the trees. It said, ‘Do you really want to anoint me as king over you? If you do, come and rest in my shade. But if you don’t, I will destroy you! Fire will come out of me and burn up the cedar trees of Lebanon!’

¹⁶“Did you act in an honest way when you made Abimelech your king? Did you really do the right thing? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you given him the honor he’s worthy of?

¹⁷“Remember that my father fought for you. He put his life in danger for you. He saved you from the power of Midian. ¹⁸But today you have turned against my father’s family. You have murdered his 70 sons on a big rock. Abimelech is only the son of my father’s female slave. But you have made him king over the citizens of Shechem. You have done that because he’s related to you.

¹⁹“Have you citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo acted in an honest way toward Jerub-Baal? Have you done the right thing to his family today? If you have, may you be happy with Abimelech! And may he be happy with you! ²⁰But if you haven’t, let fire come out from Abimelech and burn you up! And let fire come out from you and burn Abimelech up!”

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

²²Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years. ²³Then God sent an evil spirit to cause trouble between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. They turned against Abimelech. They decided not to follow him anymore.

²⁴God made that happen because of what Abimelech had done to Jerub-Baal’s 70 sons. He had spilled their blood. God wanted to pay back their brother Abimelech for doing that. He also wanted to pay back the citizens of Shechem. They had helped Abimelech murder his brothers.

²⁵The citizens of Shechem opposed Abimelech. So they hid some men on top of the hills. They wanted them to attack and rob everyone who passed by. Abimelech was told about it.

²⁶Gaal and his relatives moved into Shechem. He was the son of Ebed. The citizens of…