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.

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