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.

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